Samantha Scholtz

Physical Therapist Assistant• Independent Consultant for Rodan + Fields• Certified Personal Trainer•

[Sports Patriot @SportsPatriotUS]

I’m going to say this as calmly as possible:

Watching Caitlin Clark in the WNBA has become genuinely hard to stomach.

Not because she struggles sometimes. Not because she makes mistakes. Not because she gets criticized. That comes with being great.

It’s hard to stomach because it has become obvious that the league, the officials, the media, the players, and even her own organization have all decided that the most important thing is not letting Caitlin Clark become too big.

And that is insane.

This league was handed the most marketable, electric, revenue-generating player women’s basketball has ever seen, and instead of building around the moment, too many people seem obsessed with humbling her.

She gets fouled. Held. Hit. Cheap-shotted. Mocked. Targeted. Then when she reacts like a normal competitor, suddenly everyone wants to analyze her attitude.

No.

Her attitude is not the story.

The story is that a generational player is being treated like a problem by the very league she helped drag into mainstream relevance.

This reminds me of the worst kind of youth coach... the one who sees a special player, feels threatened by her talent, and slowly drains the joy out of her in the name of “teaching humility.”

That is what this looks like.

The freedom she played with at Iowa is disappearing. The fire is still there, but the joy looks damaged. The confidence looks weighed down. She looks like someone constantly fighting the refs, opponents, narratives, coaching decisions, jealousy, and a league culture that should be protecting its golden opportunity instead of resenting it.

And let’s be honest: Stephanie White has not helped.

Benching Caitlin Clark randomly when she is controlling the game tempo, or having your best shooter off the floor in critical game ending minutes when a victory is within reach is basketball malpractice. Limiting her rhythm, downplaying her greatness, benching momentum, and treating her like just another piece instead of the engine is absurd.

You do not take a player who changed the economics of your sport and manage her like you’re afraid her greatness might offend the room.

Nike deserves criticism too. Other players get signature shoes rolled out with urgency, while the biggest draw in women’s basketball is somehow still waiting on that signature shoe. That is not confusing. That is revealing.

Fans are not stupid.

They see the fouls.
They see the double standards.
They see the jealousy.
They see the media resentment.
They see the league benefiting from her popularity while refusing to fully embrace her.
And here is the part the WNBA better understand quickly:
People are not tuning in to watch Caitlin Clark be humbled.
They are tuning in to watch Caitlin Clark be great.
If she walked away tomorrow, the fans would follow her. The sponsors would follow her. The energy would follow her. The high salaries and the charter jets would follow her. And the league would be forced to confront the uncomfortable truth it keeps trying to avoid:

Caitlin Clark did not need the WNBA nearly as much as the WNBA needed Caitlin Clark.

At some point, her family, her agent, and her team need to ask a hard question:

How much longer do you let a league profit from her while allowing the culture around her to beat the spirit out of her?

Because from the outside looking in, this does not look like normal adversity anymore. It looks like abuse.

It looks like a league trying to break the very player who made millions of people care.

https://t.co/AAxFrO46Z4

[Indiana Fever @IndianaFever]

the player with the most 20+ PTS & 10+ AST games in @WNBA history 👀

Caitlin Clark is her.

[Indiana Fever @IndianaFever]

A new record for CC 🤩

Caitlin Clark has set a new @WNBA record for most career games (11) with 20+ points & 10+ assists 📜

[Maine @TheMaineWonk]

🚨 What happens @BernieSanders speaks to a room full of ultra MAGA Trump supporters in West, Virginia?

You find out what we agree on is much more than what we disagree on.

It’s like we are being divided on purpose.

@MorePerfectUS with the video.

https://t.co/k5XBviH9wG

[Brad @BraddrofliT]

Not everyone will agree but... Social media needs to shut down for a year or two so people can go back to being themselves again…
🙌

[Lindsey Cunningham @Lbreezzyy]

.@WNBA maybe you should focus less on fining players for commenting on your poor officiating & more about hiring officials that are able to call a consistent game and protect your athletes. Pathetic. Praying for you .@sophaller 🙏🏼❤️

[Jason Whitlock @jasonwhitlock]

The WNBA has a white girl problem. The WSJ put out an article about the record-breaking year for the WNBA, and had Angel Reese and A’ja Wilson as the cover. While the entire narrative is trying to push the celebration of black women, Caitlin Clark & Sabrina Ionescu take it to the court and knock down buckets.

[Hoop22 @FeverHoop22]

Heart of Caitlin Clark ❤️

She advocated for away team players to get spot bonuses and she never brought it up or tried to take credit for that.

Also listen till the end how impactful she is and what brands say about her.

Thank you @CaitlinClark22

[Bleacher Report @BleacherReport]

Shoutout Caitlin Clark for an UNREAL rookie season 👏

⭐️ First rookie to record a triple-double
⭐️ WNBA record for mosts assists in a season
⭐️ Record for most threes made by a rookie
⭐️ Fastest player to 500 PTS & 200 AST
⭐️ Helped lead Fever to 1st playoff app. since 2016

And she’s just getting started 🔥

(via @WNBA, @IndianaFever)

[Polymarket Hoops @PolymarketHoops]

Caitlin Clark tonight:

25 PTS
6 REB
9 AST

The last rookie in NBA/WNBA playoff history to reach these numbers was Magic Johnson (1980).

[Indiana Fever @IndianaFever]

the full-court pass from Caitlin Clark 😮‍💨
the behind-the-back pass from Kelsey Mitchell 😤
and the finish from NaLyssa Smith 👊

[Polymarket Hoops @PolymarketHoops]

Caitlin Clark now has the most double-doubles by a guard in a single season in WNBA history.

[correlation @nosyone4]

LOOK AT THE WINDOW CAITLIN FITS THIS PASS INTO WTF

[Indiana Fever @IndianaFever]

Caitlin Clark is the first @WNBA player ever to have 25+ points, 10+ assists, 5+ rebounds, 5+ steals, and 5+ three-pointers in a game 👀

[Indiana Fever @IndianaFever]

Generational.

Welcome to Basketball Country, Caitlin Clark.

[Barstool Iowa @BarstoolUIowa]

Thank you @CaitlinClark22

The best to ever wear the black and gold💛🖤

HER, always

[Dave Portnoy @stoolpresidente]

Caitlin Clark is the best woman's college basketball player of all time. Tonight she proved it and avenged last years loss. She put Iowa on her back. It was a pleasure to witness greatness. #iowa

[Keegan’s Burner @KeegansBurner]

At what point do people realize it’s West Virginia’s style of play and not the refs gifting Iowa?

[Jake DeRousse @derousse_4]

Lots of tweets about WVU “making the game a fist fight” followed shorty by “wow the fouls are uneven, game rigged.” It’s almost like if your entire defensive plan is to foul every possession, you’ll be called for more fouls…. #Hawkeyes

[Samantha Scholtz @SamiMichelle]

@barstoolsports The only reasonable comments about this should be “I hope she’s okay” and “this shouldn’t happen to any player”