It is WILD to me to see an entire league openly revolt against a rookie the way the WNBA has on Clark lol.
Yeah I figured it was going to happen. She got so much hype and then the deals right out of the gate probably because she was white. I mean it’s not like there hasn’t been a long history of great players in that league, for the press to fawn on her like that. Then again … she was spectacular with her 3s shooting and broke all the scoring records and was a national champion last year and in the big game again this year.
It’s the skill disparity issue… LeBron was so skilled as a rookie but so were the then stars like Kobe McGrady etc. etc., the WNBA do not have that to counter the Clark hype.
Not sure what you are saying Kareem? Plenty of skilled players before her and in league currently and coming out with her. And probably why the resentment that all of a sudden she’s getting all this hype, and deals right out of school. That others haven’t. Also it’s tough coming to a lower tier team which is still losing a lot and makes it seem like she’s not all that, beyond the 3’s. Unfairly.
i know little of the wnba's history, so i can't weigh in heavily here, but i wouldn't want to be the league's commissioner right now. clark has obviously brought a lot of attention to the league, and nobody is paying to see her get roughed up. but you also can't be seen as protecting her, as it will just fuel the fire that you're advancing an agenda. and no, i don't really recall an nba equivalent. guys aren't just randomly knocking wembanyama down off the ball or whatever.
Agree with all of this. LeBron is the last player to enter the league with comparable hype, but there wasn’t a unified vendetta to try and physically harm him lol.
Nothing like potentially killing the goose who laid the golden egg.For a group who complains about their pay they are sure doing their best to eliminate the person who’s putting eyes on their sport.
Like @abeer3 , currently i really don't know enough about their game to have a seat at table of opinion. Two of my three kids are girls and with a team here in ATL, that's likely to change. that said, my outside take: I'm all for paying your dues and there's some built in animosity when you've been grinding in the sport for years and she comes in and seas part for her. You want to remind her that just because the media handed her a spot, you're not going to. BUT if it bothers you that much keep flying commercial and don't take the pay hike she's about to inject into all their banks. She's bringing eyes on these games, interest that has never been there and wouldn't be otherwise. Sellout games, mobs of excited young girls to see her (that will only increase the interest and longevity of the game), televised games, people talking about it on the national level ahead of other events that generate higher ratings. If you have to say it's you, it's not you. Just read the tweet about the number of people coming to see her play This many kids being excited to see any player is phenomenal for that sport
Jokes about her attractiveness aside, I’m actually pretty intrigued to see how Cameron Brink and Rickea Jackson develop on the Sparks. I really haven’t paid much attention to WNBA until this year, but I’ve been trying to tune into Sparks games and although they’re not doing great, they’ve showed some potential I’ve seen Brink compared to AD on social media and while it’s a stretch, I kinda see it. I think she’s on pace to break records for blocks by a rookie, and she also seems pretty capable from the three point line. Meanwhile I’ve seen some pretty impressive plays from Rickea Jackson in creating her own shot off the dribble.
From The Athletic: Caitlin Clark and a day that demanded nuance There is nothing more divisive in sports right now than the mere existence of Caitlin Clark, who inspires record viewership, controversial hard fouls and, as we saw yesterday, prominent media members to lose their minds. Let’s start with yesterday’s maelstrom before we fill in some context: During Pat McAfee’s afternoon ESPN show, he referred to Clark as a “white b—” while passionately defending the Fever rookie in a segment. He took exception with the argument that anyone besides Clark (Angel Reese, Cameron Brink, etc.) is driving the league’s newfound expanded audience. McAfee later apologized for his wording. Simply, as Andrew Marchand wrote yesterday, McAfee came up short. Elsewhere on ESPN, Stephen A. Smith and women’s basketball analyst Monica McNutt engaged in a frankly uncomfortable back-and-forthabout the coverage of Clark and the WNBA. Smith asked McNutt, “Who talks about women’s sports more than ‘First Take’?” To which McNutt replied: “Stephen A., respectfully, with your platform you could’ve been doing this three years ago if you wanted to." Smith later got very angry online about the whole thing, while McNutt expoaded on her comments with Shannon Sharpe later in the evening. McNutt’s comment — and Smith’s later response — are the crux of this entire issue: For those who watched/covered/enjoyed WNBA basketball before Clark arrived, this was already a great league, with great storylines and great basketball. Those people will wonder why it took everyone else so long to see. More specifically, they want to know why it was Clark who brought these eyeballs, and not players like Diana Taurasi, Sue Bird, Candace Parker, Sylvia Fowles or A’ja Wilson. It’s a valid point, and one Jim Trotter made back in April about the uncomfortable truth behind the Caitlin Clark Effect. And yet this is our reality, which is something both Smith and McAfee (however clumsily) emphasized. Clark has helped bring this massive moment for the WNBA, fair or not — to the aforementioned league legends and Clark herself. Two things can be true. I hope this is simply a day of growing pains for the national media and fans on how we talk about the WNBA as it becomes more of a national discussion. Every metric shows massive, massive interest in all things Clark and WNBA right now. That’s not going away. I thought The Athletic’s Zena Keita and Marcus Thompson II made that point well — and better than I did — on an emergency episode of The Athletic Women’s Basketball Show. It’s worth a listen.
