“Prop Queen” Ariel Epstein slammed Netflix’s Elle Duncan for suggesting Caitlin Clark and Sophie Cunningham’s fan bases have brought toxicity to the WNBA. Epstein believes Duncan and others complaining about Clark’s and Cunningham’s fans haven’t embraced them, and that’s what has led to the toxicity.

In a clip released Thursday from the “On Tilt” podcast, Epstein also compared conversations about new WNBA fans to those in other sports.

“In the WNBA, if you hate someone, like a fan booing at a player, that’s bad,” Epstein said. “How many times do we go to a sporting event and you boo the other side, you boo the other team. I also don’t understand how, in the WNBA, we are blaming a player, hating on a player like Caitlin Clark and Sophie Cunningham; we are hating on them because of the fans that they brought to the sport.

“So the WNBA is toxic because people with a voice like Elle Duncan continue to blame other players in the WNBA for their fans. And who cares? If you have fans watching your sport, no other sport in the world cares what fans they bring in. It’s bringing attention.”

Epstein concluded by saying that people can be “mad” at fans, but it’s pointless to single out players for their fans’ behavior.

Duncan never directly called out Clark’s fans, but several people who opposed her felt it was implied. Over the past three years, fan-related controversy has been at an all-time high, and most stories have been linked to Clark’s and the Fever’s fan base.

Players have complained about misbehavior at Gainbridge Fieldhouse and online abuse from people claiming to be Clark or the Fever’s fans. According to The Sporting News (via Yahoo Sports), Indiana has denied the incidents at its arena after prompt investigations, and nothing substantial has come out since.

Caitlin Clark has stood against people using her name to spread hate

Caitlin Clark has called out people claiming to be her fans to spread hate against other players. The Fever star’s latest statement came on Oct. 8 in her end-of-season press conference. After Kelsey Mitchell also admitted that it’s difficult to play alongside the superstar guard, Clark publicly denounced the hecklers, saying (via The Athletic):

“As her teammate, that makes you upset because you care about your teammates so much. You don’t want any of them to go through something like that. For the people that follow me, obviously there is such a microscope on me, and that comes with everybody else that I’ve been teammates with, whether that was my time at Iowa or whether that’s been here. It comes with a lot of really great things, and then at times there are some negatives.

“As far as people that have used me to demonstrate racist rhetoric or hate or discrimination, that’s not something I stand for. It’s never been something I’ve stood for. For those of you who know me, you know that’s not what I’m about. That’s not how I was raised. So that’s really disappointing when people do that.”

As Clark said, her fans’ impact has gone both ways. Several players have benefitted from the popularity.

Mitchell herself was able to showcase her talent to a larger audience after years of playing in front of limited fans. She was an MVP candidate this season and could be in the running for All-WNBA First Team.

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