Caitlin Clark has slammed her critics for demanding “instant gratification” from her and the Indiana Fever following the team’s third straight victory on Wednesday night, an 88-81 win over the Washington Mystics.
Clark and the Fever were hit hard by critics after the team lost its first five games of the season and eight of its first nine.
Indiana has since turned a corner, going 5-2 in its last seven games, including a four-game win streak at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
Currently, the Fever sit in the eighth and final playoff spot in the WNBA despite a 6-10 record.
Clark made sure to put her professional journey into perspective for her doubters after the win over Washington.
Clark and the Fever improved to 6-10 with a win over the Mystics on Wednesday night
Clark spoke of her doubters’ need for “instant gratification” after the victory over Washington
“I think everyone in our world loves instant layering,” Clark said. “No one came in here and said we were going to be WNBA champions from day one in our locker room.”
“That was never our goal,” Clark added. “Our goal was to get back to the play-offs and that’s what we’re fighting for every night. This is the first time since 2015 that we have won four home games in a row.
‘You have to have perspective on things, and that also applies to life. Like you have a perspective on life,” Clark continued. “And there just needs to be a solid perspective on what this team can achieve. And I think everyone in our locker room had that. No one ever hung our heads.”
“We had the hardest schedule to start. We haven’t been able to practice much and we’re playing with the most inexperienced team in the WNBA,” Clark said. “So I think this group is starting to click and start to build some chemistry, and it’s going to take one day at a time.
“But like I said, everyone likes instant gratification. But we probably would have loved that too. But I think we have kept a good perspective and know that we have to get better step by step,” Clark concluded.
Clark has come under scrutiny not only from the public, but from other WNBA players as well
Clark has been the target of physical play throughout her first two months in the WNBA
Clark and the Fever have a chance to extend their winning streak to four games total on Friday against the Atlanta Dream, who hold the No. 7 spot in the WNBA standings.
Clark’s first two months in the WNBA did not go smoothly as she faced physical play and people thought she was being treated unfairly.
On Sunday, constant Clark rival Angel Reese committed a flagrant foul against her when the Chicago Sky star missed a block and hit the former Iowa star in the head, sending her to the court in pain.
After the game, Reese said the Fever and Clark received a “special whistle.”
That violation came just days after Reese’s Sky teammate, Chennedy Carter, hip-checked Clark and drew ire on social media for a play that was not in good faith in basketball.
Connecticut Sun star DiJonai Carrington also recently called out Clark for her silence in a “culture war.”
Reese and Clark, pictured at the WNBA Draft, have been fierce rivals so far this season
As the popularity of women’s basketball soars, largely on Clark’s shoulders, attention has come that some are using her name as a weapon to spread racism and misogyny, something Clark pushed back on last week.
Carrington had taken issue with Clark’s lack of a brash statement to distance himself from those things. Then she showed up at Clark’s game hours after posting a tweet calling her out.
‘Day. It’s insane that anyone doesn’t care that their name is used to justify racism, bigotry, misogyny, xenophobia, homophobia and its intersectionality. We all see the ***. We all have a platform. We all have a voice and they all carry weight. Silence is a luxury,” Carrington tweeted.
Clark’s rebuttal of people using her name as a weapon also took place hours before Fever-Dream’s tip.
“It’s disappointing,” Clark said. ‘Everyone in our world deserves equal respect. The women in our league deserve equal respect.
“People shouldn’t be using my name for those agendas. It’s disappointing. It’s not acceptable,” Clark continued.
