Source: Jason Howard/Bauer-Griffin/Getty
Serena Williams excelled by Caitlin Clarke approach to dealing with the pressures of being in the WNBA, including press attention.
Like Caitlin Clarke rookie The WNBA season has progressed this summer, receiving a lot of press scrutiny and social media controversy. Tennis great Serena Williams can relate and expressed that sentiment while at the Tribeca Film Festival last Thursday (June 13). Williams, who was in attendance at the premiere of the ESPN+ documentary series, In The Arena: Serena Williamsshe praised Clark for her poise thus far and referred to her own experiences.
“I like that she tries to stay grounded. She said she doesn't look at her social media [media]Williams said. “I understand. I'm not looking at it either. It's so important that he keeps doing what he's doing. No matter what other people do, if people are negative, it's because they basically can't do what you do. Hopefully he'll keep doing what he's doing.” Clark was the subject of intense debate during her rookie season with the Indiana Fever, especially as news broke that she was not named to the women's national basketball team.
“I was bullied. Things that I had to go through, people would be written off because they were saying it now,” Williams continued, referring to the intense media attention she and her sister Venus Williams received as they launched their careers as teenagers. “My position growing up, as a teenager, I had to be kind of guarded to stay healthy. Just [getting] so much push and done everything i did and travel the world every year. It was every week. It was a grind.”
The 23-time Grand Slam champion has previously spoken about her interest in WNBA ownership. Serena Williams is already part of the NWSL's Angel City FC ownership group. “I would definitely be interested. With the right purchase, I would definitely be very interested in that,” Williams said in an interview CNN. As for Caitlin Clark, she has recently been more adamant about those using her name to disparage other WNBA players. “People should not use my name to push these agendas. It's disappointing. It's not acceptable,” he said Thursday in the press. “Treating every woman in this league with the same respect, I think, is just a basic human thing that everybody should do.”
