Fox Sports commentator Nick Wright believes racists have used Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark as a way to “terrorize” the Black women of the WNBA.

Following the second and final playoff game between the Fever and the Connecticut Sun, Sun forward Alyssa Thomas talked about the racist harassment she and other players have received from Fever fans throughout the season. That inspired others across the league to reveal how the increased attention on the WNBA this season has come at the cost of having to endure more harassment.

That reality showed itself ahead of Game 2 between the Sun and the Fever. After Sun guard DiJonai Carrington accidentally hit Clark in the eye in Game 1, some accused Carrington of intentionally trying to hurt her. The 26-year-old received hate mail for the incident, and a heckling fan attended Game 2 wearing a shirt that read “ban nails” in reference to the acrylic nails Carrington often wears.

On Wright’s podcast What’s Wright, he claimed that those people aren’t Clark fans or even fans of the WNBA.

“On that bandwagon were folks that weren’t fans of basketball, that weren’t even actual fans of Caitlin Clark,” he said. “They were fans of what they thought Caitlin could represent, which was the humbling of Black women. And you got this cavalcade of open, unabashed racists who tried to put a hood of Caitlin Clark fandom, and on social internet — and last night, in person — tried their best to terrorize her opposition. And while I have said I think it’d be better for everyone not to read their social media feeds, that’s easier said than done; and DiJonai got a damn email from somebody saying, basically, ‘Hope you die.'”

On Friday morning, Clark condemned the “hateful” comments, claiming those responsible are “trolls” and not real fans.

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The post Fox Sports’s Nick Wright Slams ‘Open, Unabashed Racists’ for Posing as Caitlin Clark Fans to ‘Terrorize’ WNBA Players first appeared on Mediaite.

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