Women's Fastbreak On SI

Sue Bird Refutes Racist Label Put on Caitlin Clark and Fever Fans

WNBA legend Sue Bird set the record straight when it comes to Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever's fanbase being called "racist" by members of the WNBA community.

Grant Young

Sep 22, 2024; Uncasville, Connecticut, USA; Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (22) looks at the video board in the fourth quarter against Connecticut Sun during game one of the first round of the 2024 WNBA Playoffs at Mohegan Sun Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark Smith-Imagn Images
Sep 22, 2024; Uncasville, Connecticut, USA; Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (22) looks at the video board in the fourth quarter against Connecticut Sun during game one of the first round of the 2024 WNBA Playoffs at Mohegan Sun Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark Smith-Imagn Images / Mark Smith-Imagn Images

One of the most common discussions around women's basketball right now is about Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever's fanbase.

While this narrative has been present all season long, it reached a fever pitch when Connecticut Sun standout Alyssa Thomas and her head coach Stephanie White addressed racist and sexist comments the team has allegedly received from Fever fans after their WNBA playoff series against Indiana.

This led to other WNBA players saying similar things about Indiana's fanbase and has made the atmosphere at Fever games a polarizing topic.

But WNBA legend Sue Bird set the record straight about these claims during Wednesday's episode of the "A Touch More" podcast.

"That has to go. That actually has to go," Bird said about Fever fans being called racist and toxic. "I understand why, at times, it has been used. It's kind of just when you're in an interview and you get asked a question, it's kind of easy to go, 'Oh, the Fever fanbase. Oh, these Caitlin fans. Oh, these new fans.' It has to go.

"Because it's not the Fever fans. It's not the Caitlin fans. It is a large group of people... and what we're talking about, as we get into the meat of this, we're talking about the faction of that group that is pushing racist agendas, and is pushing hate, and creating divisiveness online acting as fans, acting as Fever fans, acting as Caitlin fans," Bird continued.

"Now whether or not they like basketball, I don't know. But that's the group of people we're talking about. Not all Fever fans, not all new fans. Just the ones that are out there pushing this s***."

Per usual, Bird is infusing much-needed truth into this toxic discourse.

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Grant Young
GRANT YOUNG

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.

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