Caitlin Clark and Sue Bird (Photos via Getty Images and @SarahSpain/X)
WNBA legend Sue Bird has discussed the perceived hate Caitlin Clark has had to deal with ahead of the rookie’s first All-Star Game appearance.
Clark, an All-Star in her first season, didn’t seem to receive a warm welcome after the Indiana Fever made her the No. 1 overall pick in April. However, Bird thinks most people misinterpreted the message they got from the league’s veterans.
The former Seattle Storm star was a guest on the new ‘Good Game with Sarah Spain’ podcast this week and insisted that players were only showing their competitive side.
“Caitlin will go down as, whatever you want to call it, the one who made the change, this pivotal person,” Bird said.
“She will, 100 percent. But in other leagues … it was never like when LeBron (James) came, ‘Oh, Michael Jordan didn’t matter.’ And for some reason that happened, and it caused this whole thing. When the reality was, no player felt that way toward Caitlin, everybody was very welcoming and inviting, and they mistook competitive talk for hate, with hating on somebody.
“There is a thin line there, and some people do both, but I think the majority of WNBA players, with their play, with their talk, it was just competition.”
WNBA great @S10Bird tells “Good Game with Sarah Spain” about the “The Caitlin Clark Effect” and some of the ways the Fever rookie’s first season in the WNBA has sparked a lot of loud wrong takes.
Full interview: https://t.co/8gTwQrMB4b
pic.twitter.com/j3PBtGQF4p— Sarah Spain (@SarahSpain) July 19, 2024
Things Have Calmed Down Around Caitlin Clark
The storm around Caitlin Clark seems to have abated in recent times. She isn’t making the news for receiving hard fouls or some veteran taking a shot at her. Most of the chatter pertains to the Rookie of the Year race with her rival Angel Reese.
The former Iowa guard heads into the All-Star and Olympic break, averaging 17.1 points, 8.2 assists, and 5.8 rebounds again, with the Fever also playing a lot better lately.
She also just broke the WNBA’s record for the most assists in a single game with 19.
Fans are looking forward to seeing how she handles her first All-Star appearance.
Judge Rules Tyreek Hill Is The Father Of Little Girl With Fourth Baby Mama, Giving Him 12 Children Just Weeks After His Wife’s Pregnancy Announcement
Keeta Vaccaro, Tyreek Hill and Kimberly Kaylee Baker (Photos via Getty Images & @carrissadanea/Instagram)
This week, the Daily Mail reported that a Florida court declared the Miami Dolphins star wide receiver the father of a little girl, bringing his total to possibly four different baby mamas and over ten children.
Kimberly Kaylee Baker, 30, filed the paternity suit after her daughter was born in May 2023. She claimed the child was conceived after hooking up with Hill back in August 2022. Baker says Hill had been giving her $2,000 per month to support the child, but claims she requires $10,000 to properly care for her daughter.
Hill did not contest the results of the DNA test. Instead, his legal team argued that Baker, who resides in California, had no right to file the petition in Florida, where Hill currently lives.
His wellness influencer wife, Keeta Vaccaro, announced in May that she was expecting after she posted a picture of an ultrasound. Hill and Vaccaro have had their share of problems, with the couple filing for divorce earlier this year just to reconcile.
