Indy Star columnist Gregg Doyel is back in the spotlight after a second uncomfortable exchange surfaced involving newly drafted WNBA star Caitlin Clark.
In the clip posted on X from the Indiana Fever press conference, Doyel was asking questions directed to the team’s coach Christie Sides about drafting Clark, referring to the NCAA basketball star as “that” and “it” while she’s sitting next to the coach.
“You were just given the keys to that,” Doyel said to Sides. “What are you going to do with it?”
Earlier in the week, a clip of Doyel speaking to Clark at the same press conference went viral in which the columnist has a cringe-worthy moment with the basketball star after giving her a heart sign gesture with his hands, something Clark does at games.
Gregg Doyle had second exchange that would also be categorized as…creepy.
GD to the Fever coach Christie Sides: “You just got the keys to THAT, what are you gonna do with IT?” pic.twitter.com/2fyWLTMj6y
— SHE scores bangers (@SHEscoresbanger) April 17, 2024
“You like that?” Clark asked, and Doyel replied, “I like that you’re here.”
She then explained, “Yeah, I do that at my family after every game.” And Doyel said to the young star, “OK, well listen, start doing it to me and we’ll get along just fine.”
People on social media slammed the columnist for the comments, the Daily Mail reported. Doyel then issued an apology for his “uniquely oafish way, while welcoming Caitlin Clark to Indy.”
“I formed my hands into her signature,” the reporter wrote on X. “My comment afterward was clumsy and awkward. I sincerely apologize. Please know my heart (literally and figuratively) was well-intentioned. I will do better.”
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He later wrote a column in the Indy Star titled, “Doyel: Caitlin Clark, I’m so sorry. On Wednesday I was part of the problem.”
“I’m devastated to realize I’m part of the problem,” Doyel wrote. “I screwed up Wednesday during my first interaction with No. 1 overall draft pick Caitlin Clark of the Indiana Fever.”
“What I’ve learned is that I need to be more aware about how I talk to people – not just athletes,” he added. “I realized that only after my exchange with Clark went viral and I navigated the first two stages of grief during a discussion with the people I care about the most.”
“In my haste to be clever, to be familiar and welcoming (or so I thought), I offended Caitlin and her family,” Doyel continued. “After going through denial, and then anger…I now realize what I said and how I said it was wrong, wrong, wrong. I mean it was just wrong. Caitlin Clark, I’m so sorry.”