Since the Indiana Fever drafted point guard Caitlin Clark with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft, she has received massive amounts of hate and criticism. Clark has been the subject of outside noise and narratives regarding the hype with which she entered into the league. Some around the WNBA haven’t been fans of the amount of coverage she has received, feeling that she hasn’t earned anything yet.
However, Clark is part of this new wave of popularity for the WNBA and women’s basketball as a whole. She isn’t the only player that has drawn in more viewership for the league, but she is certainly the face of it, and has been across her last two seasons leading the Iowa Hawkeyes to consecutive NCAA championship games.
Some don’t agree with that and it has caused different issues throughout the league. To her credit, Clark has handled it all very well and has tried to focus simply on playing basketball. But sometimes, even superstars need advice on how to handle situations.
Former 23-time Grand Slam champion tennis star Serena Williams offered Clark some advice on how to deal with all the critics while walking the red carpet for the premiere of her new docuseries, “In The Arena: Serena Williams.”
“I just love that she tries to stay grounded,” Williams said. “She said she doesn’t look at her social [media], I get it, I don’t either. I think it’s so important to just continue doing what she’s doing, no matter what other people do. If people are negative, it’s because they can’t do what you do, basically. And hopefully she’ll continue to do what she’s doing.”
Williams faced all sorts of criticism during her playing days, bringing some credibility to the entire situation. She understands the narratives that have been surrounding Clark and wants to help this young star navigate through it all. While Clark has been focused on just playing basketball, she has been dragged into outside noise that has nothing to do with basketball. On the court, she has done her thing, averaging 15.6 points,4.9 rebounds, 6.0 assists, and 1.4 steals per contest.
The rise in popularity of women’s basketball has been great to see and has been a long time coming. It’s been growing over the years but has finally reached a point of national relevance. Some just don’t want to admit that Clark was the tipping point for it to happen, helping all involved get more coverage.
Clark will continue to work on her craft and while there may be some learning curves through her first WNBA season, she has shown that she can handle the pressure that was placed upon her shoulders.
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