Caitlin Clark condemned racism amid the WNBA’s investigation into alleged hate speech that came from Fever fans during their season opener against the Sky last weekend.
On Sunday, the league began looking into the claims and the Fever have been cooperating with the investigation since.
Speaking with reporters after practice on Monday, Clark expressed disdain for any form of racism in basketball or beyond that.
“There’s no place for that in our game, there’s no place for that in society,” Clark said. “We want every person that comes into our arena, whether player, whether fan, to have a great experience. I appreciate the league doing that. I appreciate the Fever organization has been at the forefront of that since Day 1, and what they’re doing.
“With the investigation, we’ll leave that up to them to find anything, and take the proper action if so.”
The Indy Star reported that the investigation stems from alleged comments made toward Sky star Angel Reese, who has been pitted in a rivalry with Clark dating back to their days in college when Clark played for Iowa and Reese for LSU.
The investigation doesn’t have anything to do with the tense moments in the third quarter when Clark committed a hard foul on Reese that led to a small scrum breaking out, and Clark was given a flagrant foul while Reese and Aliyah Boston were handed technical fouls.
Clark told reporters that she didn’t remember hearing anything that could be construed as racist, but added that the building was loud and it made it hard to hear anything if it were said.
“It’s super loud in here, and though I didn’t hear anything, I think that’s why they’re doing the investigation, that’s why they’re looking into it,” Clark added, per the Indy Star. “That doesn’t mean nothing happened, so I’ll just trust the league’s investigation, and I’m sure they’ll do the right thing.”
It isn’t the first time Fever fans have faced claims that one of their own had used racist language.
Last season, then-Suns forward Alyssa Thomas alleged that Fever fans had made racist comments following Connecticut’s Game 2 loss to the Fever in the playoffs.