For some it has turned into a race thing, but I really believe if the "ring" thing never happened race wouldn't have been blamed for reception Clark received in the W both positive and negative.
Caitlin Clark should not have been singled out by Time, says Washington Mystics owner Sheila Johnson
- Thread starter NorthernHawkeye
- Start date
I salute you for a very level-headed response and have nothing much to quibble with here. But "white privilege" confers a bunch of other things than what you posted. I guess it's too much of a catch-all. I don't think all inequalities are attributable to race as some would claim and might invoke "white privilege" in doing so.
That's my point ever since the 2022 Championship game online trolls have turned it into a race thing. Just because some well known people make ugly comments doesn't mean that online trolls(possibly not even from the US) have created a racial culture war around the WNBA. Most of the players seem to get along well with Clark. She seemed to get along fine with her fellow WNBA all stars. I think fans make a bigger deal out of slights, hard fouls, bad calls, etc. than the majority of the women in the league do.
I think a lot of blacks don’t give her much credit, taking away from their credibility. I also think that it’s based on race
F the WNBA. Walk away CC and let them continue to be dumpster fire subsidized by NBA.
#22 isn’t doing her stuff with smoke and mirrors. She has put time and effort in it. For that she deserves credit. Her “rewards” are out of line with what her peers receive….but that is NOT her fault. No one is overpaid. There will be other WNBAers who will be realizing the largess of Clark. After all, it does eventually “trickle down”…right?
I disagree, I hear many black commentators making positive comments about CC. Maybe all of us are seeing and hearing what we want to believe.
Now tell that exact same thing to the groups your side likes to make excuses for. White privilege my ass.
C'mon.
As an example, do think Sheryl Swoopes would have been squarely in Caitlin's corner if not for the ring thing?
The league is hostile towards players not like them. Period. Take it from a former Black player like Candace Wiggins who retired early because of the bullying she received for merely being straight.
The trouble for me with "white privilege" is the same as the debates over "woke" and DEI...There's 1,000 different definitions for them all, and for people who find stuff they like (or don't like) they attribute to one of these terms and it's really hard to debate when two people don't even have the same definition for what they're debating over.
For me - white privilege is especially hard to define as imo it has to do with the more subtle side of life. the little things that you tend to take for granted when they do or don't happen to you, and maybe realize your experiences are not the same as others. Take something like traffic stops - I'm 41 and have been pulled over for speeding/traffic violation a grand total of I think 5 times in my life. I don't begin to have the experiences with law enforcement that others have - particularly law enforcement.
I think for alot of the older and/or retired players like Swoopes it's a jealousy thing vs a race thing; and to some extent I can certainly understand it...these are women who were fantastic players years before Clark came along - only they didn't begin to receive the media/fan attention Clark has.
Most have gradually, begrudgingly started to accept that at least some of that attitude - at least directed towards Clark personally, was misguided; tho they're justified to some extent to be miffed that they didn't get more of this coverage we're seeing now, 10, 20, 30 years ago.
That's two, it doesn't seem like an overwhelming majority.
I don't know enough about Candace Wiggins to know if she is being entirely honest about her experience.
Yeah, but you gotta keep in mind while they were giving lip service to Caitlin they were at the same time vigorously arguing for Angel as ROY even as it became patently absurd to cling to that.
The racial element is pretty clear if you look closely enough.
To be fair - up until the Olympic break, Reese had a decent argument to be in consideration; with that long streak of double doubles she had going. She got injured, Clark came out of the break refreshed and ended the debate.
A WNBA player was named athlete of the year...Not female athlete of the year, not w basketball player of the year, ATHLETE.
That's huge, and those closely connected with the WNBA are made about it because she's white...
That doesn't seem right to me.
That's huge, and those closely connected with the WNBA are made about it because she's white...
That doesn't seem right to me.
I guess you don't know if Wiggins is being dishonest either 🤷♂️.
In the case of Swoopes it's inarguable she was against Caitlin from the jump.
Fair point and we could quibble on the timing, but as I recall Caitlin had clearly began to separate herself before Reese's injury and the Olympic break. As an example the game at Dallas where Caitlin broke the WNBA assits in a game record occured right before the break as did a string of games where she was averaging probably 12 assits. Not to mention the triple doubles and all the rest.
37.1% of the Atlanta Dream entire home attendance this year came from the 2 home games that they moved to a bigger arena against the Fever.
Atlanta played all home games (except Indiana) at the Gateway Center (seats 3,500 for basketball).
Indiana visited Atlanta 2 times and the games were moved to State Farm Arena.
The announced attendance for those 2 Caitlin Clark games:
17,575 (June 21)
17,608 (Aug 26)
Atlanta Dream Home Attendance:
35,183 (2 games vs Caitlin Clark)......37.1% of Total
59,694 (18 other home games)...........62.9% of Total
..........................................................................................
94,877 Total Attendance for 20 home games
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Atlanta Dream 2024 Postseason WNBA Schedule - ESPN
ESPN has the full 2024 Atlanta Dream Postseason WNBA schedule. Includes game times, TV listings and ticket information for all Dream games.
