Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark appeared to quickly shake off her team’s loss to the Dallas Wings on Saturday, May 9, walking out on stage with country singer Morgan Wallen later that night.
It was an undeniably cool moment for the Fever guard, but some fans weren’t pleased to see her out and about after a 107-104 loss in which she missed what would have been a game-tying three with 7.1 seconds remaining.
“I’m sorry.. you didn’t get back on defense and Paige [Bueckers] drops 20 on you,” one user wrote via X. “Plus you miss a 3 at the end and take an L. Do better.”
Though Clark, 24, scored 20 points and dished out seven assists against the WIngs, it didn’t come easily. She also had five turnovers, committed four fouls and made just two of her nine three-point attempts in her first regular season game since last July. (Clark missed most of the second half of last season as she battled a variety of injuries.)
Fans weren’t just criticizing Clark for rubbing elbows with a celebrity after a loss. Many took issue with her interacting with Wallen, 32, specifically, due to his use of a racial slur in a video shared by TMZ in 2021.
“She walks out with a racist? Not a good look,” an X user wrote.
“…. Yeah I ain’t defending this one, very disappointed,” another added.
Wallen, for his part, apologized for using the slur days after the video surfaced.
“I used an unacceptable and inappropriate racial slur that I wish I could take back. There are no excuses to use this type of language, ever. I want to sincerely apologize for using the word. I promise to do better,” he said in a statement.
Clark will be back on the court on Wednesday, May 13, when the Fever hit the road to face the Los Angeles Sparks. Though she’s still shaking the rust off from her injury, she told reporters before the season started that she is “100 percent” healthy.
“I’m a person that doesn’t want to sit out a single rep, like I want to be in there every single time,” she said during training camp in April.
“I love competing and I love playing. None of that has changed,” Clark added. “But I think just being a little bit smarter with my body and understanding what that takes…whether that’s recovery, whether that’s pre-court treatment, whatever it is.”
Looking back on last season, where she was forced to sit on the sidelines as the Fever eventually lost to the Las Vegas Aces in the WNBA playoffs, Clark called it a “humbling experience.”
“It gives me a good perspective on how to be a great teammate and a great leader,” she said.
