Clouds of controversy continue to surround Caitlin Clark and the WNBA. Is the uproar completely justified or overblown?
After scoring 3,951 points at the University of Iowa, capturing America’s gaze, people envisioned the WNBA transition would easily occur. However, after eleven bumpy games, Caitlin Clark’s presence and media maelstrom surrounding her, outweigh anything that she accomplished as a rookie. Serving as a lightning rod for controversy, the former Iowa standout, plays under the immense heat of the national spotlight. In an attempt to parse this issue, you need to start somewhere.
WNBA Players Know Her Better
If you scroll social media, you see the word jealousy attached to what people perceive as the overwhelming sentiment towards Clark. Yet, like this tweet accurately details, WNBA players know her better. Pro athletes, especially in the confines of their sport, possess a different familiarity with each other. Their planet, sphere of influence does not appear accessible to anyone outside the game. In basketball, many of the top players played against each other in AAU, high school, and college. As a result, what those on the outside see does not hold the same weight. Envy? What current WNBA player mentioned having those feelings or hearing if others do? None. Under those circumstances, this feels like wishful thinking, in order to reason why a rookie struggles.
WNBA Players Owe Her Nothing
From long, boring thinkpieces to the weird rantings on social media, members of sports media and fans believe that WNBA players need to feel obligated to thank Clark. Anyone ask Julius Erving or Moses Malone when Bird and Magic took the games from tape delay to live? Similarly, no one pressed them about feeling grateful to Jordan for elevating the game, from a marketing and advertising standpoint. Why? If you do not play for the Indiana Fever, you are an opponent. Your job is to beat the Fever. Where did all of this wanting to hold hands and be friends happen on the basketball come from? Cannot imagine Sheryl Swoopes and Lisa Leslie, as fierce competitors as you will see in the WNBA, embracing the buddy sentiment. Clark’s presence helps raise league revenue. That fact should not stop an opponent from playing with the same energy as anyone else.
The Play Itself
Residing at the epicenter of the furor is a hipcheck by Chicago Sky shooting guard Chennedy Carter. In a clip that the seemingly the entire planet viewed, Carter sidled up to Clark and knocked her down. Now, let’s dive a bit deeper. First, the play before, video surfaces of Clark shouldering Carter and talking to her up the court. In that context, it paints the later foul in a different light. This isn’t college. Just about every WNBA player operated in the superstar role in college. No walk-ons exist. If Caitlin Clark wants to get chippy and get physical, an equal or greater response will happen. Additionally, the severity of Carter’s foul does not merit assault, despite what people believe.
Chennedy Carter drills a jumper then lays a body check on Caitlin Clark that should get her a look from the Blackhawks!
— CHGO Sports (@CHGO_Sports) June 1, 2024
Here’s an extended look at the Caitlin Clark – Chennedy Carter incident, there was more to it than the shoulder check and Clark was clearly talking to her on the way back up the floor from the prior basket by Indiana pic.twitter.com/1XG1RyzTw4
— CJ Fogler account may or may not be notable (@cjzero) June 1, 2024
Race Issue
The response to the foul, in spots, breaks along racial lines with some calling Carter a thug. Not one thrown punch. Nothing further occurred after. Yet, why do some White people feel the need to start slinging stereotypes around? For the longest time, parts of media and fans see Clark as their shining light, a beacon that saved women’s basketball. And physicality towards her demonizes the other player. How dare this Black woman retaliate for what she could think was excessive contact earlier. Ask yourself this, if a White player bodied Clark in a similar manner, would the press and fans walk around with twisted boxers? At the same time, would you read the words jealousy or envy affixed to the situation?
Misogynoir At Work
Lost in the vitriol cast towards Chennedy Carter is the palpable hate towards the WNBA and its players. If the league wasn’t sixty percent Black, would you hear how badly the league failed without Caitlin Clark bringing in new viewers? Of course not. Read the comments regarding the Carter foul carefully. You will see an unbridled hate towards Black women. Yet, at the same time, few of the people spouting that nonsense will just say the quiet part out loud. In America, the necessity for a Great White Sports Hope will draw in a conservative section of the demographic because they are tired and annoyed with seeing Black athletes succeed, especially women. For example, few people list Serena Williams or Simone Biles as the greatest athletes in history, despite dominating on the world stage. If Black male athletes go through rough times, Black female athletes get disrespected far more.
