Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese. Two excellent basketball players who seemed to become rivals last year during the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament, when LSU defeated Iowa in the national championship game. Reese was criticized for a gesture she made during that game — a gesture that Clark had been known to make previously.
On April 1 of this year, LSU faced off against Iowa in the Elite Eight, with Iowa emerging victorious.
Both Clark and Reese entered the WNBA draft, with Clark going to the Indiana Fever and Reese going to the Chicago Sky. Now both are contenders for Rookie of the Year in the WNBA.
Although Reese has claimed there is no animosity between her and Clark, she claims fans of Clark are sending her death threats, sending AI- generated pics of her in the nude to her relatives, and even following her home.
It is unclear if Reese has produced any evidence of such allegations, and if the authorities are looking into the matter. And if such allegations are true, are the perpetrators actually fans of Caitlin Clark? And wouldn’t Angel Reese’s address be kept confidential?
Reese claimed such treatment is motivated by racism, although it is unclear if that is the case. Meanwhile, there are those who claim Caitlin Clark is popular because she is “white, straight, and Midwestern.”
Although seventy percent of the players in the WNBA are black, and an estimated one-third are lesbians, I’m certain Caitlin Clark is not the only player in the WNBA who is white, straight, and Midwestern.
But it seems like Clark has been the only player who has been subject to more than her share of hard fouls. Although some of these hard fouls may have been inadvertent, others appear to have been deliberate.
Why are such hard fouls being leveled towards Clark (and no one else)? Is it a rookie thing? Is it because she is white, straight, and Midwestern? Or is it because they are jealous? And what did Clark ever do to any of the WNBA players?
It seems the WNBA has its share of being woke, not to mention being DEI, because it seems the league has been slow in dealing with the hard fouls being inflicted on Clark. I wonder how her teammates and coaches feel about the matter.
Although Clark has kept her cool in dealing with these incidents, there’s a possibility she might reach her breaking point, and the result could be ugly.
What the critics of Caitlin Clark fail to realize is her achievements (both at Iowa and with the Indiana Fever) had led to higher attendance at WNBA games and higher ratings in regards to television viewers. As a result, the WNBA will generate more revenue, which means higher salaries for its players.
Thus, the WNBA needs to take action on this matter. Not just for Caitlin Clark’s sake, but for its own as well.
Note: Angel Reese will miss the rest of the season (which ends on September 19) due to a wrist injury. As a result, Caitlin Clark could wind up being the WNBA Rookie of the Year.
