Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark once again received a much lower ranking from her fellow WNBA players than from fans and the media in this year’s All-Star voting.
Voting results released Thursday showed players ranked Clark 11th among guards. Despite that, she still earned a starting spot for the July 25 All-Star Game at United Center after finishing second in the fan vote and third in the media vote.
Fans make up 50% of the final vote, while players and media each account for 25%. Clark, 24, is averaging a career-best 21.2 points per game while shooting a career-high 43% from the field this season for the Indiana Fever.
She will start alongside Fever teammates Aliyah Boston and Kelsey Mitchell, both of whom received higher rankings from players than Clark did. Overall, Clark finished with the third-highest weighted voting score, behind Paige Bueckers of the Dallas Wings and Olivia Miles of the Minnesota Lynx.
“They vote her 11th but guard and foul her like the 1st,” one fan said.
“Lol… I love that those racist black lesbians vote her 11th. It just shows how jealous they are!” another one wrote.
The player vote comes after several recent controversies involving Clark. In June, many fans questioned why she was left off the WNBA’s 30th anniversary promotional poster despite her role in the league’s recent growth in popularity.
“Dear sweet cheeseballs. This league just continues to embarrass itself. Does it even register how absurd it is to exclude Caitlin Clark from this poster? Are y’all on fucking drugs? I am running out of words for this bullshit,” one user said.
The player voting comes just days after Clark was involved in another high-profile controversy. Alyssa Thomas recently said she received death threats after the play that resulted in her one-game suspension for striking Clark during a game. Thomas called the contact accidental.
“It’s unfortunate that it’s come to this over basketball,” Thomas said. “A lot of us — myself included — didn’t even know the play took place until after the game. Now we’re being painted as thugs. There’s death threats out on us. It’s really unacceptable. It’s something that needs to change in this league, and I’m just really sick and tired of it.”