Former University of Iowa star basketball player Caitlin Clark is bringing attention to the WNBA. Her standout career in college easily segued into a professional career as a player for the Indiana Fever, and she has a long list of endorsements from companies such as Gatorade, Wilson Sporting Goods, and Nike.
Her skills and attitude have made her a role model to watch on and off the court. She is also the target of unfair criticism for simply doing well.
The WNBA continues to lag far behind the NBA in viewership and revenue. This is hardly surprising. Like it or not, sports enthusiasts love to see competition among elite athletes who inhabit the highest sphere of physicality and skill. Men in the NBA are stronger and faster than women in the WNBA. This doesn’t mean anyone should abandon women’s sports. It is just reality.
But because that’s the case, and because the WNBA wishes to grow in popularity, players and sports commentators shouldn’t actively work to turn people away. But some are doing that anyway.
According to the 2021 report card from the Institute for Ethics and Diversity in Sports, more than 70% of the WNBA players are black. And according to Outsports, more than one-third of the best WNBA players of all time are “LGBTQ athletes.”
Clark is white and straight. The demographic facts alone make her stand out among her peers. But Clark is in the WNBA because of her skills, not because she fits some generic, Middle America mold at odds with those around her.
Kevin Baxter of the Los Angeles Times says Clark “passes and shoots with laser-like precision the way NBA star Stephen Curry does, she makes it look so easy that everyone thinks they can do it.”
And this is coming off a college career in which Clark went down in history as the all-time leading scorer. This is why it’s so frustrating to see sports media personalities such as Jemele Hill frame Clark’s popularity as “problematic” because of supposed issues with race, sexuality, and equity.
Hill says, “There’s plenty of room to highlight and celebrate Caitlin Clark’s popularity while also discussing ways in which to not erase Black women from a league that they have built and continue to build,” as if the latter is actually happening.
Nothing could be further from the truth. Shining a spotlight on Clark’s rise and rookie year doesn’t diminish the history of the league or the achievements of those around her at all.
Stadium Talk’s Greatest WNBA Players of All Time list includes fantastic athletes such as Sheryl Swoopes, Diana Taurasi, Maya Moore, A’ja Wilson, Sue Bird, and Brittney Griner among the very best. Clark will have to prove herself to land on this list someday.
As of now, she is well on her way. Clark was named Rookie of the Month for May. And despite all the spotlight and criticism, she is making waves and, just as important, staying composed in a sea of pressure. If she continues down this path, her name will be among the greats, and it will have nothing to do with her race or sexual preferences.
Those who don’t like Clark’s rise to fame simply because of who she is are doing the thing they denounce in others. The many black women who dominate the league and take their place in history among the WNBA greats are there for their skill as well.
If anything, fellow players and observers should give Clark the same courtesy and not make claims of inequality. If it’s not fair to question why Angel Reese, also a WNBA star rookie, has ascended to the heights of her sport, then the same applies to Clark.
Frankly, the WNBA can’t afford to turn people away. If Clark, Reese, and others are bringing in more audience members, then that benefits everyone. Fierce, elite competition will keep those fans tuning in. Clark delivers in that area.
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The WNBA has more than enough drama from complaints about sexism, pay disparity, and white privilege. What the league and its critics really need to do is focus most on basketball.
Let the skill of the players and excitement of competition improve the league’s standing and grow its fan base. Anything else is a waste of time.
Kimberly Ross (@SouthernKeeks) is a contributor to the Washington Examiner’s Beltway Confidential blog and a columnist at Arc Digital.