ESPN senior writer David Dennis Jr. isn’t afraid to take on Caitlin Clark’s fan base, that’s for sure.
Back in July, there were fans outraged over Clark ranking 11th for all guards in the 2026 WNBA All-Star player voting. Dennis had no issue with the voting since he believes Clark should rank outside of the top four for WNBA guards.
“I don’t think you can make a compelling argument that Caitlin Clark is a top four guard in the WNBA. Nobody can at this point. That is why she was 11th. She got the 11th-most votes for being in the top four. So there’s really no controversy about that, especially when you add in the fact that she is one of the most popular players in the WNBA; she’s going to make the All-Star Game,” Dennis Jr. said, via Awful Announcing. “What bothers me is when this is framed as some sort of petty jealousy or insecurity by these women in the WNBA. Because that’s not what I’m seeing is happening with Caitlin Clark. Caitlin Clark is experiencing pretty much what happens anytime a young player comes into the league with a lot of hype, especially the hype that she’s receiving that says the whole entire league should be thankful that she’s there.”
Lucas Peltier-Imagn Images.
After the Fever were eliminated from the playoffs by the Aces on Thursday night, Dennis hopped on social media and called out Clark’s fan base.
Dennis made it clear that he has nothing against Clark and ultimately believes she’ll become a WNBA champion someday. However, he thinks her fans are unwilling to accept anything less than praise.
“In July we had two days of segments about Caitlin Clark. Most people’s biggest takeaway was that insane wasn’t a top 4 guard in the league for All Star Weekend. Note: I was 100% correct. She was not,” Dennis wrote on X. “She had an incredible 2nd half of the season and then played back to her spot as top 3 guard imo. And naturally every time she did anything meaningful a horde of fans and antagonists will hop in my mentions about it despite the fact I said top 4 ‘at the time.’ I really don’t desire to be “right” about a player’s shortcomings. I’d rather be right about how good a player or team is. I take pride in those takes. I like to rub it in when that happens.
“But when you try to constantly defend a take about someone not being as good as people think you kind of position yourself as a hater. And I really didn’t want to do that with CC who I think is pretty great! I think CC has the potential to be the best player in the league after A’ja is gone. I think she can and should win a title. I just think she’s not there yet. But also I don’t desire to rub it in peoples faces on Twitter. People who are now noticeable absent in my mentions btw.”
Caitlin Clark is already thinking about the 2027 season.
After scoring 18 points in Game 3, Clark talked about her outlook on the 2026 season as well as what’s next for the Fever.
“I was able to come out here and put together the best season I’ve had and perform at a really high level and basically get better in every area and still feel like I have so many areas to improve,” Clark said. “So, I guess that’s the most exciting part moving forward. I love the work. I love being in the gym. So, I’ll probably be kicked out for a little while, but we’ll get back to it.”
Clark finished this season averaging 23.3 points and 8.3 assists per game. While she still has room to grow as a player, it’s evident that she’s got what it takes to be the face of the league.
