Caitlin Clark Hate Is Jealousy, Not Racism, Says Dan Dakich

The Caitlin Clark racism narrative is largely fake news ... so says Dan Dakich who tells us the hate towards the number one overall pick is pure jealousy!

Clark's been gettin' beat up since her WNBA debut last month -- we all saw what Chennedy Carter did to the Fever superstar last weekend -- so we asked Dakich, a former Indiana Hoosier player and coach, if it's just basketball ... or something else.

"Of course, she's being targeted," Dakich, host of Outkick's "Don't @ Me" told Babcock on the "TMZ Sports" TV show (prior to the Olympic team snub).

"There's a little bit of racism or sexism in there, you know, straight white girl, okay, but that ain't it to me."

Dakich, 61, says it's mainly jealousy. Clark got a mega deal with Nike (worth nearly $30 mil) that includes a signature sneaker ... and her presence in the WNBA has also caused record-breaking numbers across the board -- TV ratings, attendance, and jersey sales included.

In other words, Caitlin's been crowned the WNBA savior and the other players clearly don't like it. In fact, Dakich's wife Leigh, who coached Syracuse softball for decades, even told him that women often hate seeing other women succeed in sports.

"She said you will see incredible pettiness and jealousy," Dakich said. "We're seeing a lot of that."

At the end of the day, the cheap shots on Clark are more than just a "welcome to the WNBA, rookie" ... and despite Fever general manager Lin Dunn lobbying the league to step in and protect their star, she's still getting beat up.