Dwyane Wade justifies Caitlin Clark’s ‘hazing’ in WNBA (Getty)

NBA legend and Chicago Sky minority owner Dwyane Wade has given his opinion on Caitlin Clark’s treatment since she entered the WNBA. The Indiana Fever rookie has been at the receiving end of some big fouls during her first months in the league, and a couple of them involved Chicago Sky players.

First, Chennedy Carter pushed her in the back, getting a flagrant foul for her action. Moreover, Angel Reese hit her in the face, inadvertantly, as Clark tried to get a bucket in her second matchup against the Sky.

Wade reacted to all the comments suggesting Clark is being targeted by opponents and stated that she must prove that she belongs to the league.

“This Caitlin Clark conversation with everyone hazin’, I’m lookin’ at it like, I know what happened my rookie year when I came in,” Wade said on this week’s edition of his The Why Podcast.

“You gonna hit that ground. You bout to feel this ground if you think you bout to keep comin’ in here. Jamaal Magloire and PJ Brown tapped me up every time I ran through the paint. … People say hazin’, but this is all a part of, ‘Hey, you gotta show us that you built for this league.’”

Clark has been a terrific addition to the WNBA. She’s gotten a lot of attention since her college days and her fame has reached new heights after she went pro. The conversations about her have been controversial more often than not, with some people claiming her race and sexual orientation play a role in her popularity.

Truth be told, Caitlin Clark is very popular, but she’s also a terrific basketball player. She and the Indiana Fever have gotten so much better in recent weeks, which keeps drawing attention to her.

It’s easy to see where Wade comes from, and Clark has admitted that she sees these duels as basketball games and nothing deeper.

Caitlin Clark has shut down the idea of beef with Chennedy Carter, Angel Reese

After starring in these situations, Caitlin Clark had calm reactions to her encounters with Carter and Reese. First, she said that Carter doesn’t owe her an apology for playing basketball. She admitted that sometimes players get carried by emotions and end up doing things they don’t normally do.

Moreover, she rejected the notion of having a rivalry with Angel Reese, stating that it was a story created and pushed by the media.

Clark is having a terrific rookie season and it seems like the best is yet to come for her. She’s caught a lot of attention during her first month in the competition and that doesn’t seem to be changing anytime soon.

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Edited by Akshay Saraswat