If you think Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark’s rise over the last four years—from Des Moines-area high school basketball star to one of the most transcendent college athletes ever—has been the stuff of Disney movies, you are not alone.
Disney+ will debut in the live sports space next Tuesday by airing Clark’s WNBA regular season debut, ESPN toldThe Hollywood Reporter Tuesday.
The Fever are slated to open their season against the Connecticut Sun, one of four games scheduled for the league’s first day. A second matchup between the Phoenix Mercury and Las Vegas Aces will also air on Disney+.
These two games will be the first traditional live sporting events to air on Disney+, barring a pair of themed animated telecasts of NFL and NHL games.
Clark was selected with the No. 1 pick by Indiana in the WNBA draft out of Iowa on April 15, part of a heralded rookie class that includes Chicago Sky forward Angel Reese and Los Angeles Sparks forward Cameron Brink.
Gregg Doyel, a longtime sportswriter with the Indy Star, has been suspended for two weeks and will not cover any Indiana Fever games this season after his press conference incident with Caitlin Clark, according to a report from Bob Kravitz.
Kravitz, a former writer at the Indy Star himself, broke the news on his Substack on Tuesday. Doyel has not published a column since April 29, despite the Pacers being in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
Doyel would not comment on the incident or related suspension when reached by Kravitz for comment. He is expected to return to work on Monday, May 13.
Doyel's discipline stems from Clark's introductory press conference with the Fever on April 17. During the press conference, he began a question by giving Clark her patented heart gesture. When Clark asked if Doyel liked her well-known hand signal, Doyel replied with "Start doing it with me and we'll get along just fine," which led to an uncomfortable look by Clark.
Reporter: 🫶
Caitlin Clark: "You like that?"
Reporter: "I like that you're here."
Caitlin: "Yeah, I do that at my family after every game.”
Reporter: "Start doing it to me and we'll get along just fine."
Doyel was widely criticized in the media for his strange encounter with Clark, so it should come as no surprise that he has been disciplined for his antics.
Caitlin Clark has the entire sports talk industry turned upside down right now. Clark and the Indiana Fever have been playing nonstop since the season started and between the attention and pressure, she has struggledout of the gate. On top of that there's how she's being treated by other teams, which has not been very nicely, culminating in a cheap shot from Chennedy Carter over the weekend.
On Monday's episode of The Pat McAfee Show, the eponymous host got out from behind the desk and did a whole presentation about how important Clark is and how jealous all the haters are. He did this is in a McAfee-specific fashion as he swore on ESPN and identified Clark as the "white b----" who has lifted the entire sport.
Monday's Pat McAfee Show opened with a Caitlin Clark PowerPoint:
"I would like the media people that continue to say, 'This rookie class, this rookie class, this rookie class'. Nah, just call it for what it is — there's one white bitch for the Indiana team who is a superstar." pic.twitter.com/psGNQXts5O
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) June 3, 2024
"I would like the media people that continue to say this rookie class, this rookie class, this rookie class. Nah. Just call it for what it is," said McAfee. "There's one white b---- for this Indiana team who is a superstar. And is it because she stayed in Iowa, put an entire team on her back, took a program from nothing to a multiple-year success story?"
"Is it because she would go on to break the entire points records in the history of the NCAA? Not just the women's by Kelsea Plum - shout out - but also "Pistol" Pete Maravich's. The dude's record as well. Is there a chance that people just like watching her play basketball? Because of how electrifying she is. What she did. What she stood for. How she went about going what she went for? Maybe. But instead we have to hear people say that we only like her because she's white. And she's only popular because the rest of the rookie class is doing what they're doing. That's a bunch of bulls----. And we think the WNBA, more specifically, their refs, need to stop trying to screw her over at every single turn. What you have is somebody special. And we're lucky to have her in Indiana."
McAfee also discussed the "Eminem effect," playing a clip of 50 Cent saying people didn't want to give Eminem credit because he was white. "Let's just take that into the WNBA situation," said McAfee. "That it is just a bunch of racist people who will only watch if a white superstar is there." Then the show put up pictures of Diana Taurasi, Sabrina Ionescu, Kelsey Plum and Breanna Stewart. "I think what we're trying to say is what the WNBA currently has is what we like to describe as a cash cow. There is a superstar."
All-in-all, a very colorful presentation by McAfee, who continues to make it clear that he can do whatever he wants on ESPN. Including defending Clark by trying to make sense of why so many people apparently hate her. By whatever means necessary.
The foul was originally issued an away-from-ball foul, but it was later changed to a Flagrant 1 after a WNBA review. Carter refused to answer any questions about Clark in her post-game media session, so it's unclear what caused the incident.
Carter didn't keep her silence for too long regarding the situation, as she posted a comment about Clark on Threads on Sunday. The comment was clearly a dig at Clark, who was the No. 1 WNBA draft pick in April.
"Beside three point shooting what does she bring to the table man," Carter wrote.
There seems to be some tension on and off the court now between some of the players.
The foul itself sparked a frenzy on social media, with Fever coach Christie Sides even adding her thoughts on the "unacceptable" foul. She even posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, asking for something to be done about fouls like this.
This is unacceptable @wnba When will the consistent complaints be heard?!? Something has to be done! https://t.co/QVf1vHA5l4
