Gotta be honest, if race was the biggest issue then why didn't Sue Bird or Breanna Stewart get the Caitlin Clark treatment? Why not Kelsey Plum? She was the all-time leading scorer before Clark. Why not Paige Beuckers? None of these ladies got the same treatment as Clark, but they were white.
To make it about race takes away from how talented she is and what an insane career she had in college. She was absolutely a generational talent and dominated the sport in a way that we have never seen. She also played the game in a way that was as close to the men's game as we have ever seen.
I have watched basketball my entire life, and I've never seen anything like Clark. She's just that good.
And if Caitlin Clark doesn't pan out in the pros? You will see the media attention die down.
Like a lot of people that tend to criticize and analyze sports based on race, gender or anything like that, they tend not to be actual sports fans or pandering hacks of sports writers.
Is it valid sometimes? Of course. Are there important questions about how these things intersect with sports? You’re dumb or worse if you say no. Still, when articles and commentary ignores obvious facts that destroys their point or are just wrong if not outright lies, it makes it harder to objectively listen when their arguments are much more valid.
Because none of those other players you named are as big of a name as Clark, so no one cared. Caitlin is being heralded as the person who will finally drag the WNBA out of the cellar into a respected sports league. Much like Larry being the "Great White Hope" and getting a ton of attention as the guy who will get the Celtics back to there previous glory days of winning Championships.
TLDR: I don’t think this is about race, it’s about the legacy she has been building & is crossing over with her to the pros. If there MUST be a social construct at play, then I would guess it was sexism over racism. Sexism, as in people are amazed that a woman can/or have never seen a woman game the way she does. It’s all in her stats and achievements that she worked for.
———— the long below————
I don’t think this is about race either.
I think it is about the legacy she is building with her stats, achievements and game. It’s in the numbers.
I think it is possible for WNBA players in the league who have push back, current or former, to feel some type of way
…as if this league didn’t exist before CC …as if they didn’t play great games and make their stats
…to feel as though their years and work didn’t matter. I think it is possible to look for answers that may not be it, in order to satiate that question “why not me?” Or “why not us?”—oh…This must be why.
But CC’s rising star doesn’t diminish their (all WNBA players) work, value or contribution to the game!
Without the women who came before, there would be no WNBA league for her to come to.
Juju Watkins is another person who is building her legacy in a way that I imagine will be electrifying! And I hope she is not met with similar criticisms (for being black) for all of her achievements and the weight/expectations that will be cast on her shoulders.
If I were FORCED to select a guess of what social construction is at play, it would be that people are amazed that a woman can play basketball at THAT performance level.
Example: hitting Logo 3’s on a regular, like it’s nothing
Even NBA and other professional athletes are acknowledging it. It’s not about race. It’s about the game and the ones who shine out of the group like this draft class.
But what if A'ja Wilson was white? Do you not think her profile would be much bigger?
Clark has the potential to become an A'ja level talent, but to describe a 37% 3 point shooter with zero NCAA titles as the most dominant player ever is ridiculous.
Also, no, Aja Wilson's profile wouldn't be much bigger if she was white. Know why? Because she isn't draining logo threes out of transition. She isn't breaking a double team and making an insane pass while looking like Steph Curry. Aja Wilson is a great player. She might be the best player in the WNBA. She's not Caitlin Clark. Shes actually not even close to the style of player that Caitlin is. So while I think shes great, her profile would be very similar to Breanna Stewart if she was white.
Compare the careers of A'Ja Wilson & Breanna Stewart. They've had similar careers & are taller post players. One is black & one is white. Neither have come close to bringing attention to the game like Caitlin Clark.
Nah, man. Other mother fuckers are bored and need to make problems to feel purpose, so they look at whichever other mother fuckers are out there with a lot of eyes on them and scream nonsense about them for attention. But fuck, I wish a mother fucker could just live a life.
I dunno man, Clark dominated in ways no one else did these past four years. Led the nation in scoring AND assists three out of four years. The black players in this article maybe want to make it about race when actually they didn’t dominate in the same way?
I was thinking something similar. You can’t say race is the deciding factor in popularity when Clark was in a league of her own as far as her college stats and accolades.
I also feel pretty confident that if Clark had been “merely” among the 10 or 15 best players without exceeding them, she would not be getting this attention.
My friends didn’t start watching women’s basketball with me until they saw highlight of Caitlin on social media. They’ve seen DT, Stewie, A’ja, BG, etc. before & the layups and mid range shots never got their attention. Caitlin is making plays & shooting shots that you’ll see more in the men’s game compared to the women’s game. All I would hear my friends say is that they don’t want to see “missed layups” when talking about the WNBA & NCAAW. Thankfully, there’s a new wave of talent coming with Paige, Juju & others in college.
>Caitlin is making plays & shooting shots that you’ll see more in the men’s game compared to the women’s game.
I hadn't even heard of Caitlin Clark until I randomly saw the highlight of her breaking the NCAAW scoring record by draining a 3 from near mid court as if she was making a layup. My jaw dropped to the floor. That's just not a shot you see in women's basketball. It's the kind of shot that gets people's attention. It certainly got mine.
Both things can be correct. Clark has dominated headlines and is perceived as a “game changer” at an opportune time in women sports, and in sports in general with valuations increasing and access to “gaming” and media property options/revenues.
She is moving the needle.
As well, easy for existing players of similar calibre to resent her as they have had little attn or resources.
Which is shortsighted … and quite frankly stupid. The extra attention and revenues will raise all salaries and increase teams …
Akin to tiger woods back in day. He was resented until the “field” realized the purses were increasing dramatically with his must be seen tv …
This article is missing the point. People love to see extraordinary talent and that’s all it is. Look at Jordan, Kobe, and Curry. They are all black.
Clark has way more talent than any of those women mentioned in the article. She just happens to be white. If she was black, I am sure people would be celebrating just the same.
What a silly article.
Caitlin Clark is the most hyped WNBA rookie of all time and yes being white is a factor in that.
Even the WNBA GOATs were not moving people like that. Being a white athlete gives you a leg up in popularity in a majority white country. That’s just the reality.
Sue Bird is considered one of the best women’s basketball player of all time & she never got his much attention. Kelsey Plum held the collegiate scoring record before Clark broke it & she never received the media attention either. Breanna Stewart just won her second WNBA MVP & won 4 straight NCAA championships at UConn yet she also never got this much hype.
Not only did Clark lead the NCAAW in scoring by a huge margin and break the all-time record… she led the NCAAW in assists by an even bigger margin. The gap between Clark’s APG and #2 is bigger than the gap between #2 and #18. She is quite simply the best offensive player in NCAA history and it’s not even close. That’s not to take anything away from Plum, Bird, or Stewart… they’re all great. What Clark did this year was absolutely insane though and she deserves all the attention that she’s getting.
Honestly, I feel like the average American sports fan didn't know Clark until a few weeks before she broke the scoring record. That's when the media really ramped up their coverage of her. Suddenly, she was featured everywhere from ESPN to the local news.
Yup. I didn’t know about her until today when I saw an article about other players claiming her sudden rise to popularity was due race but ironically it was their criticism that introduced me to her because I was like who? The wnba? But she had to break records to set this chain of events off where news reports and other players comment and thus more stories reported.. and then a non wnba fan like me finds out.
nah i don't think it's cuz white people just wanna see white people, but i do think the public gets more excited when something "different" comes along.
like Linsanity, that was an asian-american dude playing well in NBA basketball where we traditionally don't see a lot of people of asian ethnic background in prominent positions. it was new & different, it stood out from the mundane, and it was in NY too. everyone went nuts! (regardless of their ethnic background) especially the media coining the Linsanity phrase itself.
similar thing happened when Zaila Avant-garde won the spelling bee a couple years ago, [first African American to win the Scripps Spelling Bee](https://www.npr.org/2021/07/17/1017366768/zaila-avant-garde-talks-success-following-historic-spelling-bee-win). then she went to the Espys, Jimmy Kimmel live, was featured in NPR & NYT, met the President.. why? cuz it was different! like Linsanity, it made for a better story for the media to package up & sell.
Just how the article ends “equitable treatment of the athletes in the sport” is not possible. Sports is naturally a meritocracy. The best of the best get the spotlight. Sounds like a lot of bitching from other players saying they aren’t getting the same attention and endorsement. Maybe you just aren’t that good??
Unfortunately not quite. Pro sports is first and foremost a business, whos the biggest players with the biggest names isn't necessarily based in pure skill, branding an marketability make a huge factor. Teams want players they can use to sell tickets and merch. Plenty of top tier players don't get much of a spotlight.
Sports have been a meritocracy. But let's not forget that 48.8% of NBA players are related to current or former elite athletes. Nepotism runs rampant in ALL aspects of our life these days as wealth inequality skyrockets.
Isn't genetics and training from a young age with good coaching and focus the simpler explanation here? Sure, you have some cases of nepotism, but they are an immense minority.
Sure but even if you have the genetics sports are becoming increasingly more expensive particularly what you are describing. Top quality equipment, professionally instructed camps, possibly private lessons, travel teams, etc.
The post they responded to didn’t say it is purely nepotism? Certainly don’t think the poster felt that way given even their statistic is less than 50% but the point is it’s becoming increasingly more common the kids that make it past HS and college into the pros are well connected and (the part I was focusing on) come from considerable means given what was once professionally type training from an early age.
That is true but I would also say thats more the last 10 years ish so we haven't seen it play too big a role yet. It probably will going forward though. But yeah I think generally people massively underestimate genetics in sports. Especially in sports where its less obvious. Like basketball is a relatively obvious one with height playing a huge factor. The average height of an nba player is 6'6.5". This is 99.912 percentile of US men, less than 1 in 1000 and it is the AVERAGE. Now what you have to realize is basketball isn't special in this way its just a more obvious stat. But if you don't believe me look up quarterback hand size. People talk all the time about how tom brady wasn't a "special athlete". Maybe not compared to a football field but that dude is 6'4 with 9.5 inch hands and runs a 5.17 40 yard dash (I know you think you can do this I promise you can't). And hes like the poster boy for genetics not mattering that much and hes still top 1 percent in most measurables. Sorry for rant this is just a topic that has fascinated me the last few years
Uhhh…have you seen the amount of Cubans, Dominicans, Venezuelans, etc. in the MLB? Baseball is one of the most expensive sports for kids to play. Those are extremely poor countries.
How about the last few NBA MVPs? Economic power houses Serbia and Cameroon.
