Throughout her first season in the WNBA, Caitlin Clark has been hit with some not-so-welcoming receptions from opposing players. As she continues her impressive rookie campaign, one of LeBron James’ close friends gave a shoutout to the rising star.

Over the weekend, the Indiana Fever took on the Seattle Storm in their second game back from the Olympics break. Among those catching the action on TV was “Cuffs The Legend.”

He posted a clip from the game on Instagram and said the hate from Clark is fueling her to perform better.

“Being a Caitlin Clark fan as a Black Man in America is a tough job,” he captioned the post. “But somebody gotta do it! Caitlin Clark is COOKING their HATING asses and they cannot take it! I LOVE IT!”

Caitlin Clark put together another dominant outing in Sunday’s matchup against the Storm. In 36 minutes of action, she finished with a stat line of 23 points, five rebounds, nine assists and one steal. Behind this all-around performance, Indiana was able to pick up a 92-75 win.

Clark had endless amounts of hype around her when she entered the league, and so far, she’s managed to live up to it. Through her first 28 games, the All-Star guard is averaging 17.8 points, 5.8 rebounds and 8.3 assists.

Meanwhile, Cuffs the Legend’s friendship with LeBron James has always intrigued fans. On an episode of Scoop B Radio podcast in 2021, he opened up on how their friendship started (h/t Heavy.com):

“We had mutual friends and I met some guys who met some other people man, and it wasn’t even no networking or anything it was straight up, ‘I think you a real dude, man. You’re funny, you’re knowledgeable…’

“Certain guys in the crew just started reaching out to me and next thing you know, I met LeBron himself and it’s been a good friendship with the whole crew.”

Caitlin Clark breaks multiple records in win vs Storm

In the first half of the season, Caitlin Clark pulled off numerous historic feats. She added two more to her growing list on Sunday.

At the pro level, one area of Clark’s game that has stood out the most is her playmaking. With over 10 games still to go in the season, she set a new record for most assists in a season by a rookie.

Later on that night, Caitlin Clark made history again. With three 3-pointers against Seattle, she passed the great Tamika Catchings for most 3-pointers made by a rookie in Fever franchise history(77).

She also became the first rookie in WNBA history to record a triple-double in Fever’s 83-78 win over New York Liberty on July 5.

She also set a new single-game record with 19 assists in her team’s final game before the Olympic break against the Dallas Wings.

Through the first few weeks of the season, Clark’s play was up and down at times. However, it’s clear that she’s started to settle into the WNBA game.

If she continues to perform at this level, the former No. 1 pick should be the frontrunner to take home Rookie of the Year.