There is no question Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark was a phenomenal college basketball player.
The way the Iowa star elevated women’s college basketball while bringing in so many new sets of eyeballs was nothing short of amazing.
Surely, Clark will do the same for the WNBA.
That’s what a certain sector thinks anyway.
But a little over a month into Clark’s professional basketball career, this thing is spinning in ways that could do more harm than good. It’s Black vs. White. It’s the Great White Hope. It’s preferential treatment for a rookie. It’s the pampered princess. It’s jealousy among peers, even Clark’s teammates.
It’s all of these things, and with every day it seems less and less about basketball.
And it all makes sense given the deepening racial divide that has a grip on this nation right now thanks to former US President and current Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.
Everybody is passionately debating whether or not Clark, who is averaging a respectable 16.8 points, 5.3 rebounds and 6.3 assists for a 3-9 team in her first 12 games as a pro, is really the savior of the WNBA.
It’s Black folks vs Whites because the Iowa-bred Clark is bringing with her a lot of mainstream interest that had all but ignored the WNBA that Black players dominate. It almost feels like the WNBA doesn’t already have some white stars like Breanna Stewart, Diana Tarausi, Kelsey Plum and recently retired WNBA legend Sue Byrd.
But this debate isn’t just Black vs. white. It’s Black-on-Black. Many of us recognize Clark for the baller and incredible talent that she is. Many of us are also concerned that once again, we are seeing a white player come into a traditional Black arena and, without earning it, be tagged “the next coming.”
Some of us – myself included – are standing on both sides of these perspectives at once.
Just last week, we watched ESPN First Take Host Stephen A. Smith and guest host Monica McNutt go at it on air in a way that got a little uncomfortable during a 41-minute segment that was about the WNBA and Clark. Their disagreement continued well after the show with Stephen A. jumping on his Youtube platform to further his point and take shots at McNutt.
McNutt, who was ready for all of Stephen A.’s smoke, didn’t back down in subsequent talk show appearances last week.
But that’s what the name Caitlin Clark does. It makes us draw lines in the sand.
Last week, the nation was up in arms after Chicago Sky’s Chennedy Carter delivered a hard and flagrant foul to the rookie. This week’s conversation and debate are about Clark being left off the US Olympic Team in favor of veteran players who are quite frankly much better than Clark.
Clark will surely get her Olympic opportunity in another four years. But right now, an A’ja Wilson she is not.
Today, Clark is a young player with a lot of potential. What that has meant for the WNBA is a potential gold mine. Television viewership is up this season, chartered flights are waiting at the gate instead of commercial flights, basketball arenas are packed and, for the first tim, the conversation is about expansion instead of retraction.
Is this WNBA renaissance all about Clark? Of course not.
For those who are true basketball fans and have been watching for years, we have seen the incremental growth of the WNBA. But there is no denying that the mainstream interest that has attached itself to Clark is having an impact, too.
There is also this spirit and not-so-friendly rivalry between Chicago’s Angel Reese and Clark that began two years ago in college and will be one that’s fun to watch unfold. It’s reminiscent of the Magic Johnson vs. Larry Bird rivalry back in the 1980s. You know, the one that started when the two were college stars and continued into their NBA careers. The Magic/Bird rivalry is largely credited with saving the NBA.
Like Magic and Bird, Reese and Clark battled for a national championship in college. Magic and Bird went head-to-head for NBA championships, too.
We can only hope Clark vs. Reese will give us as much excitement in the WNBA.
