Is it jealousy? Is it pettiness? Or is it just a good old-fashioned sports rivalry?
After one of the most decorated collegiate women's basketball careers imaginable, many wondered how then-University of Iowa standout Caitlin Clark would translate at the pro level in the WNBA.
Now a member of the Indiana Fever, Clark's transition has been, to put it bluntly, a rocky one.
In terms of what Clark can control, she desperately needs to cut down on her turnovers. As of this writing, Clark is averaging a league-leading 5.6 turnovers per game. No other player in the WNBA is averaging more than four turnovers.
Clark is also averaging 16.9 points per game while shooting a paltry 37.6 percent from the field, which is not great. You typically want your star players shooting closer to the mid-40 percent range.
(Fun fact: The WNBA's leading scorer is actually shooting worse from the field than Clark. Dallas Wings standout guard Arike Ogunbowale is averaging 27.5 points per game on 36.3 percent shooting.)
Again, Clark can control those aspects of her game.
What Clark can't control, however, is the apparent disdain and disgust that a number of her peers seem to harbor for her. Many have surmised that the negative backlash to Clark stems from jealousy over her overwhelming popularity and star power.
The latest example of this came Saturday, when Clark's Fever hosted the Chicago Sky -- a team that employs Clark's old collegiate nemesis, former LSU star Angel Reese.
Late in the third quarter of the game, Clark appeared to have some words for Sky guard Chennedy Carter after the Fever scored.
In seeming retaliation for that otherwise innocuous bit of trash-talking, Carter could be seen visibly calling Clark "a b****" before she dipped her shoulder slightly and violently hip-checked the Fever guard.
The clip of the incident went viral for obvious reasons:
