Indianapolis Reporter Who Got 'Creepy' With Caitlin Clark Roasted on Social Media

Stacey Ritzen
·4 min read
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Top WNBA draft pick Caitlin Clark was welcomed by the Indiana Fever at an introductory press conference on Wednesday, after being selected by the team earlier in the week. But the moment was nearly overshadowed at one point by a reporter who awkwardly questioned the 22-year-old, to her obvious discomfort.

After introducing himself, Indianapolis Star columnist Gregg Doyel made the heart hand gesture that Clark is known for flashing to her family at games. "Real quick, I wanna do this," Doyel could be heard saying off camera, to which Clark responded, “You like that?”

"I like that you’re here," Doyel answered. "I do that at my family after every game, so, it’s pretty cool," Clark explained, clearly humoring the reporter, who then inexplicably told her: "OK, well, start doing it to me and we’ll get along just fine."

The former Iowa Hawkeye, who broke the NCAA scoring record for both women and men during her college career, appeared taken aback; frozen in a clenched smile that every woman who ever has been asked an inappropriate question by a man is undoubtedly familiar with.

But given Clark's immense popularity—having just made her SNL debut over the weekend—it didn't take long for the internet to rally around the star point guard.

"Hey remember when Gregg Doyel did the heart thing to Caitlin Clark and was super creepy about it? That was really f--king weird," posted Dan Katz of Barstool Sports.

"Respect to Gregg Doyel waking up today and deciding to be as f--king weird and cringeworthy as possible," chimed in Barstool's Jeff D. Lowe.

Meanwhile, others got a bit more creative with their barbs:

After the uncomfortable exchange began to go viral, Doyel apologized with a social media post, which he followed by penning an entire column apologizing to Clark that he was "part of the problem."

Today in my uniquely oafish way, while welcoming Caitlin Clark to Indy, I formed my hands into her signature [heart]," he posted to X on Wednesday evening. "My comment afterward was clumsy and awkward. I sincerely apologize. Please know my heart (literally and figuratively) was well-intentioned. I will do better."

However, his apology didn't exactly go over well either, with some women pointing out that not only did he not learn his lesson, but that as a career journalist, he should have known better in the first place.

Dave Portnoy, on the other hand, offered a more colorful rebuttal.

For her part, Clark has not commented on the controversy. But one would have to imagine she's got more important things on her mind at the moment.