Don't get me wrong - I think Clark wins it anyways. But Reese had an excellent start to her rookie season and was at least worthy of being in the conversation until then.
And of course, once she got injured, the race was over.
Y'all are very protective of Clark. I understand that and don't have an issue with it. As an outsider, I can see it from a different perspective.
#22 just swamped the opposition for awards by that time. She had won every damn award for women’s BB for almost 2 years prior…Reese might have moved the needle a bit but Clark moved more than everyone else. Why can’t all the ladies just tip their cap and wish her well? It’s not like the game of women’s basketball is going to fall off the face of the earth.
The so-called double-double streak is the biggest heap of made up importance ever propagated. Besides how little of an indication it does to determine how well that player played, Witherspoon literally sacrificed her team's chemistry, season, and her job to get it. All because they didn't want Clark to be the headline every day. At least I hope that's the reason because if it was simply to draw eyes on Reese for her social media accounts than it is an even dumber move than it is in the first place.
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Reese was never realistically anything other than #2. The double-double streak was a joke. There’s nothing special about getting 10 points and 11 rebounds. Multiple times during the streak she was scrambling to score points during garbage time when the outcome had already been decided and most of the starters were already on the bench but she was still out there because she was stuck on 8 points.
Reese is a tenacious rebounder and she plays a valuable role on her team. But she can’t run, she can’t dribble, and she can’t shoot. Clark is so very clearly a better basketball player that you have to be completely jaded to think otherwise.
The way the streak ended was one of the most selfish displays I’ve ever seen from a professional athlete. She only had 8 points because she was 3-for-13. With the final seconds winding down and her team trailing by 14, her teammates were just running out the clock but she was battling for those last two points like it was a tie game in the playoffs.
I love how Caitlin ignores the noise, wins all of these awards, and simply collects her $11 MILLION in endorsement money this year.
I see only ONE basketball player on this list.
I see only ONE basketball player on this list.
Any time individual performances are allowed to outshine team accomplishments, shit is gonna be stirred. I agree 100% hrr we re…. Clark is gonna handle the ball a lot abd us a good shooter who can create her shots…. She’s gonna score a lot and get a lot of assists mist every game…Reese is a premier rebounder and gets a lot of them every game… and she can make lay-ups and 4 footers, too. She too will score a lot of points …it’s what she does but ut is still a team game. Neither player does it by themselves… but the game and the media need fans and followers and creating stars fir the game guarantees both.
The Fever won the lottery (literally) when they got the #1 overall pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft.
Well said and that is why the flattery of Caitlin by those who were simultaneously arguing for Reese as ROY rings quite hollow to so many of us.
Reese was simply never in the same class as Caitlin in college or in the W.
No other player was getting these types of numbers.
TV viewership numbers:
Wed Sep 25, 2024 Indiana at Connecticut, Game 2 of 1st Round of Playoffs (2.537M viewers on ESPN):
Sun Aug 18, 2024 Seattle at Indiana (2.23M viewers on ABC):
Sat July 20, 2024 WNBA All-Star Game (3.44M viewers on ABC):
June 23, 2024 Indiana at Chicago Game (2.3M Viewers on ESPN):
June 16, 2024 Chicago at Indiana Game (2.252M Viewers on CBS):
2024 WNBA Draft (Mon, Apr 15, 2024 on ESPN):
No other WNBA telecast, including the playoffs and finals, had managed even one million viewers since 2008.
TV viewership numbers:
Wed Sep 25, 2024 Indiana at Connecticut, Game 2 of 1st Round of Playoffs (2.537M viewers on ESPN):
Sun Aug 18, 2024 Seattle at Indiana (2.23M viewers on ABC):
Sat July 20, 2024 WNBA All-Star Game (3.44M viewers on ABC):
June 23, 2024 Indiana at Chicago Game (2.3M Viewers on ESPN):
June 16, 2024 Chicago at Indiana Game (2.252M Viewers on CBS):
2024 WNBA Draft (Mon, Apr 15, 2024 on ESPN):
No other WNBA telecast, including the playoffs and finals, had managed even one million viewers since 2008.
9 of the 10 most viewed WNBA broadcasts this season involved Caitlin Clark.
The ONE exception: The deciding game 5 of the WNBA Finals delivered JUST the 7th-largest audience of the WNBA season.
The ONE exception: The deciding game 5 of the WNBA Finals delivered JUST the 7th-largest audience of the WNBA season.
Actually quite a few Black men gave Caitlin a ton of credit, from superstars like Lebron and Charles to your average Black podcasters.
Probably reading too much into it but in some cases it seemed they actually enjoyed silencing
the catty talk of so many women. Of course it sure ruffled folks at places like The View, but who are ya gonna listen to, them or Lebron and Charles, lol?
Remember when she said the entire WNBA should be named Player of the Year instead of singling out A'ja Wilson?