Monday’s Pat McAfee Show opened with a Caitlin Clark PowerPoint:
“I would like the media people that continue to say, ‘This rookie class, this rookie class, this rookie class’. Nah, just call it for what it is — there’s one white bitch for the Indiana team who is a superstar.” pic.twitter.com/psGNQXts5O
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) June 3, 2024
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Meanwhile
If you look at America’s fascination/fixation with Caitlin Clark, many love her as much as they hate Angel Reese. Why? Reese speaks her mind and handles business on the court. Yet, the overwhelming opinion sees most people lionizing Calrk while holding heavy negative feelings towards Reese. When the Fever defeated Reese’s Chicago Sky last weekend, Newsweek decided to run an article touting Clark’s revenge. First, an early-season game should never count as ” revenge”. Next, revenge for what? Reese and Clark played twice over the last two college seasons. Clark won this year to advance to the Final Four. Last year, Reese and LSU won the national championship by defeating Iowa. The narrative of the hard-working White playing facing the mouthy Black player is sadly still used in modern media. Those clicks and views will not happen without flash and a lack of substance.
The Difference
When veteran Connecticut Sun forward Alyssa Thomas dragged Angel Reese to the ground during their game, the national media sat silent. You could hear a flea sneeze on a dandelion while waiting for a response. Thomas, a well-respected, perennial all-star, received an ejection and walked off the court. Phone and tablets had to be updated that day because of the dearth of coverage. If you look at the two fouls side by side, Thomas’ yoking of Reese remains the far more egregious act. Zero coverage, tweets, or palpable outrage. Furthermore, Reese handled the situation in the way true leaders do.
Casual Racism and Diminishing Skills
Modern sports media remains a dumpster fire. Anyone with a .com or a Twitter account can consider themselves media. Journalistic standards fail constantly. Why? It is far easier to pander for clicks than actually perform your job well. Part of this fault lays with the consumer. In a world of microwave timer attention spans, fans stop reading thoroughly. Instead of possessing a modicum of a clue because Google is free, they attach themselves to a headline and train of thought that did not start with them. On balance, looking at those loudly wanting to spout Caitlin Clark greatness while taking shots at Black players mostly want to return America to a place where inequality tied with baseball for the role of America’s pastime. Instead of hyping up women’s basketball as a whole, they want to focus on a player because of her apparent wholesomeness. You know why.
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Facts Not in Dispute
Caitlin Clark shoots the ball with a range rarely seen in women’s basketball. Watching her rise at Iowa, leading them to national basketball relevance, made new fans. The WNBA hopes she matures into the star that she was at Iowa. Currently, her team does not play well. In fact, they look like a bottom-tier franchise, Clark can score in bunches, as the thirty point against the Sparks signifies. While standing six feet tall, she may need to add some strength to deal with the physical nature of the game. Also, she distributes the ball well and crashes the boards. On the other hand, while she flashes excellent defense, picking up silly fouls must end.
Opinion
No one truly hates Caitlin Clark. In fact, the source of the anger is the sports media that wants to generate controversy and talking points for ratings, clicks, etc. Concomitantly, one-hundred-forty-three other players exist in the WNBA. Some are all-time greats, decorated legends. Others work to get to that level. While Clark does bring eyes to the game, her presence unintentionally brings a hateful, racist subset that wants to tout her while denigrating the Black women that built that league. You can build something up without tearing everything else down.
Harsh Opinion
Operating in media space, one sees an all-too-familiar trend: Black sports media members that feel the need to pile on. They crave the acknowledgement and adjacency to what some of their White colleagues enjoy. In selling out the ancestors for currency, the monetized misogynoir and internalized racism becomes the foundation of their platforms. Now, that is not to say that Black athletes don’t deserve criticism, because of course they do. The problem is the piling on, and the stunning energy used in that process. We do not live in a sports society where athletes of various races receive the same treatment for the same actions or performance. Somehow, when the ignorance emanates from your community, it resonates deeper. Especially when you can tell the Black media member looks to impress a subsection of the population by veering out of bounds about a Black athlete.
Last night Shannon Sharpe says — Black women need to stop complaining and using whataboutism to dismiss their envy and jealousy of Caitlin Clark..
Sharpe continues with he does not support Black women who said they don’t need no man…
Meanwhile, it’s making a lot more sense… pic.twitter.com/TmMhGQ3AkR
— HarrietEve9 (@HarrietEve9) June 3, 2024
Overview
For the WNBA, and its financial future, the hope is that Caitlin Clark becomes the superstar they envision. The league stands as one of the most competitive in the world. With only twelve teams, the franchise must release first round picks every spring because of the level of competition. In twenty-eight years, the league enjoys its highest attendance and ratings, thanks to an emergence in attention. Yet, media/fan coddling of Caitlin Clark does not help the situation. In fact, it reveals the ugliness of the perpetual division. For the media, the job should stay the exact same. Enjoy the games, hype the leagues and its players. Leave the thinkpieces to those that actually possess said ability. Hot takes are the armor of the stupid and food of the pepertually ignorant. Monica McNutt sums everything up beautifully.
Yeah, Monica won’t be back on First Take….
Y’all know Stephen A. Hates getting cooked on his own show… pic.twitter.com/Sl2j9ZyXS0
— 🍊Elgin Barrett Eugene Smith lll🍊 (@Southside_Gunn) June 3, 2024
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