Caitlin Clark has become one of the most polarizing figures in all sports in the past year.
Her popularity reached a peak almost two years ago when she and Angel Reese It did in the national championship – and then she became a household name.
Clark established countless records in her final year, including becoming the NCAAs leading scorer of all time, and has parlayed it to become the number 1 general choice.
Register for free for Tubi and Stream Super Bowl Lix
Indiana Fever Guard Caitlin Clark plays against the Dallas Wings in Indianapolis, September 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy, File)
But then came the cultural wars she found in the middle of the middle, with many, including Wnba MVP A’ja Wilson, who said her race played a role in her popularity.
Clark was the victim of some hard errors and waste talks during her Rookie season, but it didn’t seem to let her go, because she set many records in the year one.
Clark returned to Iowa on Sunday to see her no. 22 go in the trusses, and she was asked about the criticism she recently received.
“I think it’s just life. Everyone goes through a few things I have experienced, many people go on much worse. I try to remind myself every day how grateful I am to be in the position. I want to be, I want Treat everyone in the same way that I would like to be treated with the power. told reporters on Sunday.
Caitlin Clark of the Iowa Hawkeyes celebrates after pulling an error in the match against the West Virginia Mountainers during the NCAA Division 1 Women’s Basketball Championship in Carver-Hawkeye Arena on March 25, 2024 in Iowa City. (Matthew Holst/Getty images)
“But also, I said this before, I feel that one of my greatest skills is that I really don’t care. Self, I have faith in my teammates, I try to bring that into them, I have faith In the coaching staff, or that was (at Iowa), whether that is at the fever. , but that is just not a reality.
As the Rookie season of Clark progressed, there were allegations of racism of both fever and Iowa fans, a claim By the aforementioned Reese.
But Clark’s performances in games brought historical viewers to both the college and the pro levels. The last three games of her university career were the most viewed women’s basketball games ever. She also had several of her matches in the regular season More viewers than WNBA Playoff -GamesAnd her WNBA matchups with Reese were some of the most viewed WNBA games ever.
Indiana Fever Guard Caitlin Clark works to the basket against Dallas Wings Guard Sevgi Uzun, September 1, 2024, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
Click here to get the Fox News app
WNBA teams even had to move to larger arenas, simply because of the ticket demand that Clark Drew Dew; fever 90 times more tickets sold In the past year in 2023.
Clark became the name of the Rookie of the year For her historical campaign in which she set the record for most assists in one season in competition history. She wore the fever to a play-off appearance after a slow start and she soon became a double-Double machine. She even set a record with one game with 19 assists. She also became the first Rookie to record a Triple-Double and registered two of them.
She received the most votes for the All-Star competition and was only the fifth Rookie in the competition history to make the All-Wnba first team.
Follow Fox News Digital’s Sports reporting on Xand subscribe to The Fox News Sports Huddle -Newsletter.
