Caitlin Clark on Kelsey Mitchell's comments about treatment she received: 'As her teammate, it makes you upset'

During her end-of-season press conference on Thursday, Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark addressed teammate Kelsey Mitchell's comments about the difficulty of playing with Clark and the attention that comes with being her teammate .

On Saturday, Mitchell cited hateful private messages she's received on social media, as well as getting "a lot of flak just from being on [Clark's] team."

Clark said Thursday: "As her teammate, it makes you upset because you care about your teammates so much, and you don't want any of them to go through something like that. For the people that have followed me, obviously, there is such a microscope on me, and that kind of comes with everybody else that I've been teammates with — whether that was my time at Iowa, whether that's been here — [it] comes with a lot of really great things, and then, at times, there can be some negatives.

"As far as people that have used me to demonstrate racist rhetoric, or hate, or discrimination, that's not something that I stand for. It's never been something I've stood for. For those of you that know me, you know that's not what I'm about. It's not how I was raised, so that's really disappointing when people do that. ... Anytime I see something like that [it] makes me upset, makes me sad, makes me really disappointed because that's not who I am. That's not what I'm about."

Mitchell can be a free agent this offseason, and she is one player Clark wants to see on the roster going forward. Mitchell, a four-time All-Star, said on Saturday that it's too early to make a decision on what she will do.

Clark said she is going to recruit Mitchell to re-sign.

"As far as Kelsey and our future with her with the organization, I think she knows how much I love her," Clark said. "We've talked since the season has ended, and there's nobody I would want to share the backcourt with other than her."

Caitlin Clark on EPIC extension, future with Fever

Clark said "no matter what, I'm going to be here," when asked about her future with the Fever, who finished with a 28-16 record during the regular season before being knocked out by the reigning champion Las Vegas Aces in the opening round.

The three-time WNBA All-Star and 2024 All-WNBA first-teamer is eligible to sign an EPIC extension, and while Clark said she's been too busy playing golf to think about her next deal, keeping a competitive roster intact will be an important factor.

"It's just figuring out the way we need to construct our roster" said Clark, who was non-committal about whether she'll sign the EPIC extension. "No matter what, I'm going to be here. I just want to do what's best for the team and make sure we have the opportunity to be able to win championships. That's my main goal.

"Obviously, it's a really cool opportunity. I think it's something that's great that was added to the CBA to reward young players that are on their rookie deals."

Clark, if she decides to sign the EPIC deal, could cash in. But she will weigh that against taking less in order to provide general manager Amber Cox the salary-cap space to improve the roster.

"My focus is on winning. I certainly know what I deserve and what I'm worth, but at the same time, sometimes you have to make sacrifices," Clark said. "I'm not saying I'm not going to sign it. I'm not saying I am going to sign it.

"Those are just conversations that I'll have with the front office and ownership about where we want to go and what we need, what sacrifices have to be made or not made or who we can pay, who needs this, who needs that."