Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark interrupted a reporter asking a question during a post-game press conference on Thursday night to redirect the media’s attention to teammate Aliyah Boston, who had been seemingly ignored for the first several minutes of their availability.
Clark fielded several questions from the media following the Fever’s 89-77 loss to the Seattle Storm. Five questions were directed at the former Iowa star, as Boston sat beside her.
Aliyah Boston, #7, and Caitlin Clark, #22 of the Indiana Fever, sit on the bench before the game against the Seattle Storm at Climate Pledge Arena on June 27, 2024, in Seattle, Washington. Getty Images
But just as another member of the media began to ask Clark a question, she interrupted.
“Ask Aliyah a question,” she said pointing in her direction.
“No, I’m good,” Boston responded, but Clark insisted.
“Ask Aliyah a question.”
Despite the cold shoulder from the media to start the presser, Boston responded in detail to the questions asked after Clark’s comment.
The attention surrounding Clark’s rise in the WNBA has proven to be a good thing for women’s basketball, but some argue that the league’s sudden rise in popularity has to do with more than just one player.
“It all started from the national championship game,” Chicago Sky rookie Angel Reese said earlier this month.” I’ve been dealing with this for two years now. Understanding, yeah, negative things have probably been said about me, but honestly, I’ll take that because look where women’s basketball is. People are talking about women’s basketball (who) you would never think would be talking about women’s basketball.
“People are pulling up to games. We got celebrities coming to games, sold-out arenas, just because of one single game. And just look at that. I’ll take that role. I’ll take the bad-guy role. And I’ll continue to take that on and be that villain for my teammates. If I wanna be that, I know I’ll go down in history. I’ll look back in 20 years like the reason why we’re watching women’s basketball is not just because of one person. It’s because of me, too. I want y’all to realize that.”
Reese recorded her ninth-straight double-double in Chicago’s 95-83 win over the Las Vegas Aces on Thursday night to tie the WNBA record for most consecutive games with a double-double in a single season.
The WNBA’s viewership ratings and attendances have skyrocketed this season.
Earlier this month, the league announced that May marked the highest-attended opening month in 26 years and the most-watched start of the season ever across every network.
This unprecedented growth in viewership and attendance this season has much to do with this year’s rookie class. According to the league, “four of the five moments that drove the most engagement on social channels” included highlights of Clark, Reese, Cameron Brink of the Los Angeles Sparks, or Las Vegas Aces’ Kate Martin.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
