For the first time in her basketball career, cracks are starting to show in Caitlin Clark’s facade.
Dealing with injuries, criticism about her defensive abilities, and a struggling Indiana Fever season so far, Clark has been letting her emotions show.
Along with getting snippy with the media, she got into an intense exchange with head coach Stephanie White over the weekend, which led White to briefly bench her superstar.
On Sunday, women’s basketball legends Cheryl Miller and Sue Bird discussed the incident and chastised Clark for letting her emotions get the better of her.
“Right now, it’s frustration. And unfortunately, it’s boiling over, and it’s being seen,” Miller said. “It’s one thing to have it behind closed doors, but when it spills over, and when the coach has to basically say, ‘Hey, you know what, Caitlin? Enough is enough. This is too disruptive. In and out. Take a seat.’”
“I’ve had moments like that with coaches,” Bird added. “I think it speaks to relationships. Player-coach relationships. Like, shoutout Brian Agler. You could say anything to that man. And you could keep it moving. And then I had other coaches, where maybe you couldn’t. And you have to learn each other in that way.”
“But you knew the line,” Miller responded to Bird. “You knew the line. When it becomes disruptive… Even Kelsey Mitchell kind of chimed in, like, ‘You need to go stand over here and let us regain the calm in our huddle.’ When it becomes that disruptive for the entire team, somebody has to step in.’”
Clark and White both spoke to the media on Monday, clearing the air and making it clear they were two competitors who both wanted to win, and that they couldn’t be more committed to one another. Clark noted that tough conversations are fairly common between players and coaches in these situations; they just don’t always receive the scrutiny this one did. They both also took shots at media narratives created by people who aren’t in the huddle and don’t have all the facts.
Whether those comments were directed at Miller and Bird specifically or not, it appears the message has been received.
On Tuesday’s WNBA Showtime on Peacock, Miller took a different tack with Clark, admitting that she needs to give her some grace considering the immense, unprecedented pressure she’s under.
“I agree with Caitlin when she said this happens more often than not,” said Miller. “I agree with her on that.”
“She definitely has a microscope on her,” added Bird.
Bird stood by her assessment that Clark still needs to figure out how to channel her frustrations into something positive.
“I think an area of growth for Caitlin is these moments of frustration,” said Bird. “When she’s frustrated on the court, when she’s not getting the calls, when she’s getting calls against her. These are areas all players… when things are going your way, and you’re playing great, this is—yes, of course you win games. I think championship teams, I think great players, they find ways when it’s not going their way. That’s when you know you have like a championship DNA inside of you. When you’re frustrated, and you can find ways.
“So to me, it’s, it’s more about that, right? Like, how are you going to handle that moment next time?”
Miller wanted to make sure that they all remembered just how much Clark is dealing with at still such a young age.
“I’ve got to say one thing about Caitlin, and I sometimes I have to remember that she is young,” said Miller. “And the amount of pressure that is on this young lady, and she’s coming back from her injuries, and living up to what everybody expects her to be and do and whatnot, can be a little bit overwhelming. So I’m gonna give her some grace.
“I know I’ve been in situations like that before. It’s never played out publicly like this was, but I can understand where she’s coming from a little bit.”
Bird confirmed that it’s a relatively new phenomenon for women’s basketball players to be subject to the kind of scrutiny Clark is.
“Yeah, the camera hasn’t been on huddles like the way it is now,” Bird added. “I literally— we were talking backstage. I have stories on stories about moments like this, but the camera wasn’t on you.”