I’ve been following NBA basketball for almost two decades, and I honestly can’t recall any number one pick or rookie facing as much hate as the WNBA’s 2024 top pick, Caitlin Clark.

Take LeBron James for instance. He didn’t face real hate until “The Decision.” Kevin Durant? Not until he joined Golden State. Ben Simmons wasn’t criticized heavily until he began sitting out multiple seasons. Heck, even Dillon “Dynasty” Brooks didn’t earn the widespread hate he has now until he embraced being the league’s biggest villain.

But do you notice a pattern? There was always a reason — something they did that sparked the hate. And that’s fair. People are free to make their choices, but those choices come with consequences.

Anyway, I mentioned this because Caitlin Clark isn’t just the WNBA’s brightest star; she’s arguably basketball’s biggest rising star. Yet, she’s facing hate for absolutely no reason at all. I mean, she hasn’t trash-talked anyone, she didn’t take the easy way out by joining a stacked team, and she’s not pulling any shady moves like faking injuries. From what I’ve seen of her this season and during her college career, she’s been playing at an elite level and carrying herself like a true professional. Yet for some reason, there are still plenty of people treating her like she’s done something wrong.

Well, ladies and gentlemen, today we’re diving into the haters and taking a closer look at how Caitlin Clark has been shutting them down with her incredible performances.

Up in time. Clark for the win! Yeah, and this is why Caitlin Clark will go down as one of the best to ever play the game.

One of the earliest haters was none other than the legendary Diana Taurasi. For reasons still unclear, Diana has been vocal in her criticism of Caitlin Clark. One of her most notable comments was when she claimed Caitlin had it easy in college, warning that she’d face a harsh reality in the WNBA, where she’d go up against grown women:

“There’s levels to this thing, and that’s just life. We all went through it. You see it on the NBA side, and you’re going to see it on this side, where, you know, you look superhuman playing against 18-year-olds, but you’re going to come with some grown women that have been playing professional basketball for a long time.”

 

In addition to this, for the 2024 WNBA Draft, Diana threw more shade at Caitlin, saying that if it were up to her, Caitlin wouldn’t have been the first pick:

“I’m taking Paige. Next question.”

 

So, if she had the number one pick this year, Diana would take Paige Bueckers over Caitlin? Absolutely. In another interview, she claimed Paige is the best player, even better than Caitlin, because of her passing ability:

“I say she’s the best player in basketball already for the simple fact she can pass.”

 

Ladies and gentlemen, this is how you can tell Diana is throwing shade at Caitlin Clark. I’m not saying Paige is a bad player or anything, but in college basketball, she averaged just 4.5 assists per game. Caitlin, on the other hand, led the NCAA in assists for three consecutive years and nearly doubled Paige’s numbers with an impressive career average of 8.2 assists per game.

What makes this hate by Diana even sadder is that Caitlin Clark once looked up to her:

“Honestly, she was probably one of the first women’s basketball players I really grew up idolizing.”

 

Despite Caitlin’s superstar status entering the WNBA, Diana never reached out to her, not even once. When asked about the best advice Diana has given her, Caitlin said:

“Nobody gives me advice.”

 

Caitlin has never spoken ill of Diana. You won’t find a single soundbite of her saying anything negative about Taurasi. But she certainly got her revenge where it matters most — on the court.

In their highly anticipated first matchup, Caitlin completely dominated, posting a double-double with 15 points and 12 assists, leaving no doubt who owned the court that day. In their second matchup, with Diana sidelined, Caitlin took control once again, putting up another double-double with 20 points and 13 assists, leading her team to a blowout victory. Then, in their third and final matchup of the season, with Diana having one last chance to make a statement, Caitlin delivered the knockout blow, dropping 29 points and 10 assists, sealing a 3-0 sweep of Diana’s Phoenix Mercury.

Diana claimed Caitlin was in for a rude awakening in the WNBA, where she’d be facing fully grown women. Instead, Caitlin made both her and those fully grown women look like they were just old women.

Another hater Caitlin Clark shuts down is Lexie Brown. During an episode of Gils Arena, Lexie made the outrageous claim that all Caitlin could do was shoot threes:

“Who plays the style that… What is her style? Just threes? Wow.”

