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Following years of widespread media neglect of women’s basketball, the arrival of hooper Caitlin Clark to the WNBA has brought a rush of new attention to the sport. And unfortunately that has spawned some cringeworthy commentary — by men, in particular.
Now that Clark's playing in the league, it’s seemingly become de rigeur for men of the sporting commentariat to signal their support for the WNBA not just with gushing praise for Clark but by diminishing her competitors.
When asked, many WNBA players have praised Clark effusively or discussed the benefits her celebrity is bringing to the league. By contrast, WNBA great Diana Taurasi gave Clark a friendly warning ahead of her joining the league that "reality is coming" — essentially, expect tougher competition. The remarks somehow sparked backlash from Clark fans. But Taurasi is right! Despite Clark playing well in some of her first few games, her team, the Indiana Fever — among the worst in the league before she was drafted — has only won one of its first six games.
So men with microphones have put their capes on for her, admonishing her female critics and offering paternalistic defenses of Clark that she's never asked for and doesn't need. Their dismissals have the effect of shutting down conversations that are larger than Clark herself, about race, gender and privilege. And the fact it's women in the sport who want to have that conversation makes the dismissal that much worse.
On the basketball podcast he hosts with J.J. Reddick, LeBron James referred to the "vitriol" aimed at Clark from unnamed players, suggesting they ought to be more grateful for the viewership and amenities Clark's popularity allegedly had earned them. "I saw for the first time that they had a chartered plane. For the first time in their league history, they flew private," James said.
That's not true, though. The WNBA expanded its chartered flights program for players last year. What James may have seen is that the league recently announced that every team will use chartered flights beginning this year.
“Don’t get it twisted,” James said, ironically. “Caitlin Clark is the reason why a lot of great things are gonna happen for the WNBA." He's not wrong that Clark's popularity is a boon for the league, but his eagerness to take unnamed critics to task struck me as odd. And when a take is touted by the right-wing sports media platform Outkick — as James' Clark comments were — it's worth looking into why that is.
"I’m rooting for Caitlin because I’ve been in that seat before, I’ve walked that road before,” James said, going on to compare Clark to his son LeBron James Jr., who’s currently preparing for the NBA draft:
“There’s a very small number of men and women that actually get to live out their dream of playing a professional sport. And we have grown a-- men and women doing whatever they can to try to make sure that does not happen. That is the weirdest thing in the world, but it is what it is, and I’m glad that Caitlin has a great head on her shoulders.”
Charles Barkley co-signed James’ remarks — and took things even further on Wednesday’s NBA playoff coverage:
“You women out there, y’all are petty, man! Ayy, LeBron, you’re 100% right on these girls hating on Caitlin Clark. Y’all are petty, girls! I expect men to be petty because we’re the most insecure group in the world. Y’all should be thanking that girl for getting y’all a-- private charters [and] all the money and visibility she’s bringing to the WNBA. Don’t be petty like dudes! Listen, what she’s accomplished, give her her flowers! Stop being petty, all you women out there! She got y’all a-- charters! She’s bringing all y’all this money to the table, but y’all are being petty like dudes! LeBron, you’re 100% right. Y’all girls stop being petty! Caitlin Clark, thank you for bringing all that money and shine to the WNBA.”
Former WNBA player and ESPN host Chiney Ogwumike kindly gathered Barkley.
She also corrected his mistaken belief that Clark’s popularity had secured chartered flights for WNBA players.
Former NBA player Jeff Teague is another man who’s weighed in on Clark, suggesting that players should let Clark dominate for the sake of the league.
“It’s supposed to be like WWE. Y’all supposed to play hard against her, but y’all supposed to let her kill,” Teague said on his podcast, implying other WNBA players should treat her like the Harlem Globetrotters. (Teague also mentioned the incorrect claim about Clark getting the WNBA chartered flights.)
Ain’t that a trip? Just as the WNBA finally gains some much-deserved hype and its players’ skill and athleticism are finally in national focus, a bunch of men found something else to lecture these women about: business.
On some level, I suppose paternalistic commentary like this is a sign the WNBA has really arrived. Some might find it heartening that the attention for the league is now high enough that WNBA players have to suffer through the same types of tortured takes that land pundits of other popular sports on AwfulAnnouncing.com.
But another gripe I have about the “you should be kind and grateful to Caitlin” commentary is that it's sucking the joy out of the Caitlin Clark experience. This is professional basketball. Just because the players are women rather than men doesn’t mean anyone should expect the competition to be less fierce. All these men caping for Clark, treating her like a dainty flower in need of protection, are missing the opportunity simply to appreciate her for what she is: a certified hooper in a league that's full of them.