"It's disappointing" - Caitlin Clark confronts being dragged into racism & misogyny chatter after DiJonai Carrington response

Caitlin Clark rejected any negative comments made against her WNBA colleagues on Thursday in pregame availability before the Indiana Fever beat the Atlanta Dream 91-84. The young star said she doesn't support anybody trying to bring down her fellow players.

"I think it's disappointing," Clark said about her name being "weaponized" in conversations about race. "Everybody in our world deserves the same amount of respect. The women in our league deserve the same amount of respect.

"People should not be using my name to push those agendas. It's disappointing. It's not acceptable. This league is a league I grew up admiring and wanting to be a part of. Some of the women in this league were my biggest idols and role models growing up."

The conversation began during a shootaround earlier Thursday when Clark was asked about outside actors using her to push agendas about "culture wars or whatever wars they're fighting."

"It's not something I can control, so I don't put too much thought and time into thinking about things like that," Clark said. "And to be honest, I don't see a lot of it. ... For myself, I'm just here to play basketball, I'm here to have fun. ... I don't pay much mind to all of that, to be honest."

With Clark bringing unprecedented interest to the WNBA and drawing the brunt of the focus, her attempt to focus on basketball by saying she doesn't "see" the conversations may have misfired.

The Connecticut Sun's DiJonai Carrington tweeted hours later.

"Dawg. How one can not be bothered by their name being used to justify racism, bigotry, misogyny, xenophobia, homophobia & the intersectionalities of them all is nuts. We all see the sh*t. We all have a platform. We all have a voice & they all hold weight. Silence is a luxury," Carrington wrote.

When asked again in the pregame (after Carrington's tweet), Clark said she doesn't support any type of discrimination, especially against her colleagues.

DiJonai Carrington denied targeting Caitlin Clark because of race during Monday game

One specific action during the Connecticut Sun's 89-72 win over Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever sparked controversy. DiJonai Carrington tried to stop Clark as she received the ball beyond the 3-point line. They bumped into each other, and Clark's reaction didn't sit well with Carrington, who mocked her for drawing a foul with a flop.

The Sun's physical play on Clark, who had just 10 points in the loss, as well as Tyasha Harris' postgame comment that "It's seatbelt season for her," which drew a laugh from Carrington, drew a tweet from MAGA influencer Paul Szypula, who has 172,000 followers.

Szypulas accused the Sun of being "violent" against Clark. He wrote that Clark "was targeted again by black players" on Tuesday. The Most Improved Player of the Year candidate clapped back on Wednesday, writing "BFFR," which stands for "Be F***ing For Real."