‘Way Beyond What Is Normal’: Longtime Sports Reporter Criticized for Viral Question About Caitlin Clark

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Longtime sports reporter Christine Brennan has faced backlash from some of her own colleagues for a viral question about Caitlin Clark.

The day after Game 1 of the WNBA playoff series between the Indiana Fever and the Connecticut Sun, Brennan asked Sun guard DiJonai Carrington if she intentionally poked Clark in the eye. Although Carrington denied it, Brennan followed that question up by referencing a moment in the fourth quarter in which Carrington and a teammate were seen laughing about something. When Brennan asked if the two were laughing about Carrington having poked Clark in the eye, a confused Carrington reminded her of the fact that it wasn’t an intentional hit. Furthermore, Carrington said she didn’t even realize she hit Clark.

Brennan was heavily criticized for the line of questioning. The Women’s National Basketball Players Association even accused her of trying to “bait” Carrington into saying something controversial.

On Monday, Brennan appeared on CNN and expressed no regrets for her question. In her eyes, she was simply doing her job.

According to a Wednesday report from The Washington Post, the reception from others in her field has been mixed. Some agree that Brennan was doing what she was supposed to do as a journalist; but others felt as though her questioning was bad for the league.

Brennan, as noted in the report, is currently writing a book on Clark and her impact on women’s athletics. Because of this, there is a narrative that her WNBA coverage is almost entirely focused on Clark and no one else.

“Her coverage has gone way beyond what is normal,” former The Athletic editor Gregory Lee Jr. told The Post. “The way she’s covering Caitlin Clark, you’re asking, ‘Is she Caitlin Clark’s PR agent?'”

Lee added that he was approached by Brennan to be interviewed for the book. He declined.

Terri Carmichael Jackson, the executive director, did not decline the other. She called it “exhausting.”

“I said this season wasn’t a flip of the switch,” Jackson said. “We had the Covid bubble season, other periods. I’ve been here nine years, and I said, ‘You are doing a disservice to the history [by focusing only on Caitlin].'”

In response to that criticism, Brennan told The Post that, as a journalist, she’s supposed to “cover the big story.”

“Over the years covering golf, I wrote probably over 100 columns on Tiger Woods,” she said, “and ignored almost all the other golfers.”

Brennan also defended her questions to Carrington, stating she was giving the 26-year-old “the chance to address the issue that was already on Twitter.”