Who Is Caitlin Clark?

My VIP for this week is Caitlin Clark, WNBA superstar of the Fever. She made the news in her collegiate career and even more news since joining WNBA. Earlier in June during a game between the Indiana Fever and the Chicago Sky, Clark was “body-checked by Sky star player Chennedy Carter in a flagrant display of unsportsmanlike conduct,” according to Armstrong Williams at The Daily Signal. 

Carter has been lambasted by WNBA fans and passive onlookers of the sport. There was even a moment when a person in Washington, D.C., confronted Carter outside of her team’s hotel.

Longtime fans of the game have noted that this type of dirty play is common among WNBA players, yet with fresh new faces watching the sport as a direct result of Clark’s entry into the league, many onlookers questioned the racial dynamics of the situation and how it may have motivated the push.

Professional basketball is generally dominated by black athletes. In fact, despite the fact that blacks make up approximately 13% of the U.S. population, nearly 64% of WNBA players are black. This statistic is practically the same in the NBA, with approximately 70% of players being black.

Is it possible that Clark, a white athlete joining the WNBA, a league with historically low ratings and an average attendance of around 6,000 fans per game … and who has significantly elevated the sport to unprecedented levels, might face criticism from black athletes?

Can we also say that fans and passive observers who witnessed Carter’s shove of Clark … may be exhibiting more severe reactions toward her due to her being a black woman? …

I think we can say with absolute certainty that the backlash regarding the event would not have happened if Clark were a black athlete. We can say that with certainty because, as previously mentioned, this level of play is common in the WNBA and has been common for years.

But, at the same time, could it not also be true that black athletes in the WNBA are displeased that a white athlete has stolen their glory and, within a short time, propelled the league into a position that was once unattainable even with the efforts they put in for decades?

… I have no doubt this situation has fueled Clark to perform at her best and set her on a path to greatness.