Caitlin Clark’s introductory press conference with the Indiana Fever was once meant to be about one of the vital impactful women in college sports historical past becoming a member of the pro ranks.
Instead, it was about one reporter’s awkward, and sexist, trade with the No. 1 pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft, which went viral on Wednesday, April 17.
Indianapolis Star columnist Gregg Doyel, who does no longer incessantly cover the WNBA, requested Clark, 22, about a heart-shaped hand gesture she’s known for making on the courtroom.
‘You like that?” Clark requested him.
“I like that you’re right here,” Doyel replied.
When Clark mentioned she makes that gesture to her family after video games, Doyel stated, “Start doing it to me and we’ll get along simply high-quality.”
The clip went viral, and Doyel went into injury regulate mode, posting via X Wednesday afternoon, “Today in my uniquely oafish approach, while welcoming @CaitlinClark22 to Indy, I formed my arms into her signature 🫶. My comment in a while used to be clumsy and awkward. I sincerely apologize. Please know my coronary heart (actually and figuratively) was well-intentioned. I will do better.”
He followed that up with a column that he started with, “I’m devastated to notice I’m part of the problem” and concluded through saying, “Caitlin Clark, I’m so sorry.”
Fans and media alike took to X on Wednesday, blasting Doyel for the trade, calling him “creepy” and “unprofessional.” Others pointed out that this used to be not the only awkward interaction Doyel had on Wednesday, just the one person who went viral.
He later requested Fever head trainer Christie Sides about Clark, referring to the basketball phenom as “that” and “it.”
“You have been just given the keys to that. What are you going to do with it?” he asked Sides, 47.
The Athletic’s Dana O’Neil pointed out that Doyel, for no matter explanation why, discovered it appropriate to make a heart hand gesture toward Clark that he almost certainly would no longer make toward a male athlete.
“Sometimes existence isn’t onerous,” she wrote by way of X. “If, for instance, as a professional, moral, unbiased reporter it might not happen to you [to] make a coronary heart at, say, Victor Wembanyama, don’t make one at Caitlin Clark.”
The Next’s Howard Megdal added that interactions like this erode the accept as true with between media and athletes — a topic that is frequently the center for debate in WNBA media circles.
“I am angered and sickened via this,” he wrote. “It is incumbent upon newshounds to come to press meetings with wisdom and appreciate. And gamers can not, and will have to now not, be treated this fashion. This is a problem way past this specific dynamic. So many of us paintings each and every 2nd to construct agree with.”
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This isn't the first time Doyel has discovered himself under fireplace for making beside the point comments. Users on X temporarily unearthed plenty of lewd feedback he has made on the web site, together with one a couple of column he wrote about LeBron James in 2010.
“Just realized my LeBron column references masturbation, gang bangs and oral intercourse,” he wrote. “Damn. I’m twisted.”
Clark, meanwhile, has masses to be aware of excluding a viral trade with a reporter. Not most effective is she gearing up for her first season of professional basketball, she’s also reportedly on the verge of signing an eight-figure sneaker deal with Nike.
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