Fan behavior has been a running topic in the WNBA since Caitlin Clark entered the league. It followed the Indiana Fever into the offseason, and Clark addressed it in her exit interview this month.

ESPN analyst Monica McNutt is the latest to weigh in on those comments. On “The Pivot” podcast, she credited Clark but questioned how often she has spoken up. Fans pushed back on McNutt on Saturday after a clip of the segment was posted.

Monica McNutt Revisits Caitlin Clark’s Exit Interview

During a recent episode released October 23, McNutt, who played at Georgetown, joined “The Pivot,” a podcast run by former NFL players Ryan Clark, Fred Taylor and Channing Crowder. During the show, Ryan Clark asked McNutt to weigh the negativity that has trailed the Fever star against the boost she has given to how the league is covered.

In her answer, McNutt brought up the end of Indiana’s season: “I think the exit interviews when Indiana wrapped up left some folks scratching their heads. But to Caitlin’s credit, she did call out the things that she does not support. Which I have not heard vocally from her many a time.”

One fan who shared a clip of the segment wrote, “ESPN’s Monica McNutt claims Caitlin Clark fans are racist… Ryan Clark claims Clark has brought ‘negativity.’ These people are insufferable…”

At another point in the episode, McNutt turned to the Fever star’s teammates: “As exhausting as it may be for you to have to repeat these things, how exhausting, then, is the experience of your teammates who are catching the brunt of it?”

Other fans came to Clark’s defense. One wrote, “Caitlin Clark would have to denounce racism before every game, at halftime, and after every game, and apparently that still wouldn’t be enough for Ms. Monica McNutt. Good grief, leave the woman alone. I could understand the criticism if Caitlin had ever claimed to represent a particular side or group, but she hasn’t. People are speaking for themselves, not for her.”

Another fan took issue with how McNutt described Clark’s exit interview: “Caitlin has condemned racism & harassment repeatedly since 2024 and earlier this season as well. At some point, the issue isn’t her silence. It’s the refusal to acknowledge her words.”

Another fan pointed beyond basketball: “They want so badly to take away from Clark’s success on & off the court. The Caitlin Clark Foundation has opened 7 basketball courts & helped so many children.”

Some of the reaction turned personal, with another fan calling McNutt “the very definition of unprofessional.”

The Las Vegas Aces ended the Fever’s season with a 94-83 home win on October 1.

Two days later, at the team’s exit interviews, Fever guard Kelsey Mitchell said, “Showing up every day to compete for fans that may or may not like you is hard.”

Clark missed those sessions because she was the guest picker on “College GameDay” in Iowa City. She held her own exit interview on October 8. It ran for just over 20 minutes, during which Clark publicly condemned the hate spreading on social media.

“As far as people that have used me to … demonstrate racist rhetoric or hate or discrimination, that’s not something I stand for. That’s never been something I’ve stood for,” Clark said.

Mitchell has spent her whole career in Indiana and signed a one-year deal last offseason. She will be an unrestricted free agent this winter, and whether she returns to share the Fever’s backcourt with Clark has yet to be decided.