Caitlin Clark has become a pawn in everyone’s game, but what about her own?

Sitting around a real-life bonfire in my backyard, a safe distance from the online firestorm still raging around Caitlin Clark, Alyssa Thomas and the WNBA, a friend waded into the conversation everyone wanted to have this past July 4th weekend. 

“Ya know,” he said. “It seems to me like Caitlin Clark just wants to hoop.” 

Talk about some cold water splashed onto a red-hot saga that won’t end. 

It became clear many controversies ago that Clark just wants to play basketball, talk basketball and live basketball. It’s true she is quick to jump into (or jump-start) the fray on the court. Yet, off the court, she steps away from making anything messier than it already is simply because her name is attached. 

She is as aware as most of us that the nonsense erupting around her is not about her. But, damn, it must be exhausting. Which is largely what Clark said, with much more eloquence, late last week in one of the more raw and vulnerable moments we’ve seen from her of late. 

“It can be really frustrating to me at times,” the 24-year-old said. “I think it’s difficult. I think a lot of people sometimes think I’m a robot. I’m not a robot. I have emotions, I have feelings, and it can be really difficult to go through a lot of that.” 

In the three-time All-Star’s first appearance back at team practices on Friday, she opened her media availability with nearly five minutes of unscripted remarks on the flagrant 2 foul called on Alyssa Thomas (of which she agreed without question), officiating (including specific ways the league can improve), the discourse around the incident (“none of that is OK”), how it took all the oxygen (“that’s just a real disservice to our league”) and the difficulties navigating all of that as Caitlin Clark.  

Michael Hickey via Getty Images

“There are times that it is hard,” Clark said. “And there are times that it probably affects me a little bit more than I do put on. I would never change any of that for the world. But I do think it’s important that people do remember that part of it, too.”

The insight was a rare crack in her massaged public veneer amid the chaos that has followed her with increasing vigor since the 2023 national championship game. When each of these incidents takes on a life of its own in the media landscape, it is lost that at the epicenter is a human burdened by too many people expecting her to be someone or something she’s not.  

One side wants the Midwest product to stand as a symbol of the political far-right, using her as a pawn in their agendas. That aspect is amplified in a league that is predominantly Black (around 70-80%) and queer. That these people either claim to be Clark/Fever fans or are assumed to be such by the other group further inflames the rhetoric.

The other side insists that the most well-known player in the league be a far-left social activist using her voice and actions for their causes. It is intensified by the WNBA Players Association’s heavy involvement in social justice work. A forced ideology that they are “Anti-Caitlin,” again, inflames. 

Clark has repeatedly made clear she’s not going to stand on either of these things, at least not at this stage in her career. Amid one of the most divisive periods in the United States’ 250-year history, the woman nearly always in motion sits solidly in the Overton Window. She will make no overtures or grand proclamations to incite either edge. 

Michael Jordan may have said “Republicans buy sneakers, too” in jest, but his reasoning is rooted in comparable truth. Even when Clark takes one small step toward either end of the spectrum, she is blasted for it not being enough or correct. 

Repeatedly over the years, she has spoken out against racist, misogynistic and overall hateful comments directed at her peers. 

“People should not be using my name to push those agendas. It’s disappointing. It’s not acceptable,” Clark said months into her rookie season. “… Treating every single woman in this league with the same amount of respect, I think, it’s just a basic human thing that everybody should do.”

Later that same year: “Nobody in our league should be facing any sort of racism, hurtful, disrespectful, hateful comments and threats. Those aren’t fans. Those are trolls.”

In a 24/7 news cycle, it’s as if anything further back than a day is lost to history. Again last week, she was criticized for not speaking out or potentially not doing so, since she missed practices with her back injury. Context boxes appeared on X posts with links to these quotes. 

“A lot has obviously come after [the flagrant foul],” Clark said on Friday. “As I’ve stood up here and said before, harassment, hate, none of that is OK. … There should never be a question of character. I’ve always stood up here and said that, and that’s truly what I believe, that’s how I was raised.” 

Social media lit up with outrage that she didn’t directly address racism or use the word. She can’t win. There is nothing Clark can say or do that is deemed acceptable to either of these clashing sides, which become so loud that the fervor reaches the threshold of the national nightly news. To bounce around in nuanced shades of gray, as do most Americans, is to abscond from the stark line they’ve each drawn. 

“People [are] just using my names in ways that are inappropriate,” Clark said last week. “You don’t know me. You don’t know who I am.”

We don’t know exactly who Clark is beyond what she wants us to know, despite pushes to publicly be what these feuding entities desire. She took issue with a story claiming the Clark Effect and Fever aren’t fun anymore. That it’s a season full of frustration. To be fair, it’s hard to see. 

The Indiana Fever keep Clark closely guarded, limiting access and media availability. Clark herself is becoming the same way, an increasingly understandable move given how every aspect of her life, from relationships to interests, are scrutinized in unhealthy ways. One year ago, a man pleaded guilty to stalking her and received a two-and-a-half-year prison sentence. A man was charged last month with stalking Fever teammate Sophie Cunningham. 

The irony is that what we do know for certain about Clark is exactly what makes her great for the WNBA. She is a basketball junkie who never misses an opportunity to redirect questions with a historic lens. The cries about respecting the game and women who came before her miss what is right in front of everyone’s face. 

This is a kid who actually watched the WNBA, unlike many of her peers. Her father, Brent, took her to Minnesota Lynx games. She met her favorite player, Maya Moore, as a child. By a stroke of luck, the Lynx hosted the Fever the night of Moore’s jersey retirement. Clark stayed out on the floor after the loss to watch it in the celebration’s signature T-shirt. 

At every turn, she’s done this wraparound. During the trio of NCAA scoring records that included AIAW star Lynette Woodard. On “Saturday Night Live,” a cultural touchpoint unimaginable before her time. Amid collective bargaining negotiations built on the foundation of prior players’ efforts. 

Following more than a week of increasingly toxic rhetoric — plus a passing mention of the Clark-Thomas play by the president on Monday amid comments on U.S. soccer — Clark voiced frustration that it remained a talking point, taking away “from the product that’s being put on the floor.” 

“It’s a disservice to my team, but it’s also a disservice to the other teams of this league and the other players in this league,” Clark said. “There’s so much amazing talent, and there’s so many amazing players that are playing at an incredibly high rate.” 

“Honestly, I felt bad for the players playing the games [last weekend]. And also I feel bad for my teammates.” 

While everyone worked themselves into their own various knots over their preconceived notions, Clark practiced individually and rehabbed an ongoing back issue. The third-year point guard is expected to return either Wednesday against the Sparks or Thursday in Las Vegas on their West Coast trip, though she cautioned that playing both would be difficult. 

She has made no small point that missing the majority of last season with soft tissue injuries was hard, as well as a mental challenge. The Fever, despite falling short of early expectations, have a roster with championship aspirations. The powerhouse Aces and Liberty will have plenty to say. She wants to focus on basketball. 

It’s highly on brand for Caitlin Clark.