Last Saturday, ESPN's College Gameday returned to Iowa City for the first time in decades, and former Iowa star Caitlin Clark made a special appearance as the guest picker ahead of the Hawkeyes' 31-14 loss to the Ohio State Buckeyes. As a result, Clark was not in attendance for the Indiana Fever's exit interviews, which took place while she was on TV. Clark has never been one to avoid the media, though, and she returned to Indianapolis on Thursday for her exit interview, which lasted just over 20 minutes and covered a wide range of topics, including fan interactions, Kelsey Mitchell's impending free agency and Clark's own contract extension decision.
Here are some key takeaways from what will likely be the last time we'll hear from Clark for months. Fan behavior, both in person and online, has been a near-constant topic in the WNBA discourse since Clark entered the league, and it flared up again during Game 2 of the Fever's first-round playoff series with the Las Vegas Aces when A'ja Wilson confronted a fan who had pointed at her after a foul call. Fever general manager Amber Cox stood up for Fever fans during her exit interview last Saturday, saying, "the attacks on our fan base have no basis in reality, and they need to stop, especially from members of the media." A short time later, however, Mitchell, who has spent her entire career in Indiana, stated during her own exit interview that how she's treated by fans has been weighing on her.
"Showing up every day to compete for fans that may or may not like you is hard," Mitchell said. "I think this organization is unbelievable, man, but I think that when it comes to, like, really trying to be yourself, it hasn't always been easy." On Thursday, Clark said that hearing Mitchell's comments "makes you upset because you care about your teammates so much, and you don't want any of them to go through something like that." She added that "there is such a microscope on me," which "comes with a lot of really great things, and then at times there can be some negatives." Speaking more generally, Clark denounced any fans who use her name for the wrong reasons. "As far as people that have used me to demonstrate racist rhetoric or hate or discrimination, that's not something I stand for," Clark said.
"That's never been something I've stood for. For those of you that know me, that's not what I'm about, that's not how I was raised, so that's really disappointing when people do that." Mitchell only signed a one-year deal last offseason and will be an unrestricted free agent this winter. There have been plenty of questions about her future, and she said during her exit interview that she will be "selfish" about the process as she enters the back half of her prime.
Clark made it clear that she and the organization will do whatever it takes to convince Mitchell to re-sign. "As far as Kelsey and her future with her organization, I think she knows how much I love her. We've talked since the season has ended.
There's nobody I would want to share the backcourt with other than her," Clark said. "I think we had the best season of any backcourt in the WNBA in the league's history. I often tell her I feel like I have the best seat in the house every single night.
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