Caitlin Clark has set the basketball world on fire, always leaving fans and spectators alike with thrilling performances. On the other hand, her rise to fame has also brought along the recent conversation of racism within the WNBA. Sue Bird, a legend in the WNBA, spoke about this issue and gave her thoughts on the treatment of Clark and those around her in the most recent episode of her podcast, “A Touch More”.
Sue Bird, who is in her 21st year in the WNBA, isn’t one to need any lessons on what players have gone through. Racial discrimination tops the multiple struggles the players in WNBA have to face, and during her podcast co-hosted with her wife-the former USWNT superstar Megan Rapinoe-Bird said Clark is not the reason behind why certain WNBA players are treated so poorly.
Instead, Bird believes Clark is being unfairly used as a “pawn” in a greater narrative. “She didn’t bring racism to the WNBA,” Bird said, indicating these are issues that have been around long before Clark’s rise in the league. Bird added frustration that some new fans- those brought to the league because of Clark might have exacerbated an already prevailing issue of racism.
Bird said that so much of the fight of trying to manage racism has fallen to the players themselves. She says, in fact, that players in the WNBA have been forced to take it upon themselves to fight for a better, more inclusive league:. “It’s great to stand up for yourself, but to stand up for others, that’s an even better feeling,” Bird furthered, stating players have drawn inspiration from Black women who have been on the front lines of the league’s battle for equality and respect.
At a season-closing news conference, Caitlin Clark confronted those who spew hurtful comments as “trolls” rather than true supporters. “Nobody in our league deserves to be receiving any type of racism, hurtful, disrespectful, hateful comments, and threats,”. She defined these people as not being true supporters of the WNBA or basketball fans.
The WNBA also issued a statement, and it had one message loud and clear: “there is no room in the league for racism, much less derogatory remarks toward the players or teams”. But even with such strong messages from the players to fortify their argument, the narrative that surrounds Clark’s place within this now-ongoing conversation only continues to escalate.
Sue Bird spoke on how Clark’s visibility has translated into unfair typecasting of the WNBA players. Bird was incensed most by the media coverage that framed the defensive plays on Clark as acts of jealousy or pettiness. “When people saw players blocking Caitlin’s shot or picking her up full court, it became, ‘oh, they are targeting her,'” Bird said. She referred to this-isolating narrative as disrespectful, adding these defensive plans don’t make the game different from what it is. Bird also criticized how media heads-most of them who hardly report anything on the WNBA-have sensationalized these moments when they should have done the exact opposite just for clicks and views. She was disappointed in how legitimate basketball plays have been contorted into being a little more nasty.
