Jonquel Jones tries to bring clarity to Caitlin Clark fanbase discourse: “They want her to be representation of their racism”

New York Liberty star Jonquel Jones weighs in on discourse surrounding Caitlin Clark throughout her rookie season (Image credit: Imagn)

Throughout Caitlin Clark’s rookie season, there was a ton of discourse surrounding the topic of racism. While the Indiana Fever star brought a swarm of fans who followed her Iowa career to the WNBA level, some fans took things too far.

For example, Angel Reese alleged that she had been subject to racist remarks from fans who tried to use their support of Clark as a reason to put Reese down. While Clark condemned the hateful rhetoric that some fans spewed as a way of supporting her, the discourse has continued into the offseason.

On an episode of “The Pivot” podcast this week, New York Liberty standout Jonquel Jones weighed in on the situation.

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As she explained, she believes that racist fans got behind Clark as a way to hurl hateful comments at other players until Clark condemned the racism.

“I think a lot of the Caitlin Clark fans, I think they wanted to latch onto Caitlin Clark and use her as this fuel to be able to be the way that they wanted to be… They want her to be the representation of their racism.”

Jones also warned against generalizing all Fever fans with that type of behavior.

“I don’t think it’s the Fever fans. I think it’s the people that wanted Caitlin Clark to be a certain type of way and they thought that she was. So they became Caitlin Clark fans assuming that. And then they realized, ‘Oh she’s actually not racist.’ And so now they have to kind of, like, backtrack and try to find somebody else that can kind of embody the things that they feel.”

Jonquel Jones says she’s never dealt with racism in the WNBA despite discourse surrounding Caitlin Clark’s rookie year

In addition to Angel Reese, who has been open about the racism she experienced throughout her rookie year, other WNBA standouts also experienced racism during the season.

Connecticut Sun standout DiJonai Carrington notably received a hateful email in September that she shared on Instagram. In it, she was called a racial slur by the anonymous user. In addition to being called a racial slur, Carrington was also threatened, with the individual wishing death upon her.

Unfortunately, Carrington and Reese weren’t the only WNBA players to deal with racism and hateful messages this year. In addition, New York Liberty star Breanna Stewart’s wife received an email during the WNBA Finals. In it, the anonymous sender wished death upon her and Stewart.

While a number of players have dealt with racism as of late, Jonquel Jones said on “The Pivot” Podcast that she hasn’t experienced any of it:

“Never. … But, yeah, no player should have to deal with that. No player should be in any type of situation where they feel like, their life is in danger or that someone wants to harm them because of the color of their skin or harm them in general. So it’s crazy that they had to deal with that.

“And I hope that the WNBA gets it in order and makes sure that they have things in place, because no one wants to play in a situation like that. I don’t think it’s fair to the players.”

Given that Caitlin Clark condemned the racism spewed by those who claim to support her, it will be interesting to see if the discourse surrounding the 2025 WNBA season is more focused on actual gameplay throughout the year.