Rob Gronkowski has reached out to Caitlin Clark. (Image: Getty Images)
NFL legend Rob Gronkowski has reached out to Caitlin Clark with a message to ‘shut up’ her critics as the WNBA superstar continues to be embroiled in several controversies. The Indiana Fever guard is only featuring in her third year in the league, but such stature has brought critics and some unwanted attention.
Earlier this summer, Clark was involved in an incident which saw Phoenix Mercury star Alyssa Thomas move her fist towards Clark’s neck. Thomas was given a one-match suspension by the WNBA, but that controversy and many others have persisted as Clark tries to focus attention on the court.
Republican lawmakers attempted to exploit Clark’s name for political advantage, with a committee dispatching a letter to WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert, warning that a federal investigation into the league could be launched if the Indiana guard is not afforded greater protection.
Ahead of the recent All-Star game in Chicago, Clark acknowledged the media attention surrounding her this season had left her tired, noting that while it has not diminished her passion for basketball, it has rendered life challenging to navigate at only 24.
Speaking to ESPN, Clark said: “It’s basketball. When I walk out of the locker room, I shouldn’t be fearful of what the conversation is going to be, but you know, it’s emotionally exhausting. It’s draining.
“It makes your shoulders tense because… people don’t want to talk about the basketball, they just want to stir it up and make it something else.”
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Yet one figure who has been thoroughly impressed by how Clark has conducted herself this season is four-time Super Bowl-winning tight end Gronkowski, who is eager to see the Fever star continue to silence her critics through her performances on the court in the WNBA.
“She’s doing a great job handling herself. She really is. I’m not in her shoes. I’m not in her situation. If I was, though, I would kind of handle it very similar to how she’s handling it. She really is doing a great job,” Gronkowski told Fox News.
“I would just say one piece of advice: Keep balling because if you keep balling, you’re going to keep shutting up the haters.”
Caitlin Clark has been in the middle of several rows. (Image: Getty)
Clark wasn’t the sole Fever player to have caught Gronkowski’s attention, however. The former Patriots star confessed he was equally struck by the manner in which Clark’s team-mates have rallied behind her throughout what has proved a demanding third year in the WNBA.
“What I do appreciate, what she’s going to need to help with is her teammates,” Gronkowski added.
“That’s who’s going to lift you up. If you’ve got your teammates protecting you, that says a lot right there. It really does. And she does. Her team does pick her up. They protect her as well, and that’s huge.
“That says a lot about your personality and about who you are throughout the season, how you practice, how you prepare, is that if your teammates are behind you, you know that doing the right things.”
He also spoke about the league stepping in to shield Clark from the physical treatment she endures every time she takes to the court, stating: “I think she’s going to be the face eventually, like truly where the WNBA steps in, and they’re like, ‘OK, like enough of all this wishwashing that’s going on with her and the punishment that she’s taking out on the basketball court.
“Let’s truly make her face of the league. I think I would say it once she keeps balling out and also wins something pretty significant.”
This article first appeared on Mirror US.