Caitlin Clark fans’ ‘targeting narrative’ is just ‘racism’, WNBA star claims

Longtime WNBA star Natasha Cloud has said the ‘targeting narrative’ surrounding Caitlin Clark taking several hard fouls last season is just ‘racism’ from her fans. 

Clark brought plenty of new eyes to the WNBA in 2024, and they saw her triumph beyond expectations for the superstar rookie. 

The Indiana Fever point guard also was the team’s most-talented player for long stretches of the season, leading to teams having strategies to limit her impact. 

That involved more physical play against Clark at times, with her no doubt being roughed up throughout her transcendent campaign, where she won Rookie of the Year and finished fourth in MVP voting. 

Cloud, who played for the Phoenix Mercury last season and is now a member of the Connecticut Sun, did not see a problem with how Clark was treated. 

‘It’s just a part of the game. There was no targeting, there was no nothing. That narrative that got spun into, “Oh, the vets hate the rookies. The rookies hate the vets. The vets are going after certain players.” It’s all bulls***,’ Cloud said on the Pivot Podcast. ‘If I’m just going to be frank, it’s all bulls***. What it is is racism.’

Clark was subject to several hard fouls last season, including from rival Sky player Angel Reese

‘It gets blown up into, “Oh, they’re going after Caitlin Clark.” But, no, we’re just playing one of the best players that’s in this league the way that any other best player or franchise player has been played.’ 

‘The craziness that came with the new fandom was rooted in something other than fandom, and I think that was very evident across the board. In a lot of ways, it has not been about basketball.’

Clark’s three most prominent physical run-ins came against the Chicago Sky last season. The first was an illegal hip check from Chennedy Carter on June 1. 

Clark’s constant rival, Angel Reese, hit Clark in the head with her arm while trying to block a shot during a game barely more than two weeks later on June 16. In late August, Diamond DeShields, bodied Clark onto the hardwood for a flagrant foul. 

Clark was not afraid to respond and draw attention to the physical nature of her opponents and rarely responded outside the rules of the WNBA. 

The soon-to-be second-year Fever star is likely to see more rough play as the Fever have re-tooled in hopes of the franchise’s first championship since 2012.