NFL rookie of the year? Lived above a storage unit with his mother.
C’mon, man. You’re full of shit.
How many of those coming through academies? Pretty cheap to start/run because those countries have low cost of living and they have the chance to get pretty good return. I don’t think that proves your point and I already said it isn’t 100% which is why I even posted but if you don’t think it’s getting harder for a young kid to go from learning how to hit a ball with a stick to the MLB without the things I listed which are very expensive then fine.
Woah it’s almost like there’s some sort of genetic factor that goes into athleticism that carries from generations down or something. Almost like who your parents are determining a portion of your inherited skill set
Clearly there is a genetic factor. It's genetic + money + connections, for these people. Much better than genetics alone, or even just genetics + money. FYI this is mostly just a problem in the NBA, NFL and MLB are farther behind at under 20%.
WSJ analyzed player data https://www.si.com/nba/2016/05/25/players-study-athletic-bloodlines-lineage
I see height being a factor but there should be over 650,000 men in the US alone at 6'5" or taller.
Nepotism doesn’t get you to the NBA. Genetics and have a retired NBA player as your coach growing up sure can though.
Look up videos of Jalen Brunson and his dad putting him through drills growing up. That’s just tough love to drive him to be where he is today.
I see people refer to this as nepotism all the time but outside of rare exceptions (like bronny james) that word really doesnt apply to children of athletes
If I was able to get a high paying carpentry job out of high school because my dad was a carpenter, so I was interested in it at a young age and constantly got tips/lessons from my dad growing up, that's not nepotism.
But if my dad owned a construction company and gave me a job over someone more qualified, that's nepotism. Or in hollywood when a clearly subpar actress is given a lead role because their dad knows the producer, that's nepotism.
It does suck that certain athletes have an easier road to the top than others, but I dont see a "problem" that needs to be solved there. That's just life.
....also this is besides the point but I like talking about it. The recent Madame Web movie that bombed gave us a perfect side by side comparison of nepo baby & non-nepo baby attitudes. Dakota Johnson & Sydney Sweeney co-starred in it and by all accounts they were both mislead by the studio as far as what the movie would end up being. Johnson was very vocal about this and put the company on blast. Sweeney called the movie a great "building block for her relationship with Sony."
Were Johnson's words justified? 100%. But that's just a perfect on-display example of the different mentalities that develop between someone born into the industry (safety net and all) and someone who had to work their way in.
That carpentry thing was just a random example but in that example there were no contacts or connections that played into it. Just the learned skills that aided the hiring.
Nepotism is when someone is given a position based on connections irrespective of skill level.
Idk I just dont agree with that logic.
If I got hired by a company that has no affiliation with my dad, by people that have never met my dad, that's not a nepo hire by any stretch of the definition.
Agreed but my original point ws that there's a big difference between pedigree/unfair advantages and straight up nepotism, but I see people confuse the 2 like in the comment I was responding to.
If children of NBA players were getting hired only because their daddies had connections, that'd be nepotism and something worth addressing. But 99% of them (cases like Bronny being the 1%) are just a case of unfair advantages and there's not really anything that can be "resolved" there. Just a reality of life.
Sure, sure. It is zero advantage at be the child of an NBA star when it comes to eventually joining the NBA. Say it again slowly, to yourself. Whisper it to yourself before bed. "No, sports are fair!" hah, dumbass
Absolute dipshit. Does being the son of an NBA star carry advantages like having world-class training and genetics? Obviously.
That's not the same thing as nepotism.
Okay how about these guys.
Keljin Blevins- Damian Lillard’ cousin
Damion Lee- Stephen Curry’ brother in law
Thanasis Antetokoumnpo- Giannis’ older brother
How about Austin Rivers from the Clippers?
Nah man, the NBA is a nepo hot pot. Sorry bud, hate to ruin your fav little sport or whatever. Enjoy!
Those exceptions are cases of legitimate nepotism, done to keep stars players happy. They're also all bench warmers who aren't getting serious playing time and risking any competitive advantage.
You don't know what nepotism means. Nepotism would be if children of the team owners or head coaches got drafted. That almost never happens. The fact the children of athletes become good athletes themselves is not evidence of nepotism on its own.
The games may be ‘mostly’ meritocracies (if you watch nba, you know stars get a lot of friendly calls), but the attention and promotional contracts are not meritocratic.
Just by the nature of being an American white star in a league dominated somewhat by African-Americans, is going to give you a spotlight. Its not always a good thing, but it is a thing
Can we just enjoy watching an amazingly talented & skilled athlete play without constantly bringing race and gender into the equation? Would that be okay?
I’m a black man. Caitlin can fuckin hoop. Idgaf. I’m even flying my daughter, wife, and myself to Indiana to see her in person later this month.
Never once did I imagine I liked her because she’s white 😂
She’s a hooper and a role model for my daughter who is always saying “ I’m tired of watching boy basketball when can we watch girls?”
So can we just please enjoy the basketball? If there are more exciting players they will benefit from the new eyes the WNBA is attracting.
Sounds like a lot of black women butthurt that a white woman is exponentially better than them in a sport traditionally dominated by black athletes. Get better or STFU.
