Cheryl Miller's Refreshing Caitlin Clark Support Resurfaces After WNBA Rookie Season
Women's basketball legend Cheryl Miller is one of the most respected figures in the entire sport.
This could be seen while she served as head coach of Team WNBA at the 2024 WNBA All-Star Game, when the squad defeated Cheryl Reeve's Team USA roster by a score of 117-109.
While Miller clearly wanted to beat Team USA in that game, her main mission that weekend appeared to be ensuring a positive experience for the All-Stars she was coaching — most notably, rookies Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese.
In fact, Miller has always supported the WNBA's two (now former) rookie sensations. This was proven by a wholesome story Miller shared about Clark during the WNBA's All-Star Weekend, which she initially revealed on a July episode of the "Breakthrough Chronicles" podcast with Kevin Ray that has since resurfaced on social media.
"And I saw that first win can be so shedding of some of that weight, some of that volume, and I gave her the biggest hug that I could," Miller said of Clark. "And when she saw me she was like ‘Oh man, finally somebody who’s on my side.'
"She was getting hit with everything left and right," Miller continued. "And I just said, I hugged her and said, ‘I’m so proud of you. Savor this, use this as a formula, but keep being you. No matter what, keep being you.'"
Miller later added, "I can't imagine, Kevin Ray, what these kids are dealing with, with the social media and the attention. I don't know if I could have been able to handle it. I was too much of a temperamental human being to handle this type of adversity."
cheryl miller on cait: “i gave her the biggest hug that i could. when she saw me she was like ‘oh man, finally someone who’s on my side’. she was getting hit with everything left and right. i just said ‘i’m so proud of you. savor this, use this as a formula, but keep being you’.” pic.twitter.com/bAgkguqEzG
— cancun akgae (@clrkszn) September 28, 2024
While everybody could use a supportive figure like Miller in their life, perhaps none more so than Caitlin Clark.
Grant Young covers Women’s Basketball, the New York Yankees, and the New York Mets for Sports Illustrated’s ‘On SI’ sites. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco (USF), where he also graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing and played on USF’s Division I baseball team for five years. However, he now prefers Angel Reese to Angels in the Outfield.