Fever's Clark denounces online hate directed at 'good soul' Mitchell - ESPN

Caitlin Clark held her final media session of the season Thursday and said she has talked with Kelsey Mitchell since her backcourt mate spoke about online hate she has received and the difficulty of playing with the Indiana Fever at times.

The intense attention the organization has gotten since Clark joined has attracted a vocal group that has been abusive to Fever players and others around the league.

«Showing up every day to compete for fans that may or may not like you is hard,» Mitchell had said Saturday during her season-ending media session.

It «makes you upset,» Clark said of what her teammate has gone through, noting that Mitchell is a «good soul.» Clark denounced anyone who would spew abuse in her name but also said she appreciates the genuine fans who have supported her, the team and the organization.

«As far as people that have used me to demonstrate racist rhetoric or hate or discrimination, that's not something I stand for,» Clark said. «That's never been something I've stood for. For those of you that know me, you know that's not what I'm about. It's not how I was raised, so that's really disappointing when people do that.

»I think it kind of gets into this larger discussion in mainstream sports of what people go through. I think just recently I saw Coco Gauff came out and kind of talked about her experience as well. So anytime I see something like that, [it] makes me upset, makes me sad, makes me really disappointed. Because that's not who I am. It's not what I'm about."

Retaining Mitchell, who is an unrestricted free agent after setting the WNBA single-season scoring record, is the top priority for the Fever, but she made it clear that on-court, basketball-related factors won't be the only influence on