Caitlin Clark, despite being for the most part apolitical, has been a lightning rod for controversy. As the most adored female player to have ever graced the basketball court, Clark’s fanbase is huge — and they’re vocal.
When a rivalry between Clark, who at the time played for the University of Iowa, and LSU’s Angel Reese sparked in 2023, many of Clark’s fans were accused of hurling racial insults at Clark’s competitors.
According to mainstream outlets, Clark’s fans and their racism have followed the athlete into the WNBA, creating a hostile environment for many of the athletes.
Former WNBA player Sue Bird, the partner of radical leftist retired professional soccer player Megan Rapinoe, recently spoke on this subject.
In her podcast “A Touch More,” the former athlete told Rapinoe that “racism has been impacting the WNBA well before this year,” meaning Clark’s fans are merely exacerbating a pre-existing problem.
“I do think Caitlin is being used as a pawn. Caitlin didn’t bring racism to the WNBA,” said Bird, who went on a long rant about how she never could just focus on being a basketball player because she was forced to be a social justice warrior.
“We’re still not allowed to be focused on our basketball play,” Bird lamented.
However, where Bird sees social justice issues, Jason Whitlock sees a pathetic cry for attention.
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“You couldn’t get any traction based on your basketball, and so you decided, ‘Hey, we got to talk about racism and sexism to draw attention; we have to kneel during the national anthem to draw attention,”’ he says, comparing the WNBA’s social justice activism to “a kid who can’t get attention from their parents.”
And now that Caitlin Clark has entered the chat, people are finally able to focus on basketball because she’s brought the right kind of attention to the league.
“Someone showed up here who plays good enough basketball to draw attention and now people are actually evaluating [women’s] basketball,” says Jason.
According to him, before Clark, the WNBA fandom was lacking because it had “too many women tatted up and looking like men.”
“People don’t want to see that,” he says.
Then, “Caitlin Clark shows up with her ponytail and no tattoos and plays a brand of basketball that’s exciting and fun to watch and voila — a crowd shows up,” Jason explains.
To hear more of his analysis, watch the clip above.
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