Fever’s Lexie Hull speaks out against attacks on players as team’s popularity grows during Caitlin Clark era

Lexie Hull remembers what it was like playing for the Indiana Fever before Caitlin Clark arrived in town.It’s different now. The arenas are louder, the opposing players are more motivated and social media is more volatile.”The most challenging part is there’s just so much scrutiny. People have opinions online, and, unfortunately, that’s part of the job and the role that we play,” Hull told Fox News Digital about what’s harder about playing in Indiana since 2024.”People need to know that everyone’s human. We’re real people. I think when things get blown out of proportion, when things get really personal and there’s personal attacks on people’s character, I think that’s where it gets over the line.”CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COMWhen asked if she has been the target of personal attacks online, Hull said, “I’m sure I have. I try not to read comments for that reason.”Much of the controversial social media discourse about the Fever stems from heated moments on the court over the last two seasons. Clark and Fever fans often expressed outrage at times when an opposing player fouled her or delivered a physical play against Clark without a foul being called.Hull was drafted by the Fever in 2022 and played two full seasons in a quieter, less-crowded Gainbridge Fieldhouse than the one she has played in the last two years, falling short of the playoffs both years.But when Clark was drafted in 2024, Hull’s team became the center of the women’s basketball world.Hull says she noticed a difference in how opposing players started to perform against her team that year, which she credits to the surge in popularity.”Because of the fans that we’ve gotten since 2024, with the rise in, I think, like, popularity with the Indiana Fever being like a name that people know. … And there’s a million Fever jerseys and Fever shirts. I think, like, as an opposing team, you’d want to win even more because you feel there’s so many people rooting,” Hull said.”It’s exciting to have that type of following across the country, and I think, like, for other teams, they have great fans and great people that show up for them, and they want to perform for those people, just like we want to perform for ours.”When asked if she believes games have gotten more physical as a result, Hull said, “I think just the game itself is physical. I don’t know if it’s gotten any more physical. I think social media amplifies a lot of that.”I think people want to win. I think people just want to win. … [The games] are all physical. … They all get chippy at times. Calls get made, calls don’t get made. That’s just part of the game.”FEVER’S SOPHIE CUNNINGHAM DROPS ‘NO ONE LIKES US’ TAKE AS INDIANA DEALS WITH ADVERSITYDuring a game between the Fever and the Connecticut Sun June 17, physicality boiled into a brawl. After Sun guard Jacy Sheldon poked Clark in the eye and fellow Sun player Marina Mabrey shoved Clark to the ground, Fever star Sophie Cunningham committed a hard foul on Sheldon