 

Now that it’s September, it’s clear both in foresight and hindsight that Lexie Brown’s comment was pure hate. I mean, first off, she had to know Caitlin led the NCAA in assists for three straight years. And to top it off, Caitlin is now leading the WNBA in assists too, averaging over eight per game. Funny how that turned out, right?

Also on Gils Arena, Brown basically claimed she could do everything Caitlin does if only she had the green light to do so:

“I haven’t seen a player with that type of green light before in college. I’ve had games in college and pro: six, eight threes made out of 12, 11, 13 — not 20.”

 

She was essentially implying that Caitlin Clark isn’t anything too special. But let’s look at the facts: in the two games they faced off, Caitlin completely outclassed Lexie. We’re talking 41 points to 8, four blocks to one, seven steals to one, 14 assists to four, 15 rebounds to nine, and even an effective field goal percentage of 45% to 32%. These two aren’t in the same league, yet Lexie had the nerve to trash talk Caitlin, claiming she’s not special. That’s absolutely ridiculous.

Equally ridiculous was Team USA leaving Caitlin off the roster. They claimed it was due to certain criteria:

“You know, essentially it was the committee’s job to pick the 12 that, um, you know, based on our selection criteria…”

 

By excluding Caitlin, they basically implied she didn’t meet their criteria. Now, here’s why that’s completely absurd. Take a look at the latest MVP ladder: Napheesa Collier from the Minnesota Lynx sits at number three, A’ja Wilson of the Las Vegas Aces is at number one, and right between them, at number two, is Caitlin Clark. What they’re essentially saying is that arguably the second-best player in the league wasn’t good enough to make the team.

This is someone who just took a bottom-tier team and turned them into a playoff contender. Since June, she’s led them to become the third-best team in the league. Caitlin Clark’s dominance on the court is making the WNBA’s critics look foolish, to be honest.

Next up is arguably Caitlin’s biggest hater: Angel Reese. It’s no secret that Angel has a strong dislike for her. From the 2023 NCAA Championship to early in the WNBA, when Angel smacked Caitlin on the head and cheered on teammates who assaulted her, to All-Star Weekend where she shot a half-court three right after Caitlin missed and celebrated with the entire team except Caitlin, Angel clearly has a grudge.

Anyway, Caitlin definitely got her revenge in the WNBA, dominating Angel’s Chicago Sky with a 3-1 season series win in their rookie year. But the real statement came in their final meeting, where Caitlin delivered the most damage. The Rookie of the Year award, along with so much more, was on the line in that game, and Caitlin absolutely delivered, crushing it when it mattered most.

In this game, Caitlin proved to the world that there’s an ocean between her and Angel, that they’re not even in the same category when it comes to basketball. Caitlin had already racked up 31 points and 13 assists when she left the game with 3:52 remaining in the fourth, sitting comfortably on a 27-point lead. Meanwhile, at that same point, Angel had just five points and nine rebounds. The difference was undeniable.

On top of dominating the game, Caitlin was having a blast on the bench, sipping Gatorade and dancing, while Angel Reese was left stat-padding, chasing a double-double. People around the world took notice of Angel’s actions during the game, and social media lit up, calling her a stat-padder, among other criticisms. This game cemented Caitlin Clark as an absolute megastar while making Angel Reese look like a desperate stat-chaser. It was the perfect revenge for Caitlin against someone who’s been hating on her from day one.

One of the last haters of Caitlin Clark is none other than WNBA legend Sheryl Swoopes. In a previous episode of Gils Arena, Sheryl appeared as a guest and didn’t hold back, taking the opportunity to trash-talk Caitlin:

“She’s killing them, but you have a 25-year-old playing against 20-year-olds. You should be killing them. Caitlin Clark right now probably takes about 40 shots a game. If you’re going to break a record, to me, if it’s done with integrity, then you earn it.”

 

Essentially, she was accusing Caitlin of breaking records illegitimately, even calling into question her character and suggesting she lacked integrity. And yet, it’s funny because Caitlin was hardly known as a record-breaker in college, while Sheryl was setting records left and right. At one point in the NCAA, Sheryl scored 47 points in a single game. Yet now, here she is accusing Caitlin of taking too many shots and not playing with integrity.

Fortunately, Caitlin didn’t let this faze her, and she let her performances on the court do all the talking.