The pressure on Caitlin Clark is reaching a boiling point. The 2024 WNBA No. 1 overall pick has been at the center of endless debates—about race, fan behavior, and her on-court performance—and now she's admitting it's taking a mental toll.
During WNBA All-Star Weekend in Chicago, Clark opened up about the emotional weight of the spotlight. “I think sometimes like people forget, like, I have feelings, like I’m a real individual, like I feel things and I have emotions and I get emotional and I get frustrated and I get sad and I get upset,” she said. “I get happy, I get joyful, and like I feel and experience all that stuff. But at the same time, like, I have really thick skin. And I think also I always try to remind myself is like social media is not always reality, and that is really lost on people.”
Clark's raw honesty has reignited the conversation around her relationship with Angel Reese, a rivalry that traces back to their college days when Iowa and LSU faced off. That matchup sparked much of the current discourse about Clark's impact on women's basketball.
Now, Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy is pointing the finger squarely at Reese and others for the negativity surrounding Clark. On Monday's Wake Up Barstool, Portnoy didn't hold back. “The Caitlin Clark stuff continues to go off the rails,” he said. “They do an interview with her and she’s pretty candid on ESPN being like, I’m like, I get physically almost uncomfortable with all these narratives that are put on me. I believe she said mentally exhausted. Yeah. And then you have Monica McNutt come on ESPN right after and blame basically Caitlin for everything that’s happening. Be like, well, if she wants to be part of the sisterhood, that’s her words. Like, she’s going to be better at like including people and doing this.”
Portnoy went on to defend Clark, calling out the media for framing the story around race. “Caitlin Clark hasn’t asked for any of this. Caitlin Clark has never said she’s the face of the league. Caitlin Clark has never made anything about race. The only thing Caitlin Clark happens to be is white and play a very different brand of basketball and went to Iowa and created this entire fan base that followed her.” He added, “All she has done is elevated the league, the game. She’s got them the collective bargaining agreement. She’s gotten them to fly private. She’s behind closed doors argued, has come out for player increases.”
Portnoy didn't stop there. He took aim at Reese directly, saying, “It’s all the other players, starting with Angel Reese or whoever, who have taken cheap shots at her, both on the court, in the media. And she’s never acknowledged it. She’s just done her thing. She’s been brutalized in the league, but for Monica McNutt to be like, it’s on Caitlyn to defend other people.”
This isn't the first time Clark has been the subject of heated debate. Earlier, WNBA columnist Nancy Armour stood firm on her controversial take about Clark, and Chiney Ogwumike pleaded for fans to reset the conversation. Even former President Barack Obama weighed in with a heartfelt message urging Clark not to lose the joy.
Clark, to her credit, has tried to stand up for herself, but it's clear that all of this is getting to be a bit much for her. As the WNBA season continues, the spotlight on Clark—and the blame game surrounding her—shows no signs of dimming.