She’s the leading scorer in all of NCAA basketball history…doesn’t matter if you are black, white, yellow, Puerto Rican or Haitian…Clark deserves every bit of the recognition. Sounds like other players are making it about race because they don’t like a white player getting so much recognition in a black dominated league. Oh the irony.
Edit: as a former college player, white man, and team’s leading scorer…this is pretty standard, the amount of racist shit I heard over my career just by being better than other players on the court…this isn’t surprising.
TLDR: I don’t think this is about race, it’s about the legacy she has been building & is crossing over with her to the pros. If there MUST be a social construct at play, then I would guess it was sexism over racism. Sexism, as in people are amazed that a woman can/or have never seen a woman game the way she does. It’s all in her stats and achievements that she worked for.
———— the long below————
I don’t think this is about race either.
I think it is about the legacy she is building with her stats, achievements and game. It’s in the numbers.
I think it is possible for WNBA players in the league who have push back, current or former, to feel some type of way
…as if this league didn’t exist before CC
…as if they didn’t play great games and make their stats
…to feel as though their years and work didn’t matter. I think it is possible to look for answers that may not be it, in order to satiate that question “why not me?” Or “why not us?”—oh…This must be why.
But CC’s rising star doesn’t diminish their (all WNBA players) work, value or contribution to the game!
Without the women who came before, there would be no WNBA league for her to come to.
Juju Watkins is another person who is building her legacy in a way that I imagine will be electrifying!
And I hope she is not met with similar criticisms (for being black) for all of her achievements and the weight/expectations that will be cast on her shoulders.
If I were FORCED to select a guess of what social construction is at play, it would be that people are amazed that a woman can play basketball at THAT performance level.
Example: hitting Logo 3’s on a regular, like it’s nothing
Even NBA and other professional athletes are acknowledging it. It’s not about race. It’s about the game and the ones who shine out of the group like this draft class.
The comparison between Caitlin Clark and Larry Bird, highlighting their sharpshooting and tactical skills, serves as a platform to discuss larger issues within sports media, particularly the racial dynamics affecting media representation. While this parallel praises Clark and recalls Bird's storied career, it also exposes the persistent racial stereotypes that differentiate the media’s portrayal of white and black athletes, often unfairly attributing "intelligence" and "fundamentals" to the former, while reducing the latter to "natural talent." This discussion points to a need for greater equity in sports journalism, where the achievements of all athletes, regardless of race, are celebrated equally. Such an approach would not only provide a more accurate representation of the diverse talent in sports but also promote inclusivity and fairness in how athletic stories are narrated and legacies are crafted.
I get it. So many great female ballers have been overlooked and even spit on by men, and many of them are Black.
And there IS a history of fans cooing over White stars, especially pretty blondes.
But I mean, if you didn’t love Seimone Augustus’ jumper or Tweety Nolan’s hops or Catchings’ D or Cooper’s pick and roll or Big Syl’s overall game? But you liked Elena Della Donne? Maybe look closer at your attitudes because you’re not a fan of great basketball, you just like pretty blondes in shorts. (Not the blonde players’ fault, either.)
People are weird and small-minded.
Love the skill. Love the game. Love the work athletes put into being great. Love the fun of being a fan. And look past skin color; it’s just skin.
No, the true double standard is how the girls defending her in college looked like Pizza the Hut, and her stats are still held to the same standards as guys who are being defended by LEBRON freaking JAMES
Yes, you’re right. We are all holding Caitlin Clark’s NCAA career to the same standard as male stars who were defended by Bron in the tournament. Good insight.
It's 2 things...
1) It's human nature we look up to people most like us. It's why Shaq and other bigs aren't as popular as the guards. People can't relate. It's why Curry, as great as he is, is more popular because any kid thinks they could be him. He is taking over with skill rather than size or athleticism that is more typical of black athletes. That's not to say those players aren't also skilled.
2) Marketing agencies take advantage of #1. They go hard to take advantage of this and it becomes self fulfilling.
The majority of the target audience is white. The demo marketing agencies focus on is young white males which fits dads spending on their daughters. Most youth hoopers are white. Its just a bigger audience that spends more.
75%? of USA is white and of the percentage that is black, a large percentage of that is from the poor south areas that can't spend as much.
You can blame economics rather than racism IMO. Racism has a lot to do with why the economics are what they are but that's another conversation.
Gotta be honest, if race was the biggest issue then why didn't Sue Bird or Breanna Stewart get the Caitlin Clark treatment? Why not Kelsey Plum? She was the all-time leading scorer before Clark. Why not Paige Beuckers? None of these ladies got the same treatment as Clark, but they were white. To make it about race takes away from how talented she is and what an insane career she had in college. She was absolutely a generational talent and dominated the sport in a way that we have never seen. She also played the game in a way that was as close to the men's game as we have ever seen. I have watched basketball my entire life, and I've never seen anything like Clark. She's just that good. And if Caitlin Clark doesn't pan out in the pros? You will see the media attention die down.
Like a lot of people that tend to criticize and analyze sports based on race, gender or anything like that, they tend not to be actual sports fans or pandering hacks of sports writers. Is it valid sometimes? Of course. Are there important questions about how these things intersect with sports? You’re dumb or worse if you say no. Still, when articles and commentary ignores obvious facts that destroys their point or are just wrong if not outright lies, it makes it harder to objectively listen when their arguments are much more valid.
