Fans Have Strongly-Worded Response to Outlandish Reporter Comments Toward Caitlin Clark

Caitlin Clark / Indianapolis Star-USA TODAY NETW

During Caitlin Clark’s introductory press conference with the Indiana Fever on Wednesday, IndyStar sports columnist Gregg Doyel created an incredibly awkward moment that has since gone viral.

Rather than pose a legitimate question to the No. 1 WNBA draft pick, Doyel mimed a heart shape with his hands, which is the former Iowa Hawkeye guard’s signature pose she gives to her family in the stands during her basketball games.

“You like that?” Clark asked of the gesture to fill the silence, to which Doyle responded: “I like that you’re here.” When the two-time Naismith Women’s College Player of the Year explained that she makes the heart shape with her hands at the end of every game to acknowledge her loved ones, Doyle retorted, “Start doing it to me and we’ll get along just fine.”

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."

Caitlin: 😳

(via @IndianaFever / YT)pic.twitter.com/BBjU881K7a

— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) April 17, 2024

The inappropriate and sexist moment has rightfully drawn critique, and plenty of social media users are calling out Doyel for his grossly unprofessional behavior. Despite the fact that he apologized on X (referring to his behavior as “oafish”) while plugging the column he wrote about the incident (where he opened with “I’m devastated to realize I’m part of the problem”), many believe he’s still majorly missing the mark.

“Framing this as being an oaf or awkward is completely missing the point,” sportswriter Maggie Hendricks stated. “It was completely unprofessional and broke the trust players should be able to have in the media who cover them. Take a step back and for f---- sake don’t turn this into a column.”

“Gregg, all due respect, your apology continues to miss a big part of the point and ‘that’s just the way I am’ is not an excuse for anyone above the age of 5 years old,” one person noted.

“Almost every one of my women colleagues & students in sport media and sports journalism are sharing that clip of Gregg Doyel and Caitlin Clark with disgust. We are rightly furious and fed up,” sports journalist Shireen Ahmed wrote. “His creds should be revoked and offered to an unentitled journalist who respects women.”

During the very same press conference, Doyel asked Fever head coach Christie Sides, “You just were given the keys to that, what are you gonna do with it?” Both “that” and “it” were in reference to Clark.