Caitlin Clark didn't want to talk about Sophie Cunningham's comments on transgender athletes in women's sports.
The Indiana Fever star point guard was finally made available to reporters after Sunday's game against the Minnesota Lynx. Clark, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft, decided to choose her words carefully when asked about Cunningham's comments. Cunningham told ESPN that it's "common sense" to not let transgender athletes play in women's sports.
"I think it’s for leagues and governing bodies to work with their athletes to find solutions," Clark said. "Our focus is on basketball. That’s what we talk about and how we can get wins and obviously we didn’t do that tonight. So, we need to find an area to improve in that way."
When a reporter pressed Clark for a reaction, she responded, "I just answered."
© Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images.
Clark, though, didn't really give her opinion. And now she's facing criticism for it.
"Clark answered how the Fever were handling the controversy. She said it wasn’t discussed in the locker room, told leagues and governing bodies to figure it out and pivoted back to basketball," one critic shared.
"Clark didn’t say whether she agrees with Cunningham that women’s sports should be reserved for females. She also didn’t side with Minnesota coach Cheryl Reeve, who wore a 'Trans kids belong' shirt during Sunday’s game."
Jemele Hill has called for Clark to be made available, at least
"Caitlin Clark should not have to answer to something her teammate said. That said, if she is asked the question — a fair one — and opts to say no comment, or I don’t have enough information, or a non-answer, that’s fine, too. Or if she just says what she feels. These teams do their players a disservice by doing things like this because it creates a bigger story. If y’all don’t have her prepped for these moments, what are you even doing?" Hill shared on X.
Clark at least spoke to reporters on Sunday night, but she didn't give them the kind of answer they wanted.
