Former Iowa star Caitlin Clark is now with the Indiana Fever of the WNBA and let there be no mistake, she is big news there and beloved by basketball fans everywhere. And some of those fans are sportswriters and that's OK. Not a thing wrong with it.
But it's one thing for a fan to make a heart shape with their hands in Clark's direction. It's quite another for a sports columnist. But that is what sports columnist Gregg Doyel of the Indianapolis Star did at the Fever press conference featuring Clark.
Doyle began his question by making the hand-heart-shaped gesture in Clark's direction. Clark directs that same gesture toward her family after games.
"You like that?" Clark asked, smiling, when she noticed Doyel's hand gesture.
"I like that you're here," Doyel responded, repeating that sentence.
Clark seemed a little surprised by the exchange.
"I do that at my family after every game, so pretty cool," she said, handling it like a pro's pro.
That's when Doyel took it a step further.
"Start doing it to me and we'll get along just fine," he told her.
Reporter: ?
Caitlin Clark: "You like that?"
Reporter: "I like that you're here."
Caitlin: "Yeah, I do that at my family after every game.?
Reporter: "Start doing it to me and we'll get along just fine."
Caitlin: ?
(via @IndianaFever / YT)pic.twitter.com/BBjU881K7a
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) April 17, 2024
Doyel has been a sportswriter, and a good one, for a very long time. He used to be a columnist at CBS Sports, and if he hasn't won any awards for his writing at the Indy Star, he should.
But he knows better than to put Clark in such a weird position when the talk should be nothing but Clark, the Fever, and WNBA basketball. He made himself part of the story.
Doyel realized all this and later apologized.
"After going through denial, and then anger - I'm on the wrong side of this? Me??? - I now realize what I said and how I said it was wrong, wrong, wrong. I mean it was just wrong," Doyel wrote.
"Caitlin Clark, I'm so sorry."
Today in my uniquely oafish way, while welcoming @CaitlinClark22 to Indy, I formed my hands into her signature ?. My comment afterward was clumsy and awkward. I sincerely apologize. Please know my heart (literally and figuratively) was well-intentioned. I will do better.
— Gregg Doyel (@GreggDoyelStar) April 17, 2024
Doyel added: "In my haste to be clever, to be familiar and welcoming (or so I thought), I offended Caitlin and her family."
And probably a lot of others.
But hopefully, both sides can move on. Clark will certainly be focused on what's made her famous, and what fans are waiting for — to watch her play basketball at the next level. As Clark might say herself, "pretty cool."