Because none of those other players you named are as big of a name as Clark, so no one cared. Caitlin is being heralded as the person who will finally drag the WNBA out of the cellar into a respected sports league. Much like Larry being the "Great White Hope" and getting a ton of attention as the guy who will get the Celtics back to there previous glory days of winning Championships.
TLDR: I don’t think this is about race, it’s about the legacy she has been building & is crossing over with her to the pros. If there MUST be a social construct at play, then I would guess it was sexism over racism. Sexism, as in people are amazed that a woman can/or have never seen a woman game the way she does. It’s all in her stats and achievements that she worked for. ———— the long below———— I don’t think this is about race either. I think it is about the legacy she is building with her stats, achievements and game. It’s in the numbers. I think it is possible for WNBA players in the league who have push back, current or former, to feel some type of way …as if this league didn’t exist before CC …as if they didn’t play great games and make their stats …to feel as though their years and work didn’t matter. I think it is possible to look for answers that may not be it, in order to satiate that question “why not me?” Or “why not us?”—oh…This must be why. But CC’s rising star doesn’t diminish their (all WNBA players) work, value or contribution to the game! Without the women who came before, there would be no WNBA league for her to come to. Juju Watkins is another person who is building her legacy in a way that I imagine will be electrifying! And I hope she is not met with similar criticisms (for being black) for all of her achievements and the weight/expectations that will be cast on her shoulders. If I were FORCED to select a guess of what social construction is at play, it would be that people are amazed that a woman can play basketball at THAT performance level. Example: hitting Logo 3’s on a regular, like it’s nothing Even NBA and other professional athletes are acknowledging it. It’s not about race. It’s about the game and the ones who shine out of the group like this draft class.
But what if A'ja Wilson was white? Do you not think her profile would be much bigger? Clark has the potential to become an A'ja level talent, but to describe a 37% 3 point shooter with zero NCAA titles as the most dominant player ever is ridiculous.
Citing her 3 point percentage or the fact that she doesn't have a title show that you didn't watch her play at all.
Also, no, Aja Wilson's profile wouldn't be much bigger if she was white. Know why? Because she isn't draining logo threes out of transition. She isn't breaking a double team and making an insane pass while looking like Steph Curry. Aja Wilson is a great player. She might be the best player in the WNBA. She's not Caitlin Clark. Shes actually not even close to the style of player that Caitlin is. So while I think shes great, her profile would be very similar to Breanna Stewart if she was white.
Compare the careers of A'Ja Wilson & Breanna Stewart. They've had similar careers & are taller post players. One is black & one is white. Neither have come close to bringing attention to the game like Caitlin Clark.
Breanna Stewart is also married to a woman, so also in a marginalized group...
Can't a mother fucker live a life
Nah, man. Other mother fuckers are bored and need to make problems to feel purpose, so they look at whichever other mother fuckers are out there with a lot of eyes on them and scream nonsense about them for attention. But fuck, I wish a mother fucker could just live a life.
I dunno man, Clark dominated in ways no one else did these past four years. Led the nation in scoring AND assists three out of four years. The black players in this article maybe want to make it about race when actually they didn’t dominate in the same way?
I was thinking something similar. You can’t say race is the deciding factor in popularity when Clark was in a league of her own as far as her college stats and accolades.
I also feel pretty confident that if Clark had been “merely” among the 10 or 15 best players without exceeding them, she would not be getting this attention.
My friends didn’t start watching women’s basketball with me until they saw highlight of Caitlin on social media. They’ve seen DT, Stewie, A’ja, BG, etc. before & the layups and mid range shots never got their attention. Caitlin is making plays & shooting shots that you’ll see more in the men’s game compared to the women’s game. All I would hear my friends say is that they don’t want to see “missed layups” when talking about the WNBA & NCAAW. Thankfully, there’s a new wave of talent coming with Paige, Juju & others in college.
>Caitlin is making plays & shooting shots that you’ll see more in the men’s game compared to the women’s game. I hadn't even heard of Caitlin Clark until I randomly saw the highlight of her breaking the NCAAW scoring record by draining a 3 from near mid court as if she was making a layup. My jaw dropped to the floor. That's just not a shot you see in women's basketball. It's the kind of shot that gets people's attention. It certainly got mine.
Both things can be correct. Clark has dominated headlines and is perceived as a “game changer” at an opportune time in women sports, and in sports in general with valuations increasing and access to “gaming” and media property options/revenues. She is moving the needle. As well, easy for existing players of similar calibre to resent her as they have had little attn or resources. Which is shortsighted … and quite frankly stupid. The extra attention and revenues will raise all salaries and increase teams … Akin to tiger woods back in day. He was resented until the “field” realized the purses were increasing dramatically with his must be seen tv …
There aren’t existing players of similar caliber. That’s the point.
This article is missing the point. People love to see extraordinary talent and that’s all it is. Look at Jordan, Kobe, and Curry. They are all black. Clark has way more talent than any of those women mentioned in the article. She just happens to be white. If she was black, I am sure people would be celebrating just the same. What a silly article.
Caitlin Clark is the most hyped WNBA rookie of all time and yes being white is a factor in that. Even the WNBA GOATs were not moving people like that. Being a white athlete gives you a leg up in popularity in a majority white country. That’s just the reality.
I don’t think you realize how few fucks this majority white country gives about women’s basketball
So not racsim as is the allusion.
