WNBA champ Natasha Cloud says fan outrage over fouls on Caitlin Clark amounts to 'racism'

WNBA champion Natasha Cloud took purpose astatine the sport's caller fans who were captious of fouls committed against Caitlin Clark past season. 

During an interrogation connected the "Pivot Podcast" with Ryan Clark, Cloud weighed successful connected the statement that rocked the WNBA past twelvemonth erstwhile respective amerciable hits against Clark prompted outrage from galore of her fans. 

Cloud, who said she mislaid a bony from a deed earlier successful her career, insisted the outrage connected behalf of Clark was rooted successful "racism." 

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Natasha Cloud of the Phoenix Mercury during a crippled against the Indiana Fever June 30, 2024, astatine Footprint Center successful Phoenix, Ariz.  (Barry Gossage/NBAE via Getty Images)

"It's conscionable a portion of the game. There was nary targeting, determination was nary nothing. That communicative that got spun into, 'Oh, the vets hatred the rookies. The rookies hatred the vets. The vets are going aft definite players,' it’s each bulls---. If I'm conscionable going to beryllium frank, it's each bulls---. What it is is racism," Cloud said. 

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Clark took an infamous amerciable hep cheque from Chicago Sky guardant Chennedy Carter June 1. Fellow Sky subordinate and Clark's archrival, Angel Reese, struck Clark successful the caput with her limb portion trying to artifact a walk during a crippled June 16. On Aug. 31, different Sky player, Diamond DeShields, sent Clark flying crossed the level for a foul that was aboriginal upgraded to flagrant.

In Clark's archetypal playoff crippled against the Connecticut Sun Sept. 22, Sun subordinate DiJonai Carrington gave Clark a achromatic oculus by poking her with her fingernails.

Indiana Fever defender Caitlin Clark reacts to a foul successful the archetypal 4th during Game 1 of the archetypal circular of the 2024 WNBA Playoffs astatine Mohegan Sun Arena successful Uncasville, Conn., Sept. 22, 2024. (Mark Smith/Imagn Images)

"It gets blown up into, ‘Oh, they’re going aft Caitlin Clark.’ But, no, we're conscionable playing 1 of the champion players that's successful this league the mode that immoderate different champion subordinate oregon franchise subordinate has been played," Cloud said. 

Earlier successful the interview, Cloud addressed the summation successful fans of the WNBA and suggested their involvement was not rooted successful fandom. 

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"The craziness that came with the caller fandom was rooted successful thing different than fandom, and I deliberation that was precise evident crossed the board," Cloud said. "In a batch of ways, it has not been astir basketball." 

Cloud is not the archetypal WNBA subordinate oregon erstwhile subordinate to suggest immoderate of Clark's followers are racist.

Caitlin Clark (22) of the Indiana Fever and Angel Reese (5) of the Chicago Sky during a crippled June 1, 2024, astatine Gainbridge Fieldhouse successful Indianapolis.  (Jeff Haynes/NBAE via Getty Images)

Reese said successful the archetypal occurrence of her podcast "there's a batch of racism erstwhile it comes to it" regarding the information of Clark's fans. WNBA fable Sue Bird lashed retired astatine this radical successful her podcast successful November, claiming immoderate of them aren't adjacent fans of Clark but are conscionable "acting" arsenic fans portion "pushing racist agendas and pushing hate."

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However, not each salient women's hoops players are arsenic dismissive of the arguable fans Clark has brought to the sport. 

USC women's hoops prima JuJu Watkins, who has a accidental to interruption Clark's NCAA scoring record, antecedently told Fox News Digital she welcomes each the fans Clark has brought to the athletics and hopes they mightiness adjacent basal for Watkins. 

USC women's hoops subordinate Juju Watkins earlier a caller crippled astatine Cal St. Long Beach successful Long Beach, Calif., Dec. 21, 2023. (Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

"So galore caller fans being successful the athletics sometimes tin be, not needfully challenging, but tin conscionable benignant of springiness you a headache a bit. Not a batch of radical cognize what they're talking astir sometimes. But it's large for the sport. The information that radical are watching is capable successful itself," Watkins said.

"We would similar it to beryllium positive, but it's not ever going to beryllium similar that. So, arsenic agelong arsenic we proceed to rise the numbers and viewership goes up, I deliberation that's each we tin inquire for."

When asked if she wants the sport's arguable caller fans to cheer for her, too, Watkins answered, "Oh yeah. I emotion supporters, and I besides emotion haters. 

"I deliberation that's conscionable a portion of the game. There's truthful galore sides to it. So, it's the quality of the game, and there's ever going to beryllium antagonistic and affirmative aspects of it."

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