Caitlin Clark had been sidelined for the past few weeks after suffering a left quadriceps injury. While she was sidelined, the only discussion in the media was regarding how the WNBA viewership fell drastically in her absence. But as soon as she returned, so did the good, the bad, and the ugly side of media narratives.
On one hand, she made a resounding comeback from injury that even had LeBron James going gaga over her. She scored 9 points in 38 seconds with three long-range bombs. On the other hand, couch critics and media figures now have the chance to find some fault in her one way or another. But this time, they may have found something genuinely concerning.
In her most recent game against the New York Liberty, they handed the defending champions their first defeat of the season. During the game, however, Clark was spotted visibly unhappy with her teammate, Natasha Howard.
Caitlin Clark’s body language on this possession. 😬 pic.twitter.com/7eLRIKObiq
— Storm Chasers (@WNBAStormChaser) June 14, 2025
Clark finished the game with 32 points, 8 rebounds, and 9 assists. This incident went viral as fans deliberated whether Clark was right to be unhappy with Howard on this. However, despite those assists, this incident has prompted some WNBA fans to criticize her for being selfish.
“I’m a fan of hers, but she gets mad when her teammates take shots sometimes lol it’s wild,” wrote an X user.
“Steph Curry threw his mouthpiece after Jordan Poole shot the ball instead of passing it to him when he was wide open, and we didn’t see these takes,” wrote another X user calling out the public bias against Clark.
“That’s almost every star player when they don’t get the ball,” wrote a fan in Clark’s defense.
Caitlin really gotta work on that body language. pic.twitter.com/AA9KL1tFdo
— KevÃn (@KevOnStage) June 14, 2025
“Ya but she was right. The better play was to kick it out. Her team takes a ton of off-balance, not squared-up shots. That said, the body language has to be better. Discuss that shit behind closed doors,” wrote a basketball fan on X saying that the Fever should be discussing their internal issues behind closed doors instead of making it visible on the court like this. To the fan, it seems very unsportsmanlike of Clark to act out like this on the court.
“Yeah, that’s not going away. Bron still does it to this day, and he’ll tell the coach to sub you out lol,” wrote another fan who even compared Clark to LeBron James in terms of what superstars expect in the game.
“Kobe got upset, too, when Bums wouldn’t pass him back the ball. When you are that good at your craft, you start to feel selfish at times. I get it. I’d rather watch her with a mamba mentality than her average 15 assists. Same reason I like watching Steph Curry. They just know to get him back the ball, hahah”, said another basketball fan on X.
Is Caitlin Clark’s Criticism Warranted?
In my opinion, the 9 assists in the game destroy all claims that she plays selfishly. Additionally, superstars like Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant have been famous for hogging the most important shot of any game.
In a Phil Handy interview with All The Smoke podcast, he even famously narrated that Kobe Bryant story where he openly admitted he doesn’t pass the ball to players whose work ethic he doesn’t respect. And he is revered for having such an approach to the game. Yet even he underwent multiple conflicts with his teammates over it before he truly flourished as a superstar with the Lakers.
This is why CAITLIN CLARK isn't on Team USA. This is why CAITLIN CLARK only played 20 minutes today. Her bad attitude, bad decision making, poor body language. I'm surprised she even got to play 20 minutes as is! Bench her ass and play someone who wants to compete pic.twitter.com/R0QUjXfZzH
— Hoopin' 4 Life (@HoopsJunki3) June 11, 2024
Similarly, since this is not the first time Clark’s body language has been called out, it is clear that Clark is moving towards embracing that superstar role of calling the shots on the court. But will embracing that role also lead to conflict with her teammates, like it did with Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal? But for now, one thing remains clear to me: she is embracing that she is the alpha-dog of this team and does not deserve to be criticized for it.
