An Indianapolis sports columnist has apologized for flashing a heart symbol with his hands, as well as for his subsequent comments, to new Indiana Fever player and college basketball star Caitlin Clark in what soon became an “awkward” interaction.
Indianapolis Star columnist Gregg Doyel at Clark’s introductory press conference with the WNBA team made the heart symbol while speaking to her, to which Clark responded, “You like that?” Doyel replied, “I like that you’re here.”
Clark, who broke the NCAA scoring record for both women and men while an Iowa Hawkeye, and was the No. 1 pick at Monday’s WNBA draft, said, “I do that at my family after every game, so, it’s pretty cool.”
“OK, well, start doing it to me and we’ll get along just fine,” Doyel replied, before asking a question about Clark’s decision to turn pro and enter the draft.
Doyel, in a column published online Wednesday night, apologized.
“I’m devastated to realize I’m part of the problem,” he wrote.
Doyel said that he is known for having awkward conversations with people before asking “brashly conversational questions.” He’d done so for years with Indianapolis Colts coaches, as well as with Purdue University and Indiana University players, Doyel wrote.
He called himself “another insensitive man,” and said he offended Clark and her family while trying to be “clever” and “welcoming.”
“After going through denial, and then anger — I’m on the wrong side of this? Me??? — I now realize what I said and how I said it was wrong, wrong, wrong. I mean it was just wrong,” Doyel wrote. “Caitlin Clark, I’m so sorry.”
NBC News could not immediately reach Clark or her representatives for comment late Wednesday night.
Clark, 22, last season at the University of Iowa broke the women’s NCAA all-time scoring record in February, and then broke the men’s record a month later. She ended with 3,951 career points.
With Clark playing, the women’s NCAA championship game between the Hawkeyes and the South Carolina Gamecocks drew more viewers than the men’s championship game for the first time.
Iowa lost to South Carolina for the title, but Clark was singled out by Gamecocks coach Dawn Staley for lifting up women’s basketball.
Clark has since made multiple high-profile media appearances, including on “TODAY” and “Saturday Night Live.” In another sign of fans’ excitement for her, Clark’s Indiana Fever jersey became the top-selling jersey ever for a draft pick.