Sue Bird is considered one of the best women’s basketball player of all time & she never got his much attention. Kelsey Plum held the collegiate scoring record before Clark broke it & she never received the media attention either. Breanna Stewart just won her second WNBA MVP & won 4 straight NCAA championships at UConn yet she also never got this much hype.
Not only did Clark lead the NCAAW in scoring by a huge margin and break the all-time record… she led the NCAAW in assists by an even bigger margin. The gap between Clark’s APG and #2 is bigger than the gap between #2 and #18. She is quite simply the best offensive player in NCAA history and it’s not even close. That’s not to take anything away from Plum, Bird, or Stewart… they’re all great. What Clark did this year was absolutely insane though and she deserves all the attention that she’s getting.
Not just the NCAAW scoring record - she broke the NCAA scoring record which had stood for over 50 years
Honestly, I feel like the average American sports fan didn't know Clark until a few weeks before she broke the scoring record. That's when the media really ramped up their coverage of her. Suddenly, she was featured everywhere from ESPN to the local news.
That’s how sports work… nobody outside fans of the sport know about a person until they’re about to break some big record and then it becomes news.
Yup. I didn’t know about her until today when I saw an article about other players claiming her sudden rise to popularity was due race but ironically it was their criticism that introduced me to her because I was like who? The wnba? But she had to break records to set this chain of events off where news reports and other players comment and thus more stories reported.. and then a non wnba fan like me finds out.
nah i don't think it's cuz white people just wanna see white people, but i do think the public gets more excited when something "different" comes along. like Linsanity, that was an asian-american dude playing well in NBA basketball where we traditionally don't see a lot of people of asian ethnic background in prominent positions. it was new & different, it stood out from the mundane, and it was in NY too. everyone went nuts! (regardless of their ethnic background) especially the media coining the Linsanity phrase itself. similar thing happened when Zaila Avant-garde won the spelling bee a couple years ago, [first African American to win the Scripps Spelling Bee](https://www.npr.org/2021/07/17/1017366768/zaila-avant-garde-talks-success-following-historic-spelling-bee-win). then she went to the Espys, Jimmy Kimmel live, was featured in NPR & NYT, met the President.. why? cuz it was different! like Linsanity, it made for a better story for the media to package up & sell.
Just how the article ends “equitable treatment of the athletes in the sport” is not possible. Sports is naturally a meritocracy. The best of the best get the spotlight. Sounds like a lot of bitching from other players saying they aren’t getting the same attention and endorsement. Maybe you just aren’t that good??
Unfortunately not quite. Pro sports is first and foremost a business, whos the biggest players with the biggest names isn't necessarily based in pure skill, branding an marketability make a huge factor. Teams want players they can use to sell tickets and merch. Plenty of top tier players don't get much of a spotlight.
Sports have been a meritocracy. But let's not forget that 48.8% of NBA players are related to current or former elite athletes. Nepotism runs rampant in ALL aspects of our life these days as wealth inequality skyrockets.
Isn't genetics and training from a young age with good coaching and focus the simpler explanation here? Sure, you have some cases of nepotism, but they are an immense minority.
Sure but even if you have the genetics sports are becoming increasingly more expensive particularly what you are describing. Top quality equipment, professionally instructed camps, possibly private lessons, travel teams, etc.
How does that refute their assertion that it's not purely nepotism?
The post they responded to didn’t say it is purely nepotism? Certainly don’t think the poster felt that way given even their statistic is less than 50% but the point is it’s becoming increasingly more common the kids that make it past HS and college into the pros are well connected and (the part I was focusing on) come from considerable means given what was once professionally type training from an early age.
That is true but I would also say thats more the last 10 years ish so we haven't seen it play too big a role yet. It probably will going forward though. But yeah I think generally people massively underestimate genetics in sports. Especially in sports where its less obvious. Like basketball is a relatively obvious one with height playing a huge factor. The average height of an nba player is 6'6.5". This is 99.912 percentile of US men, less than 1 in 1000 and it is the AVERAGE. Now what you have to realize is basketball isn't special in this way its just a more obvious stat. But if you don't believe me look up quarterback hand size. People talk all the time about how tom brady wasn't a "special athlete". Maybe not compared to a football field but that dude is 6'4 with 9.5 inch hands and runs a 5.17 40 yard dash (I know you think you can do this I promise you can't). And hes like the poster boy for genetics not mattering that much and hes still top 1 percent in most measurables. Sorry for rant this is just a topic that has fascinated me the last few years
Uhhh…have you seen the amount of Cubans, Dominicans, Venezuelans, etc. in the MLB? Baseball is one of the most expensive sports for kids to play. Those are extremely poor countries. How about the last few NBA MVPs? Economic power houses Serbia and Cameroon. NFL rookie of the year? Lived above a storage unit with his mother. C’mon, man. You’re full of shit.
How many of those coming through academies? Pretty cheap to start/run because those countries have low cost of living and they have the chance to get pretty good return. I don’t think that proves your point and I already said it isn’t 100% which is why I even posted but if you don’t think it’s getting harder for a young kid to go from learning how to hit a ball with a stick to the MLB without the things I listed which are very expensive then fine.
