WNBA star Jonquel Jones reveals truth about players ‘bullying’ Caitlin Clark

WNBA star Jonquel Jones has denied allegations of a targeted bullying campaign against Caitlin Clark last season.

Clark, the Indiana Fever’s sensational No. 1 draft pick, took the WNBA to a whole new level with a remarkable season that saw her named Rookie of the Year but ended in early playoff heartbreak.

The former Iowa Hawkeye’s success led opposing teams to target Clark defensively, and he was often subjected to a series of brutal hits during games.

Given her meteoric impact on the success of women’s basketball and the WNBA, many believed that the more aggressive play of Clark’s opponents was a result of jealousy.

But Jones, the WNBA Finals MVP who won the title with the New York Liberty, insisted there was no campaign against Clark and that she should have taken harsher treatment as a compliment.

WNBA star says Caitlin Clark, seen with black eye, was not intentionally targeted last season

WNBA Finals MVP Jonquel Jones thinks Clark should have taken the rude treatment as a compliment

WNBA champion Jones said on the Kickin It With Dee podcast: ‘I think it was a weird situation for me, when you go on social media you see people pushing stories that aren’t ‘true’.

‘We go out there every night to compete hard… that’s our job and we are athletes.

We WNBA players are not trying to like bully Caitlin Clark. But the truth is, we’re going to go out here and shoot hoops.

‘This was never about him personally or trying to attack him; It was just a matter of us getting out there, you know. ‘The best sign of respect you can get from an opponent is for them to come out and play you hard.’

The first significant blow to Clark came when Chicago Sky’s Chennedy Carter brutally pushed him to the ground.

Carter, who claimed he was acting out after being hit in the head moments earlier, appeared to shout ‘you bitch’ at Clark before knocking him to the ground.

Then, in June, Clark’s fierce college rival, Angel Reese, hit Clark in the head with a brutal forearm.

In the same game, as Clark was driving to the basket in the first quarter, Dana Evans put her arm through Clark’s arm and held him back to stop his momentum.

Angel Reese slapped her college opponent in the head during a game over the summer.

Earlier, Chennedy Carter and Sky teammate Dana Evans combined to foul Clark.

In the playoffs, Connecticut guard DiJonai Carrington poked Clark in the eye.

When Clark signaled a foul to the referee, Evans moved his arm away from Clark and appeared to say something before smiling towards the Fever star.

Also in September, the Connecticut Sun’s DiJonai Carrington poked Clark in the face, giving him a black eye.

Clark averaged 19.2 points, 5.7 rebounds and was the league’s top scorer with 8.4 assists per game.

Clark learned earlier this month that he will be coached by Stephanie White next season.

White replaces Christie Sides, who led the Fever to a 20-20 record last season and the franchise’s first playoff appearance since 2016.

He spent the past two seasons as the head coach of the Connecticut Sun before parting ways with the team last month.

The former Purdue standout served on the Fever coaching staff from 2011-16 and served as head coach the last two of those seasons. The Fever won the WNBA championship in 2012 while on White’s roster.