Reporter criticized for his behavior toward Caitlin Clark at press conference
Indy Star columnist Gregg Doyel was criticized on Wednesday for his behavior toward Caitlin Clark at an introductory press conference.
Clark was selected No. 1 overall in the WNBA Draft on Monday by the Indiana Fever. She spoke with the local media in Indianapolis on Wednesday, and that’s when she fielded a question from Doyel that many found bizarre.
Doyel asked Clark about the heart gesture she makes with her hands. Clark said she does it at her family after every game.
“Start doing it to me and we’ll get along just fine,” Doyel said in response.
Also during the exchange, Doyel said to Clark, “I like that you’re here.”
You can watch the video to judge for yourself:
Our reporters are being normal pic.twitter.com/tN3Fvr8rwc
— Speaker Of The Hoos(ier) #TrueFan (@HoosierSpeaker) April 17, 2024
In a best-case scenario, one could say that Doyel was just trying to be friendly toward Clark and his words came out a little wrong. And you could also defend his other comment by figuring Doyel likes that Clark was drafted to an Indianapolis team because it will give him plenty of content to write about.
That seems to be where Doyel was going with things, because he even wrote on X that he had about 20 different story ideas to write about Clark.
Caitlin Clark is fascinating. Great player, obviously. Fascinating human being. I could write 20 different columns just from these 35 minutes with her today.
I’ll pick one, and do the rest some other day. That’s a promise. https://t.co/iy76AHwykG
— Gregg Doyel (@GreggDoyelStar) April 17, 2024
Does Doyel have a crush on Clark and did he let that slip out during the press conference? Or is he just really excited about her presence in Indianapolis for work purposes? Either way, his behavior was unprofessional and it led to criticism.
Caitlin Clark's Indiana Fever Career Begins With Gregg Doyel Being A sexiest pervert At Introductory Press Conference @IndyStarSports do something about this pervert https://t.co/tGxF3Yl5Ql
— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) April 17, 2024
I made the mistake of somehow thinking Gregg Doyel was above acting like this
Just wack, uncomfortable, and cannot happen. https://t.co/YYgX3ciDK8
— Mark Schindler (@MG_Schindler) April 17, 2024