Caitlin Clark insists the raging debate around her every move in the WNBA has not distracted her during her rookie season so far.

Clark has complained that players have escaped punishment for being overly physical when coming up against her in the league – a huge topic debate after Chennedy Carter bodychecked her in a recent game against Chicago Sky.

The 22-year-old Clark was also controversially overlooked for the USA women’s basketball team for the Olympics in Paris next month.

It has prompted controversial figures such as Clay Travis and Jason Whitlock to claim Clark is being targeted for being a white and straight player. Clark herself has now insisted she is not paying attention to the societal debates around her.

‘It’s not something I can control so I don’t put too much thought and time into thinking about things like that,’ she said. ‘To be honest, I don’t see a lot of it.

Caitlin Clark insists the raging debate around her every move in the WNBA is not a distraction

It has been claimed Clark has been targeted in the WNBA for being ‘straight and white’

‘Like I said, basketball is my job. Everything on the outside, I can’t control that so I’m not going to spend time thinking about that.

‘People can talk about what they want to talk about, create conversations about whatever it is. But for myself, I am just there to play basketball.

‘I am trying to help my team win. We have won three games and I feel we have been in position to win more than that. My focus is on helping us do that.’

Quizzed on if her status makes it hard to grow relationships in WNBA, she said: ‘I think the league understands, one, we are excited about all things attention we are getting, we are appreciative of it.

 ‘The league has been great for a really long time. My focus is on my teammates, they have been amazing. I don’t think it has impacted me making relationships on my team.

‘I’m not obviously talking to people on other teams on a daily basis. I have so much to focus on here, getting my teammates to trust me and do all that is my main focus – same with my coaching staff and this organization.’

She was then asked if she is bothered by people who ‘attempt to weaponize your name’, to which she responded: ‘No, I don’t see it. That is not where my focus is.

‘Again, my focus is here and on basketball. That is where it needs to be, where it has been and I am trying to get better on a daily basis.’

Clark says she ignores the narratives around her because it is out of her control

The No 1 pick in the WNBA Draft this year was controversially left out of the USA Olympic team

Whitlock said at the weekend that Clark had been left off the Olympics roster because of the ‘black gay mafia’.

He wrote on X: ‘They/Thems Hate Cait. End of story.’

He continued in a separate post: ‘Women’s basketball decision-makers are not dumb. They’ve been bullied by the BLM-LGBTQIA+Silent P Alphabet Mafia bigots.

‘Same cowardice that built George Floyd statues, turned Juneteenth into a federal holiday, codified same-sex marriage, allows “kid-friendly” drag shows, let “Lia Thomas” swim… They keep making offers we don’t refuse.’

Travis, the founder of Outkick, spoke last week on Clark’s incident with Carter, saying: ‘It’s not just race though, it’s also sexuality.

‘Caitlin Clark is a white heterosexual woman in a black lesbian league and they resent and are jealous of all of the attention and the shoe deal that she got.

‘And instead of recognizing the truth, which is great athletes who people care about coming into your league really do get everybody more money.

‘They don’t like her cause she’s white and they don’t like her cause she’s straight. And as a result, the league is coming undone around her even though she’s bringing in new fans.’