Two months into the ongoing WNBA season, there has barely been an Indiana Fever game where the discourse around Caitlin Clark hasn’t taken over the conversation. So when the Fever faced the Phoenix Mercury — a rematch still fresh from the June 24 controversy — and pulled out a 92-89 comeback win without their injured superstar, Amber Cox’s postgame message reignited the familiar narrative that the franchise is anti-Clark. But this time, the Fever GM decided to address it head-on.
Watch What’s Trending Now!
In their ongoing stretch of road games, Cox took to X after their latest win to thank Indiana fans for their unwavering support. But that didn’t sit right with one, who pointed out, “Amber Cox is always loud after a win w/o CC.” And Cox wasn’t letting that slide.
“Nonsense,” she wrote. “You know who is also happy after ANY win? CC. Because this is a team full of people who celebrate and care for one another and like all of them, she’s a great teammate. We all cannot wait to have CC back on the court. Enough with this ridiculous narrative.”
Caitlin Clark was forced to miss Thursday’s matchup as she works her way back from the back injury she suffered during Indiana’s previous meeting with Phoenix. So emotions around the game were already running high even before Cox’s post.
But what made the Fever GM’s response stand out was that someone from the organization’s leadership publicly pushed back against a narrative that has lingered around the franchise for months. For her part, CC has consistently made it clear that she wants no part of her name being used to push such narratives.
“People should not be using my name to push those agendas. It’s disappointing. It’s not acceptable,” she said last month.
However, even with Caitlin Clark herself calling it out, a section of her fanbase has not stopped. The discourse has grown so loud that even the smallest things are now used to reinforce the online narratives surrounding the 24-year-old.
And that’s exactly why an Iowa columnist recently admitted that watching Clark is not fun anymore, because when everything is supposed to be about basketball, it is eventually overshadowed by the endless discourse.
Now, it’s highly unlikely that Cox’s response is going to end that conversation overnight. But by publicly calling the narrative “ridiculous,” the Fever GM made one thing clear: celebrating a team win and wanting Caitlin Clark back on the court are not mutually exclusive.
