INDIANAPOLIS -- Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark said Thursday that she trusts her gut to determine how and when to speak out about political issues.
"I think first and foremost, like you know, you speak when you feel like you want to speak," Clark said. "I try to just show up and be myself every single day."
Clark addressed reporters ahead of the Fever's 86-84 overtime loss to the Las Vegas Aces on Thursday. It was the Fever's first home game since the All-Star break, when controversy over team member Sophie Cunningham's comments about transgender athletes bubbled over. Cunningham told ESPN in a July 21 article she favors limiting transgender girls' and women's access to women's sports.
"I got a lot of negative feedback about me hating trans. And I'm like, 'I never once said that,'" Cunningham told ESPN. "I think that I am here to extend love. But I also think with that love is truth, being honest. And I want to protect young girls in a locker room, or young girls in sport who shouldn't have to go against biological men."
Asked about her own position on the topic following the Fever's 108-100 loss at Minnesota on Sunday, Clark did not take a stance.
"It's not really a discussion we have in our locker room," Clark said. "It's for leagues and governing bodies to work with their athletes to find solutions, but my focus is on basketball."
Clark received criticism for not sharing her individual opinion one way or another. Media personality Megyn Kelly called Clark a coward in a post on X. Others, such as Barstool founder Dave Portnoy, defended Clark's right not to share her opinion.
Clark said she's "trying to navigate life" as a 24-year-old.
"I'm trying to navigate playing at the highest level, and then you know sometimes you get asked a lot of questions, and sometimes that's your responsibility," Clark said Thursday. "And then sometimes, you know, you want to keep the focus on basketball."
