Caitlin Clark Accused Of Showing Poor Leadership Towards Raven Johnson
We're still a few weeks away from the start of the 2026 WNBA season, and yet, Caitlin Clark is facing a ton of scrutiny from her critics.
Earlier this week, the Indiana Fever used the No. 10 overall pick on South Carolina guard Raven Johnson. That selection shocked plenty of fans in large part because there's history between Clark and Johnson. The Iowa legend basically dismissed Johnson's shooting ability in the middle of a Final Four game.
"That's one reason why I hate the internet now. I got bashed, I got bullied. I got called all these things that I wasn't," Johnson said in 2023. "I wanted to quit basketball at that time and go in this little bubble of isolation and just be by myself. I just leaned on God, I had some wonderful teammates and they helped me find that light and it put some much fuel to the fire for me to go back for the next year and we went undefeated and met that team again and we beat them."
Well, Clark and Johnson must now go from rivals to teammates. Although it's still early in that transition process, the face of Indiana's franchise has already been accused of being a bad leader.
A popular TikTok user under the name of "HighlightReelASMR" called out Clark for not posting anything on social media about Johnson joining the Fever.
"Caitlin, where is your post? Why is there no post about your top draft pick? You're posting about shoes," he said. "What are you doing? You're supposed to be the leader of this team."
That video from "HighlightReelASMR" led to other WNBA fans questioning Clark's leadership skills.
"I don't think Caitlin is obligated to post any public apology to Raven. But I also do think the amount of public vitriol and hatred towards Raven over the past few days has been crazy," one fan said. "Anyway, it would be nice if Caitlin atleast re-shares the Raven joining post - I think that'll calm down the unnecessary hate towards Raven.
"This is not a good look by Clark," a second fan said. "A simple let's work and tagging Raven Johnson will solve a lot of problems right now."
"Caitlin is not the leader of her team," a TikTok user wrote. "She's also not the best on the team. Even on Iowa she wasn't the leader, she was just the best on the team at the time."
"That's how CC is lowkey… that's why her fans are like that," another person declared
@highlightreelasmr We may have a problem #caitlinclark#espn#wnba
♬ original sound - HighlightReelASMR
Fever star Aliyah Boston chimes in on this discussion.
During the latest episode of her "Post Moves" podcast, Fever star Aliyah Boston made it clear that Clark and Johnson don't actually have any disdain towards each other.
"It's so funny, the fans always have more beef than the players actually do," Boston said, via Heavy.com. "So it's always entertaining, you read all this stuff, and fans are hating on one person, hating on another. And then you're playing with that said person. And so I think it's going to be fine. Everyone has their thoughts, but when you come in, and you're in the gym and you're ready to hoop, that's literally all it is."
Who knows? Maybe this unlikely pairing for the Fever will thrive on the hardwood this upcoming season.
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This story was originally published April 17, 2026 at 5:30 PM.