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The discourse surrounding Caitlin Clark has been exhausting since the moment she was drafted into the WNBA earlier this year and it doesn’t show any signs of slowing down.
On a recent episode of her podcast — because truly everyone has a podcast these days — former WNBA player Renee Montogomery said that there’s something “sinister” about Caitlin Clark’s “fanbase,” accusing some of them of acting “racist, sexist, and violent.”
“Something sinister is happening online with Caitlin’s fanbase and these stans that needs to be addressed,” she said the Montgomery & Company podcast.
“It’s OK to be a hater in sports, hating in sports is a part of the game. I like when our fans are so engaged and so passionate that they just don’t like the other team. But being racist, sexist and violent with your words – come on now, what are we doing… it seems they [racists and sexists] found a home in this fanbase.”
On @MontgomeryCoPod I address Caitlin Clark Stans. A hit dog will holla pic.twitter.com/UZDmiqnlqa
— Renee Montgomery (@ReneeMontgomery) September 17, 2024
Clark, on her way to winning the WNBA Rookie of the Year award, is averaging 19.7 points, 8.4 assist, and 5.7 rebounds per game after 39 games and has the Indiana Fever in a position to qualify for the playoffs. She’s also set the WNBA’s rookie scoring record.
To Clark’s credit, the 22-year-old former University of Iowa star has done an incredible job of blocking out the noise around her and just playing basketball.
Earlier this month, Clark made rare headlines off-the-court as she liked Taylor Swift’s Instagram post endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris for President of the United States. When asked about her decision to make her politically opinions public, Clark said she has an “amazing platform, so I think the biggest thing will be just encourage people to register to vote.”
“It’s the second time I can vote in a [presidential] election,” Clark explained. “At 22, I could vote when I was 18. I can do that, that’s the biggest thing I can do with the platform that I have. And that’s the same thing Taylor did. And I think continue to educate yourself with the candidates that we have, the policies that they’re supporting.”
Clark and the Indiana Fever will play their final regular season game of the year against the Washington Mystics on Thursday, September 19 at 7 p.m. EST.