Through all the social-media nonsense, the racism and the jealousy, Caitlin Clark has risen above the fray -- and good for her

She never complained. Not about the flagrant fouls, not about people using her name as a springboard to criticize Black players, nothing. She was a star in every way.

This ought to be a celebration, a celebration of a revelatory Fever season, a celebration of the greatest rookie season, courtesy of Caitlin Clark, since Candace Parker won the WNBA’s MVP award as a rookie in 2008. We ought to be extolling the virtues of a team that turned it all around after a 1-8 start, and we ought to be hailing Clark for not only exceeding every outlandish expectation but for the way she handled all the attention and its attendant nonsense.

And we will.

Eventually. But first…

Here I am, sitting at the Fever’s post-season press conference, listening to coach Christie Sides read from a prepared statement:

“I look forward to talking basketball and about our incredible team and the incredible season we just had,” she said. “But let me first say clearly there is absolutely no place for hate or racism of any kind in our port – zero. It’s unfortunately all too common on social media and our players across the league are too often the targets. This is not something any player in this league should have to tolerate. Social media is unfortunately full of trolls who hide behind fake names to take personal shots at our players and spew ugliness and racism. This isn’t what real Fever fans are about, not what real WNBA fans are about, and it’s not what our organization stands for and it doesn’t, in any way, shape or form, represent any of us…”

The story we should be talking about – the Fever’s rise, the WNBA’s epic growth, Clark’s magical rookie season – has been co-opted by mindless trolls who spit venom and racism, much of it aimed at the league’s Black players, although Clark, a White woman, has received her share of jealousy and abuse. Here was Clark, who has handled the spotlight with incredible grace and patience, talking Friday about the racial conversation that has become part of the WNBA’s daily dialogue.

“It’s definitely upsetting,” she said. “Nobody should be facing any sort of racism, hurtful, disrespectful, hateful comments and threats. Those aren’t fans, those are trolls. It’s a real disservice to the people in our league, the organization, the players in the WNBA, but there are a lot of really good fans, whether they’ve been fans for 20-plus years or whether they are new fans in our league, I think continuing to uplift this league in a very positive light is the best thing we can do because there are so many great players, so many great teams, so many positive storylines that can be written and celebrated. For me, that’s why I became a fan of this league because these people were my idols. I grew up wanting to be like them, so I think continuing to uplift and represent this league in a positive way is the best thing that we can do…”