'Insulting' Caitlin Clark narratives called out by WNBA great Sue Bird

Sue Bird had plenty to say about the divisive rhetoric surrounding the WNBA with its newfound popularity from Caitlin Clark on her podcast Wednesday.

In the latest episode of "A Touch More" with Megan Rapinoe, Bird called the discussion around Clark "insulting" and blamed "trolls" and "bots" on social media — as well as "media members who don't usually cover our league" — for perpetuating the negativity that has engulfed the WNBA.

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Bird, a 13-time WNBA All-Star and four-time WNBA champion, admitted that Diana Taurasi's comment about "the reality is coming" for Clark and the incoming rookie class ignited the firestorm and intense scrutiny of how Clark would be treated on and off the court.

"Once Diana's comments went viral, it led to the Twitter trolls and bots taking over," Bird said. "And what started there was this narrative of petty, jealous players hating on Caitlin. ... That we must dislike her. We look at her side-eyed. That we don't want her to come in the WNBA and be successful. That we're hating on her."

Bird said she watched Clark's games with the Indiana Fever early in the season. Controversies regularly emerged over how the No. 1 overall pick was being defended and treated by opponents.

"Not at any point did I think anybody was playing dirty against Caitlin. Not at any point did I think Caitlin was targeted," Bird said. "(But) these petty, jealous narratives got formed.

"(When) people saw people blocking Caitlin's shot or picking her up full court, it then became 'Oh, they're targeting her. Oh, they're trying to hurt her.' I cannot stress enough how insulting that is," Bird added. "That is probably like potentially the biggest insult you can throw at an athlete, especially an entire league of athletes."

Bird recalled how she, as a star point guard from Connecticut who was drafted No. 1 overall in 2002, faced physical defense because "they were testing me out."

"When people were up in arms about Caitlin getting picked up full court ... it was like, well, you have to. If you don't, she's going to drop 35 on you," Bird added. "It's called smart defense. You got to take people out of their game."

Bird then criticized the increased media coverage of the WNBA in which journalists new to the league have parroted inflammatory talking points. "I don't know what their research is like. The way it came across was they did none," she said. "And they were just listening to all the narratives."

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