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Indiana Fever head coach Stephanie White is not a fan of her star guard Caitlin Clark being dragged into the beef between Minnesota Lynx star Napheesa Collier and WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert.
Collier brought Clark into the fray last week when she said that she asked Engelbert how she planned to fix the fact that players like Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese, and Paige Bueckers are making so little money during their first four years in the WNBA and Engelbert’s response was, ‘Caitlin should be grateful she makes $60 million off the court because without the platform the WNBA gives her, she wouldn’t make anything.'”
The WNBA commissioner would later deny that she said anything negative about Caitlin Clark, saying, “Obviously, I did not make those comments. Caitlin has been a transformational player in this league. She’s been a great representative of the game. She’s brought in tens of millions of new fans to the game, proud of what she’s put on the court, unfortunately, the injuries held her back from a full season this year. … I think what Indiana just did was amazing with all the injuries they had, and everything they faced this year and bringing that to a Game 5 and overtime. But yeah, as I said, there’s a lot of inaccuracies reported out there, and I certainly did not say that.”
Fever head coach hates Caitlin Clark being used as a ‘pawn’
Stephanie White, during a recent appearance on Query & Company on 107.5 The Fan in Indianapolis, addressed Caitlin Clark being pulled into the discussion by other people.
“I hate it all for Caitlin. You know, I feel like, she’s a 23-year-old kid who loves to play this game who is a pawn in a lot of other people’s games, and a lot of other people’s narratives,” White said. “And I hate that for her.”
“She is so mature for her age,” Stephanie White continued. “I mean, think back to when we were 23-years-old. Holy cow … But she’s so mature. She has people in her corner and people that can help her. She gets it. She understands the big picture.
“We’ll have conversations. I’ve been in in a very small way, in some of the situations that she’s been in. Certainly not with with social media and all of that stuff, but we’ve got players and staff that that have played in this league.
“But no one outside of a Tiger Woods, a Serena Williams, you can probably name just maybe a handful more of athletes who have been the game changers and who have experienced what Caitlin Clark is experiencing. (Other than them), no one can really relate to what she’s going through.
“I think the biggest thing is we can be there for her. We can offer perspective and do what we can to help deflect and navigate. But at the same time, it’s a life that she has to lead. And I think she does it admirably. I’m not sure that that myself at at 23-years-old or myself at 48-years-old could do it in the same way that she does with so much grace and humility.”