There may not be a more polarizing athlete amongst Bay Area sports fans than Golden State Warriors guard Brandin Podziemski. The discourse surrounding him is often heated and there was a perfect opportunity for critics to jump all over him thanks to Caitlin Clark.
The San Francisco Giants were playing at Oracle Park on Wednesday and both Podziemski and Clark were in attendance. That led to a split-screen picture of both Podziemski and Clark at the game.
Brandin Podziemski still can't catch a break from Warriors critics
Many fans in the comments were quick to say they’d rather have Clark on the Warriors than Podziemski, or that it was disrespectful to mention him and Clark together as if they are on the same level.
Obviously social media is a very mean and scary place, and that is certainly true with regard to Podziemski discourse. Ever since he said things like he wanted to be greater than Stephen Curry, or that he could have been the white Shohei Ohtani, some fans have criticized him at every turn.
Two ballers at the ballpark 🏀 pic.twitter.com/4svG6N1tKU
— SF Giants on NBCS (@NBCSGiants) May 27, 2026
Podziemski is clearly a confident person who may not be extremely self aware, but over the course of last season he did win some fans over with his durability, and the fact that he was one of the team’s most potent scorers when Curry was out for an extended period of time due to injury.
It’s not Clark’s fault that she was there catching a game. The Indiana Fever are taking on the Golden State Valkyries on Thursday night, so she was just taking in a game while she has a day off in San Francisco. It just so happens that she provided perfect fodder for those looking to take a swipe at the young Warriors player.
Podz has been no stranger to Oracle Park. He’s attended multiple Giants games since becoming a Warrior and even threw out the first pitch and took batting practice a few years ago. Yet he got boeed by fans at the game a few months ago which was not a cool move.
He doesn’t deserve to be treated like that especially since he played in all 82 games for the team, along with seemingly being a good teammate and a guy who's willing to play hard. It was simply uncalled for.
Maybe next season will provide Podziemski a chance to get back in the good graces of the fanbase. If he can be a more consistent player and contributor for the Warriors, perhaps the vitriol towards him online will lessen. Let’s just hope that he isn’t on any more split screens with Caitlin Clark anytime soon.
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