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Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark is still getting used to all the attention and press that comes with being a celebrity. That celebrity status just got even bigger, as Clark was named Tuesday as Time Magazine's Athlete of the Year.
Clark says it can be very weird to handle all that attention.
“I tell people I feel like the most controversial person,” Clark said, per the magazine. “But I am not. It’s just because of all the storylines that surround me. I literally try to live and treat everybody in the same exact respectful, kind way. It just confuses me at times.”
One of those storylines is that Clark is an amazing basketball player, which she is. The Fever star just finished her rookie season with the WNBA franchise. Clark had a very successful campaign, averaging more than 19 points and eight assists a contest. She set the WNBA rookie record for assists, as well as some other amazing marks.
Clark was named the WNBA Rookie of the Year.
Caitlin Clark is getting used to fame
The WNBA player is not just a basketball star. She's also followed around on the golf course, and given a great deal of attention when she goes out in public. Clark made headlines when it was revealed this offseason she was taking golf lessons, after the season ended for the Fever.
“She’s box office,” former WNBA player and Atlanta Dream co-owner Renee Montgomery said.
Clark says that sometimes it's difficult to hear some of the things that are said about her. She says rumors and speculation don't tell the full story of the person she is.
“It’s not something I can control … and to be honest, I don’t see a lot of it,” Clark told The Athletic, which was also reported in the Time Magazine interview.
There has been some positive impact from her celebrity status. WNBA television ratings for games skyrocketed this season, and Fever games drew big viewing numbers. Attendance also increased in the WNBA, although the league lost money overall.
There has been a lot mentioned in the press about Clark's race and how it affects her celebrity status.
“All of this is really speaking to something much larger than Caitlin Clark,” says Theresa Runstedtler, a scholar of African American history at American University. “It's speaking to our unresolved issues about race, gender, and sexuality in American society, at this particularly fraught moment in our political landscape.”
It seems that attention is something Caitlin Clark is getting used to.
