Caitlin Clark can be electric and exhausting ā sometimes in the same quarter | Opinion
Caitlin Clarkās honeymoon was never going to last.
Any athlete this hyped and this adored always gets a comeuppance. Itās happened to LeBron James. Itās happened to Tiger Woods. Itās happened to Peyton Manning.
But Clarkās own actions are accelerating hers. The flopping that even a C-list actor would find cringey. The histrionics over calls and the disrespect toward the refs. The indignation over reasonable questions about the health of a player who missed most of last season with a series of injuries.
Itās made Clark into the WNBAās own Rorschach test. Either you think she can do no wrong or you think sheās an entitled brat, and the number of people who donāt hold an opinion seems to be dwindling in what is only her third season.
Trash talk is fine. Tantrums are not.
Clark is a transcendent player. No one disputes that. Her logo 3s remain worth the price of admission, and her ability to flip a game in an instant makes the Indiana Fever a must-watch whenever they play. If you want to teach a kid how to be a menace to opponents, have them watch a highlight reel of Clarkās passes.
This also isnāt a criticism of Clarkās trash talking or pearl clutching because women athletes dare to have the same competitive fire as male athletes. Player beefs, like Clarkās with Tiffany Hayes of the Golden State Valkyries, are part of what make sports so entertaining.
Itās the petulance that is turning people off.
Thereās at least one instance every game that Clark acts as if sheās been shot after pushing off someone else or she drops to the court without ever being touched.
Take Thursday night's game at Golden State. Clark was guarding Valkyries forward Cecilia Zandalasini as Zandalasini was dribbling toward the basket. If there was any contact, it was minimal, yet Clark fell backward s if she'd been shoved by one of The Avengers.
Thereās also at least one instance every game of Clark berating a referee over a call she didnāt get or one she didn't think she deserved to get. She doesnāt even need to be playing to get worked up.
Hating on WNBA referees ā or officials in any sport, for that matter ā might be our national pastime, but thereās a way to do it without oozing condescension. Which is what it is when Clark claps at a ref and tells him or her to open their eyes.
Clark also got annoyed earlier this week with questions about being a late scratch with a back injury. Besides it being possible the Fever skirted WNBA rules, Clarkās health is fair game after she missed all but 13 games last season with injuries that were supposedly fine until they werenāt.
Fans can be fickle with stars
Clark is hardly the first superstar to see their shine wear off the more fans get to know them. James has been nicknamed āLeFlop,ā and thereās a whole file of memes devoted to the times heās hunted fouls. Thereās a growing chorus of grumbling about the amount of time two-time MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander spends sprawled on the court.
Even Victor Wembanyama, who is beloved by pretty much everybody, caught flak for skipping his mandatory media obligations after Game 5 of the Western Conference finals.
But Clark carries a burden those other athletes donāt have. She is the face of the WNBA and, to a degree, womenās sports. What she does, how she acts, has an impact both on the current league and the players who will be its future. The last thing anyone needs is for kids learning the game these days to think flopping and whining is the way to go.
Especially because Clark so often is in the wrong.
Contrary to what the most irrational base of Clarkās fandom believes, she is not being attacked. Opposing players are not going after her because theyāre jealous of her. The W is, and always has been, a physical league, and Clark is guarded harder and tighter because she so often has the ball in her hands and because there is no place on the court where sheās not a threat.
Besides, Clark is getting calls, more than most players. She's averaging 6.0 free throw attempts a game this season, ninth-highest in the league, according to teamrankings.com. No one else on the Fever is averaging more than 4.9 attempts per game.
Not every player has to be liked by everybody. But Clark won over the entire country with the way she played. Now sheās at risk of turning people off for the very same reason.
Follow USA TODAY Sports columnist Nancy Armour on social media @nrarmour.