WNBA legend Sue Bird insisted Caitlin Clark is not hated by her competitors and praised the Indiana Fever rookie’s impact on the league.
The first overall pick has been the catalyst for the WNBA’s growing popularity, as viewership and attendance numbers have broken records time and again since her arrival. However, the tough battles on the court have led some fans to protest against players “targeting” the former Iowa star.
In an interview with Sarah Spain’s Good Game podcast on iHeartRadio, Bird acknowledged the magnitude of Clark’s arrival in the league. He also claims the false perception is created by members of the media.
“Caitlin will go down in history as, whatever you want to call it, the changemaker, this pivotal person,” Bird said. “She will, 100 percent. But in other leagues … it was never like when LeBron (James) came in, ‘Oh, Michael Jordan didn’t matter.'”
Instead, Bird suggested that Clark’s infamous clashes with Chennedy Carter and Angel Reese were simply due to the players being more competitive in the heat of battle, rather than any underlying hatred.
Sue Bird claims WNBA players don’t hate Caitlin Clark despite media claims
“For whatever reason, that happened and it sparked all of this,” Bird said. “When the reality was that no players felt the same way about Caitlin, everyone was so welcoming and accommodating, and (the media) mistook competitive speech for hate, for hating someone.”
The lack of prior knowledge of the WNBA by sports personalities speaking about the league has resulted in brutal comments about Clark’s reception in the league.
An infamous example would be Robert Griffin III, who claimed in June that Clark and Reese were “being used in a race war.”
Prior to the outrageous claim, there were more negative comments from Reese’s teammate Carter, who shoved Clark during their June 1 matchup. In their next meeting, Clark took a forearm to the face from Reese as she was shooting a basket.
But the four-time WNBA champion and 13-time All-Star is convinced that WNBA players are reacting with a competitive attitude but not animosity.
“I think most of the WNBA players, with the way they play and the way they talk, it was just competition, not hate toward a person,” Bird said.
“It’s just sport, but we have a hard time not acting weird when there are women in sport, so we made it weird.”
Clark’s popularity at Iowa during her college career has translated well to the WNBA.
Attendance and viewership numbers have increased dramatically since Clark entered the league.
Despite their innate rivalry in the WNBA, Clark and Reese will join forces this weekend with the WNBA All-Star team to take on Team USA ahead of the Olympics. With the masses disappointed over the rookies’ exclusion from the national team, Bird recently offered words of encouragement for Clark and Reese.
“I think a lot of my moments, a lot of my struggles, came in the form of injuries. And all they did was motivate me to come back on the court even better, even stronger,” the five-time Olympic gold medalist told Distractify.
“I always joke that there’s no championship team that hasn’t lost in dramatic fashion. And when I say dramatic, I mean you go home with tears in your eyes. There’s no team that hasn’t lost before winning, right?”
“In a way, you need to have moments that motivate you to keep achieving,” Bird added. “I’m sure both Caitlin and Angel will be more eager to make the next Olympic team. It will be exciting when they get there.”