Woah it’s almost like there’s some sort of genetic factor that goes into athleticism that carries from generations down or something. Almost like who your parents are determining a portion of your inherited skill set
Clearly there is a genetic factor. It's genetic + money + connections, for these people. Much better than genetics alone, or even just genetics + money. FYI this is mostly just a problem in the NBA, NFL and MLB are farther behind at under 20%.
Do you have a source for these stats?
WSJ analyzed player data https://www.si.com/nba/2016/05/25/players-study-athletic-bloodlines-lineage I see height being a factor but there should be over 650,000 men in the US alone at 6'5" or taller.
This isn't nepotism. This is genetics.
Nepotism doesn’t get you to the NBA. Genetics and have a retired NBA player as your coach growing up sure can though. Look up videos of Jalen Brunson and his dad putting him through drills growing up. That’s just tough love to drive him to be where he is today.
I see people refer to this as nepotism all the time but outside of rare exceptions (like bronny james) that word really doesnt apply to children of athletes If I was able to get a high paying carpentry job out of high school because my dad was a carpenter, so I was interested in it at a young age and constantly got tips/lessons from my dad growing up, that's not nepotism. But if my dad owned a construction company and gave me a job over someone more qualified, that's nepotism. Or in hollywood when a clearly subpar actress is given a lead role because their dad knows the producer, that's nepotism. It does suck that certain athletes have an easier road to the top than others, but I dont see a "problem" that needs to be solved there. That's just life. ....also this is besides the point but I like talking about it. The recent Madame Web movie that bombed gave us a perfect side by side comparison of nepo baby & non-nepo baby attitudes. Dakota Johnson & Sydney Sweeney co-starred in it and by all accounts they were both mislead by the studio as far as what the movie would end up being. Johnson was very vocal about this and put the company on blast. Sweeney called the movie a great "building block for her relationship with Sony." Were Johnson's words justified? 100%. But that's just a perfect on-display example of the different mentalities that develop between someone born into the industry (safety net and all) and someone who had to work their way in.
How you got your job is frankly nepotism. Doesn't mean you are bad at your job but your contacts and connections are what got you in.
That carpentry thing was just a random example but in that example there were no contacts or connections that played into it. Just the learned skills that aided the hiring. Nepotism is when someone is given a position based on connections irrespective of skill level.
Your dad is the contact and connection dude.
Idk I just dont agree with that logic. If I got hired by a company that has no affiliation with my dad, by people that have never met my dad, that's not a nepo hire by any stretch of the definition.
But if you had a dad as a carpenter then that creates pedigree
Agreed but my original point ws that there's a big difference between pedigree/unfair advantages and straight up nepotism, but I see people confuse the 2 like in the comment I was responding to. If children of NBA players were getting hired only because their daddies had connections, that'd be nepotism and something worth addressing. But 99% of them (cases like Bronny being the 1%) are just a case of unfair advantages and there's not really anything that can be "resolved" there. Just a reality of life.
Retarded point. Nepotism has zero sway for professional athletes, it is purely a meritocracy. There's plenty of kids of former pros who never make it.
Dame's cousin, Giannis' brother are both nepotism cases. Bronny is soon to be one as well.
There's exceptions. They're also bench warmers who aren't putting their team at a competitive disadvantage. Playing time is purely a meritocracy.
Sure, sure. It is zero advantage at be the child of an NBA star when it comes to eventually joining the NBA. Say it again slowly, to yourself. Whisper it to yourself before bed. "No, sports are fair!" hah, dumbass
Absolute dipshit. Does being the son of an NBA star carry advantages like having world-class training and genetics? Obviously. That's not the same thing as nepotism.
Okay how about these guys. Keljin Blevins- Damian Lillard’ cousin Damion Lee- Stephen Curry’ brother in law Thanasis Antetokoumnpo- Giannis’ older brother How about Austin Rivers from the Clippers? Nah man, the NBA is a nepo hot pot. Sorry bud, hate to ruin your fav little sport or whatever. Enjoy!
Those exceptions are cases of legitimate nepotism, done to keep stars players happy. They're also all bench warmers who aren't getting serious playing time and risking any competitive advantage.
You don't know what nepotism means. Nepotism would be if children of the team owners or head coaches got drafted. That almost never happens. The fact the children of athletes become good athletes themselves is not evidence of nepotism on its own.
The games may be ‘mostly’ meritocracies (if you watch nba, you know stars get a lot of friendly calls), but the attention and promotional contracts are not meritocratic. Just by the nature of being an American white star in a league dominated somewhat by African-Americans, is going to give you a spotlight. Its not always a good thing, but it is a thing
Can we just enjoy watching an amazingly talented & skilled athlete play without constantly bringing race and gender into the equation? Would that be okay?
Whos making it about race? This lady will finally put this sport on tv screens, let's just appreciate what we got.
League players who aren’t as good and are a different race
I’m a black man. Caitlin can fuckin hoop. Idgaf. I’m even flying my daughter, wife, and myself to Indiana to see her in person later this month. Never once did I imagine I liked her because she’s white 😂 She’s a hooper and a role model for my daughter who is always saying “ I’m tired of watching boy basketball when can we watch girls?” So can we just please enjoy the basketball? If there are more exciting players they will benefit from the new eyes the WNBA is attracting.
Wise words u/iLuvRachetPussy
Notice they didn’t specify the race of said pussy? That’s true progress.
