Absurd Caitlin Clark Fever to Sparks Trade Rumor Has Somehow Become Normal

On June 5, sports media personality Jason Whitlock made a baseless and frankly ridiculous claim about Indiana Fever star guard Caitlin Clark.

"The Indiana Fever are planning to ship Caitlin Clark to the Los Angeles Sparks. I expect UCLA coach Cori Close to be the head coach of the Sparks," Whitlock wrote in an X post.

The Indiana Fever are planning to ship Caitlin Clark to the Los Angeles Sparks. I expect UCLA coach Cori Close to be the head coach of the Sparks.
— Jason Whitlock (@jasonwhitlock) June 5, 2026

The post went viral, amassing over 2.1 million views in a few days. Fortunately, most people who saw this post and actually watched women's basketball knew there was no credible basis to this claim.

Whitlock has an accomplished media resumé and isn't foolish. He likely knew there wasn't any truth to this. But making a truthful, vetted report wasn't his goal. Instead, he was trying to stir the pot and incite Clark's fan base to capitalize on the attention and the financial incentives that come with that attention.

This has become par for the course regarding Caitlin Clark discourse. Every week, there seems to be some new narrative regarding Clark or the Fever's season; some fabricated or at least overblown reason for the most extreme among her fanbase to be outraged at head coach Stephanie White, at the Fever's front office, at another WNBA player, or at WNBA media.

And because there are short-term benefits and seemingly little downside for some media, they can propagate this with no consequences, because fear-mongering is en vogue with a portion of Clark's fan base. Whitlock's ridiculous trade report is just the most recent example of this.

At Least Caitlin Clark Sees Through The Absurdity

Thankfully, all the outside noise has no impact on Clark. She conveyed as much when speaking to the media before Indiana's defeat to the New York Liberty on June 6.

"I don't really know why we're still on this. Like, we talked about it, and I think especially for our team, we don't like blatantly sit there and talk about everything you guys are writing and what's in the media. We're just talking about how we can be better as a team, and that me and Steph are good, and like we have each other's backs more than anybody, and I have my teammates' backs more than anybody," Clark said when asked about social media rumors around the team, per an X post from Front Office Sports.

"And just re-emphasizing [that] we don't let that into our locker room — what everybody wants to write and what everybody wants to say — because those opinions don't matter," she added.

Caitlin Clark when asked how she's handled recent online rumors about her and the Fever with her team:

"I don't really know why we're still on this...we didn't blatantly sit there and talk about everything you guys were writing and what's in the media." pic.twitter.com/OBBlYqrH1r
— Front Office Sports (@FOS) June 7, 2026

Hopefully this means Clark didn't see or hear about Whitlock's ridiculous post. But even if she did, it has no impact on what actually matters: what happens on the basketball court.

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