Before Caitlin Clark, I thought about the WNBA exactly zero times. Well, ok, that’s an exaggeration. I may have given the league some thought. About as much thought as I gave “professional wrestling,” which is pretty much zero. The league uses an undersized ball, the play is plodding and slow, and the women who play in it are mostly insufferable wags. They complain about everything. Then came Clark.
She plays at a high level that, apparently, the rest of the women in the league want to stop. She gets far more attention than anyone else in the league. Well, unless it's Brittany Griner getting arrested in Russia or Angel Reese for being an absolute hack.
Since Clark joined the league, she’s been a magnet for abuse, both physical and verbal. Former players have heaped derision on her. I think a lot of it is simple jealousy. And there is a fair amount of racism. That’s not just me seeing the obvious.
A recent Wall Street Journal op-ed quotes people like the league's former three-time MVP, A’ja Wilson of the Las Vegas Aces:
She has said that race is a “huge thing” and that “it boils my blood when people say it’s not about race because it is.”
And, the op-ed cites a lot of stats that, since Clark has come into the league, its popularity has risen with her.
Since she joined the league last year, Ms. Clark’s impact has been seismic: Merchandise sales soared 601%, Indiana Fever viewership jumped 170%, the team’s value tripled, League Pass subscriptions climbed 366%, app engagement rose 613%, and her endorsements topped $11 million. She’s the economic engine driving the league forward. A teammate named Sophie Cunningham recently said “The star player of the league is not being protected.”
All of the above is true, but following those facts, the op-ed's author, Sean McLean, goes off the rails. He wants the full weight of the United States to come down on the WNBA. He cites cases styled Harris v. Forklift and Texas Dept of Community Affairs v. Burdine to buttress his opinion.
Ms. Clark faces a textbook hostile work environment, as the Supreme Court described in Harris v. Forklift Systems (1993), with severe or pervasive conduct altering her conditions. Statistical disparities like those she faces often prompt federal probes and lawsuits. The precedent is clear: In Texas Dept. of Community Affairs v. Burdine (1981),courts outlined disparate treatment under Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, letting employees allege less favorable treatment than peers due to race—warranting investigation without direct animus. That shifts the burden to the employer to prove nondiscriminatory motive. Such narratives fuel specific snubs, reinforcing a pattern of hostility under Title VII. Washington Mystics co-owner Sheila Johnson questioned Ms. Clark’s 2024 Time Athlete of the Year recognition. Ms. Clark shattered fan vote records with 1.29 million All-Star votes, yet ranked only ninth among guards on the player ballot—a disparity ESPN’s Dick Vitale called “pure jealousy.”
McLean wants all three branches of government involved in policing...the WNBA. And he wants to do so to an unprecedented degree. He wants Congress to hold hearings. He wants the Labor Department to review league protocols. He wants the Justice Department to sue. He wants Caitlin Clark to sue the league.
Congress and the administration should demand answers from WNBA leaders, investigate officiating and internal league communications, hold hearings, and insist on real reforms. The Labor Department should review league protocols for workplace safety. If evidence shows discrimination or retaliation, the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division must act.
If leaders remain inert, Congress should reconsider the WNBA’s special privileges, including its antitrust and broadcast considerations.
This isn’t MLB, Sean. The WNBA doesn’t have an antitrust exemption. Take a breath, dude. Professional sports, even women’s pro sports, are not akin to forklift companies. Clark isn’t looking for a promotion to supervisor. What is the problem with the WNBA besides being a bore? Three things, and all three are obvious.
The league office is scared to enact an on-court dress code. It doesn’t want to be labeled “racist.” So, it has allowed players to have dangerous 4-inch fingernails, and players are allowed to wear three-foot-long wigs. Clark got stabbed in the eye by a stiletto fingernail.
The second is impossible to solve. Base jealousy. WNBA players are jealous of Clark being a talented player, exacerbated by her skin color. When an NBA owner was caught uttering some racist comments, the league fined him and forced a sale. Maybe the league’s Clark problem could be solved by the federal government, but the way that this league can solve both of the first two is by fixing the third problem. What is that? Its referees are abysmal. As in the worst. The entire cadre should be fired and replaced. I commented on this problem when Sophie Cunningham posted on X. You’ll note that Cunningham was fouled, not Clark.
Fifty thousand people saw my post with 6,500 "likes." Why? Because the WNBA refs are garbage.
The Feds don’t need to get involved in the league; the league needs to get involved in the league. It needs to put on its big boy pants – sorry, big girl pants. Fire all the refs. Then it needs to inform every team that flagrant fouls against Clark will likely be met with an automatic ejection and a maximum fine. The commissioner needs to tell the players that all players need to cut their fingernails because knives for fingers are safety hazards.
McLean's answer seems to be running to mommy. Nope. This can be solved with some guts in the league office. Will WNBA pull the big pants on? The Feds don't need to hold Clark's hand. I nominate McLean's suggestion for the Dumbest Idea this Week.
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