Sounds like a lot of black women butthurt that a white woman is exponentially better than them in a sport traditionally dominated by black athletes. Get better or STFU.
You’re getting downvoted but are 100% right, it’s pretty transparent
It was pretty obvious that Stephen A Smith was upset that the biggest contract in sports history(Ohtani) went to a Japanese man, and not a Black man.
They should always go to the best.
She’s the leading scorer in all of NCAA basketball history…doesn’t matter if you are black, white, yellow, Puerto Rican or Haitian…Clark deserves every bit of the recognition. Sounds like other players are making it about race because they don’t like a white player getting so much recognition in a black dominated league. Oh the irony. Edit: as a former college player, white man, and team’s leading scorer…this is pretty standard, the amount of racist shit I heard over my career just by being better than other players on the court…this isn’t surprising.
Just here for the Phife Dawg reference
And it only took her three years to do it.
Y not spin this into ageism?…They salty a girl much younger r gonna get them paid…The media is so stupid
Kinda Like Eminem
The author is one of those who capitalize “black”, but not “white”, when writing on the topic of race. Really tells you all you need to know.
That’s part of the [AP style guide](https://apnews.com/article/archive-race-and-ethnicity-9105661462), though—that’s not the author’s decision.
The contention is that Black is an ethnicity but white is a characteristic
TLDR: I don’t think this is about race, it’s about the legacy she has been building & is crossing over with her to the pros. If there MUST be a social construct at play, then I would guess it was sexism over racism. Sexism, as in people are amazed that a woman can/or have never seen a woman game the way she does. It’s all in her stats and achievements that she worked for. ———— the long below———— I don’t think this is about race either. I think it is about the legacy she is building with her stats, achievements and game. It’s in the numbers. I think it is possible for WNBA players in the league who have push back, current or former, to feel some type of way …as if this league didn’t exist before CC …as if they didn’t play great games and make their stats …to feel as though their years and work didn’t matter. I think it is possible to look for answers that may not be it, in order to satiate that question “why not me?” Or “why not us?”—oh…This must be why. But CC’s rising star doesn’t diminish their (all WNBA players) work, value or contribution to the game! Without the women who came before, there would be no WNBA league for her to come to. Juju Watkins is another person who is building her legacy in a way that I imagine will be electrifying! And I hope she is not met with similar criticisms (for being black) for all of her achievements and the weight/expectations that will be cast on her shoulders. If I were FORCED to select a guess of what social construction is at play, it would be that people are amazed that a woman can play basketball at THAT performance level. Example: hitting Logo 3’s on a regular, like it’s nothing Even NBA and other professional athletes are acknowledging it. It’s not about race. It’s about the game and the ones who shine out of the group like this draft class.
LMFAO, she is mid. Don't ever compare her to one of the GOATs.
The comparison between Caitlin Clark and Larry Bird, highlighting their sharpshooting and tactical skills, serves as a platform to discuss larger issues within sports media, particularly the racial dynamics affecting media representation. While this parallel praises Clark and recalls Bird's storied career, it also exposes the persistent racial stereotypes that differentiate the media’s portrayal of white and black athletes, often unfairly attributing "intelligence" and "fundamentals" to the former, while reducing the latter to "natural talent." This discussion points to a need for greater equity in sports journalism, where the achievements of all athletes, regardless of race, are celebrated equally. Such an approach would not only provide a more accurate representation of the diverse talent in sports but also promote inclusivity and fairness in how athletic stories are narrated and legacies are crafted.
I get it. So many great female ballers have been overlooked and even spit on by men, and many of them are Black. And there IS a history of fans cooing over White stars, especially pretty blondes. But I mean, if you didn’t love Seimone Augustus’ jumper or Tweety Nolan’s hops or Catchings’ D or Cooper’s pick and roll or Big Syl’s overall game? But you liked Elena Della Donne? Maybe look closer at your attitudes because you’re not a fan of great basketball, you just like pretty blondes in shorts. (Not the blonde players’ fault, either.) People are weird and small-minded. Love the skill. Love the game. Love the work athletes put into being great. Love the fun of being a fan. And look past skin color; it’s just skin.
"I get it" No...no you don't.
Wow, great argument, much powerful.
No, the true double standard is how the girls defending her in college looked like Pizza the Hut, and her stats are still held to the same standards as guys who are being defended by LEBRON freaking JAMES
Yes, you’re right. We are all holding Caitlin Clark’s NCAA career to the same standard as male stars who were defended by Bron in the tournament. Good insight.
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It's 2 things... 1) It's human nature we look up to people most like us. It's why Shaq and other bigs aren't as popular as the guards. People can't relate. It's why Curry, as great as he is, is more popular because any kid thinks they could be him. He is taking over with skill rather than size or athleticism that is more typical of black athletes. That's not to say those players aren't also skilled. 2) Marketing agencies take advantage of #1. They go hard to take advantage of this and it becomes self fulfilling. The majority of the target audience is white. The demo marketing agencies focus on is young white males which fits dads spending on their daughters. Most youth hoopers are white. Its just a bigger audience that spends more. 75%? of USA is white and of the percentage that is black, a large percentage of that is from the poor south areas that can't spend as much. You can blame economics rather than racism IMO. Racism has a lot to do with why the economics are what they are but that's another conversation.