July 6, 2024

An Indianapolis sports columnist has apologized for flashing a heart symbol with his hands, as well as for his subsequent comments, to new Indiana Fever player Caitlin Clark in what soon became an “awkward” interaction.

Indianapolis Star columnist Gregg Doyel made the heart symbol while he was speaking to Clark at her introductory news conference with the WNBA team, to which she responded, “You like that?” Doyel replied, “I like that you’re here.

Clark, who broke the NCAA scoring record for both women and men as an Iowa Hawkeye and was the No. 1 pick in Monday’s WNBA draft, said, “I do that at my family after every game, so it’s pretty cool.”

“OK, well, start doing it to me and we’ll get along just fine,” Doyel replied, before he asked a question about Clark’s decision to turn pro and enter the draft.

Doyel apologized in a column published online Wednesday night.

“I’m devastated to realize I’m part of the problem,” he wrote.

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