With the WNBA, players, and coaches rallying behind Alyssa Thomas, the league is gradually leaving behind the flagrant foul incident. Yet the conversation around Caitlin Clark constantly being the focal point of such season-defining incidents continues. However, 11x national championship-winning coach Geno Auriemma believes the reason CC is always under the spotlight is the fan base’s overblown expectations.

“I got a lot of criticism for it. I said the Caitlin Clark fans in America are delusional, who think she’s going to go in there and, as a player, totally turn the WNBA on its ear. Like you’re gonna have a Larry Bird effect on the NBA, on the court, or a Magic Johnson effect on the court? No, you’re not,” the 7x WBCA National Coach of the Year said in his conversation with Richard Deitsch.

He later doubled down on his take, comparing Clark’s impact with Tiger Woods. “You know, but it’s not like when Tiger came in the PGA Tour, he changed the PGA Tour forever. Why? Well, there was so much money that came to the PGA Tour, but in addition, he won every tournament. That’s the big difference.”

However, Auriemma didn’t completely dismiss Clark’s impact on the league. He explained that there are “personal animosities” where some people may take a “shot at her unfairly.”

That was also part of the argument when Alyssa Thomas made contact with Clark on June 24, before later leaving the game with a back injury after an awkward landing. The conversation quickly moved beyond basketball, with Thomas receiving online abuse and even violent threats in the aftermath.

Now, Clark wants no part of it.

“I think people using my name in ways that are inappropriate is frustrating. You don’t know me, you don’t know who I am. Again, talk about it, talk about if it was a flagrant or not, but everything that came after that is confusing to me. It’s not acceptable,” she told reporters on July 3.

Those comments are exactly why Auriemma believes the conversation surrounding Caitlin Clark has drifted away from basketball itself. “Because the bandwagon and the fandom became so obsessed with the whole thing, it turned into a cause,” Auriemma added.

Having coached some of the biggest names in women’s basketball for more than four decades, Auriemma has seen plenty of No. 1 picks enter the league with enormous expectations. Physical defense, hard fouls, and opponents trying to rattle a young star are nothing new to him. What is new, however, is how quickly every moment involving Clark grows into a debate that extends far beyond the 94 feet of the basketball court.