Nothing has come easy for the Golden State Warriors this season. Every bit of momentum has been followed by a setback. Jimmy Butler is done for the year with an ACL injury, a blow that dents the bigger picture of maximizing Stephen Curry’s final elite years. And as if the on-court issues were not enough, off-court noise has crept in too, with a Warriors player now facing backlash from Caitlin Clark fans after a past incident resurfaced online.

The Golden State Valkyries made their debut last season in the W, and they wasted no time making history. In their very first year, the Valkyries became the first expansion team to reach the playoffs. During that remarkable run, support poured in from across the Golden State Warriors organization. From Steve Kerr to Stephen Curry, familiar faces regularly showed up to watch the Valkyries in action.

In one of those games, Brandin Podziemski was spotted courtside, and he quickly became part of the conversation. The Warriors guard was seen mocking Caitlin Clark after she was called for traveling, and later broke out Stephen Curry’s iconic “night, night” celebration once the result was beyond doubt.

It came on a night when the Golden State Valkyries secured a big win over the Indiana Fever, with Clark enduring a tough outing, finishing with 11 points on 3-of-14 shooting.

Those moments did not sit well with Fever fans, and they eventually got their chance to respond. With Golden State struggling and Podziemski enduring a torrid run of form, Caitlin Clark fans wasted no time flooding social media, turning the tables on the former Santa Clara and Illinois guard.

Here are some of the social media reactions that followed.

Rule No. 1: Never Make Fun of Caitlin Clark

One fan shared the clip of Brandin Podziemski mocking Caitlin Clark and captioned it, “Not Brandin Podziemski clowning Caitlin Clark for the travel 😭😭😭.” Another fan quickly joined in, adding, “I was at that game. Podz made an a-s out of himself.”

Podziemski supporting the Golden State Valkyries was hardly a surprise. And if you look closely at the clip, Caitlin Clark can be seen laughing after Podziemski’s reaction, which suggests she did not think much of it. But even then, it is not hard to understand the backlash. From a fan’s perspective, a Warriors player mocking an opposing star from the sidelines crossed a line, and that is why the reaction was as strong as it was.

And his recent performances have only made him an easier target for Caitlin Clark fans. One fan posted a viral clip of Brandin Podziemski from a recent loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves, captioning it, “Speak on Caitlin Elizabeth Clark and it’s going to cost ya.” In the video, Podziemski is seen sitting quietly with little expression as the Golden State Warriors were beaten 108–83.

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Brandin Podziemski has not helped his own case with his recent run of form. The struggles have made him an easy target online, with clips of missed shots and loose dribbles going viral almost every other day. Even the numbers are not doing him any favors. For a player in his third NBA season, averages of 12.2 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 3.4 assists fall short of expectations, prompting one fan to say, “it’s been beautiful watching his downfall.”

That scrutiny only grows when you consider that Podz has openly talked about wanting to be the one who eventually replaces Stephen Curry. One fan added to the backlash by writing, “CC took his trolling with grace while being injured. Karma for him! Look at him crying and no one is on the sidelines making fun of him. Imagine if it was!!! 😒”

Caitlin Clark endured a brutal sophomore season from an injury standpoint, battling two separate groin issues along with a quad injury that limited her to just 13 appearances. Even through that stretch, Clark handled the trolling with grace. And to his credit, Brandin Podziemski has not retaliated.

While he has built a reputation as a big talker whose plays normally don’t back it up, he has stayed quiet through the noise. At the end of the day, Podziemski wants to win, and few would like to turn around the current situation with the Golden State Warriors more than him.

The Golden State Warriors sit at 27–22 on the season and will be hoping to finish well above their current eighth-place spot in the Western Conference. While trade rumors around Podziemski have surfaced, the organization has continued to back him publicly. There is a belief inside Golden State that he could grow into a key piece in the post–Stephen Curry era. Whether that vision becomes reality will depend entirely on how Podziemski develops from here.

The so-called beef between Caitlin Clark and Brandin Podziemski has less to do with basketball and more to do with perception. Podziemski may be an All-Rookie selection, but he is nowhere close to Clark’s popularity or cultural pull. That imbalance has turned him into the villain in the public eye, and it is not hard to see why.

When you openly talk about replacing Stephen Curry or suggest you could have been a Shohei Ohtani-type figure in MLB, you invite pressure. And once performance dips, backlash from fans becomes inevitable.