Becky Hammon has had it with the purported Caitlin Clark hate narrative.
The Las Vegas Aces head coach addressed any rumors of resentment toward the Indiana Fever’s Clark and the attention she’s been getting during her rookie season in the WNBA.
Earlier in the week, NBA on TNT personality Charles Barkley called out “petty” women who were hating on Clark, which he was then called out for by a number of WNBA stars.
Hammon echoed the sentiments of others, saying she’s a Clark fan.
“We love Caitlin Clark,” Hammon told reporters Friday, while center A’ja Wilson laughed in the background. “I think she’s amazing. … We’re just doing our job. We’re gonna show up. Whoever’s on the other team is on the other team.”
“I think this narrative of everybody hating on Caitlin Clark, even the black and white thing — knock it off. It’s not there,” Hammon said.
She also said Clark is still young and developing as a player.
“She’s a rookie in this league. Back off. Back off,” Hammon said.
But Clark said she doesn’t see any vitriol toward her early in her rookie season in Indiana.
“To be honest, I’m not really on social media,” Clark told reporters on Friday as the Fever get ready for the Los Angeles Sparks.
“I don’t read that. This is my job. My job is to compete and to play basketball every single day.”
The comments from Hammon came one day after Chicago Sky rookie Angel Reese seemingly took a shot at Clark with a post on X after a win over the Liberty.
“And that’s on getting a WIN in a packed area not just cause of one player on our charter flight. #SKYTOWN,” Reese wrote on X after the Sky’s 90-81 win.
Reese, also on Thursday, said the growth of the women’s game in recent days is also not just because of one player, though she didn’t mention Clark in her comments.
“It’s not just one person, I think people don’t realize that [because] the narrative out there is that just one person changing the game,” Reese told reporters Thursday. “It’s a lot of us — me, Kamilla [Cardoso], there’s Cameron [Brink], Rickea [Jackson]. There’s so many great players and it’s been long overdue and just being able to see that our impact has been able to change the game.”
Clark suggested the negative attention on her might be a positive thing for the league.
“The more attention we can get on all the teams in this league it’s only going to help it get better and better,” Clark said.
After Barkley’s comments, Liberty star Jonquel Jones said the idea that there is actual hate toward Clark is preposterous.
“Interested to know who are all the women that are hating on CC?” Jones wrote on X earlier this week. “I’m seeing a lot of coverage about it but I don’t see the hate? I’m also not a big comment reader so I might’ve missed it.”
Outside of the online narrative, the Fever have gotten off to a rough 0-5 to start the season, and Clark is now trying to get her team in the win column.
“We’re fighting for our first win and that’s my main focus and that’s where 110 percent — that’s what I think about every single day,” Clark added Friday.
