The press is in a frenzy about Caitlin Clark.
A few commentators have been trying to act like they've been supportive of the WNBA the whole time, but only since a superstar rookie joined. Instead of acknowledging their lack of interest in the past, these male commentators have plunged into the league without much understanding and dismissing those who suggest they could try harder.
It's a messy situation.
After Chennedy Carter's foul against Clark got discussed recently, ESPN host Pat McAfee jumped in to say that Clark was the one responsible for the sudden rise in WNBA attention. He even called Clark the "White bitch" for the Indiana team on his show Monday, then apologized later for using that racial epithet, but emphasized his main point - Clark's stardom brought attention to a league struggling in the background.
"I was talking about how I hope that the WNBA and media should show a little bit more respect to Caitlin Clark for what she has done for the WNBA," McAfee said in his show on Tuesday.
The WNBA wasn't in a coma before Clark came in. In fact, it was more that the media didn't care about it. McAfee, along with the four other men in his Indiana studio, may not be the best folks to address this topic on one of the country's biggest sports networks.
McAfee rightly said that the world of women's basketball is changing. It's about time people started discussing this. However, instead of listening to the experts, the men in the sports media are dominating the conversation.
Clark, a white, straight player, has now become these male commentators' representative in a league primarily made up of Black and LGBTQ athletes that the mainstream ignored before. Unfortunately, in discussing the league, they're using outdated stereotypes about how women are supposed to behave. Basketball legend Charles Barkley, for example, recently called women "petty" for roughing up on Clark.
"Y’all should be thanking that girl for getting y’all elite commercial deals, all the money and visibility she brings into the WNBA," he said on TNT's "Inside the NBA". (TNT and CNN are both part of Warner Bros. Discovery).
As Victoria Uwumarogie discussed in an article for Essence, these men have wildly different expectations for women than they do for men, a pattern common among many WNBA "experts" now.
Clark isn't in Iowa anymore. She's playing against women who have been fighting for their share of recognition for years. The WNBA these women built has always been a physically intense league, something Clark herself admitted after a recent game.
Monica McNutt, a basketball analyst, spoke on ESPN's "First Take" on Monday about the situation.
"There are so many layers to this conversation," McNutt said, even as two male hosts tried to cut her off. “The prevailing sentiment for those coming to the WNBA for the first time is unfair to the women of this league...who have paved the way for Caitlin Clark to step in and elevate the game further."
But Stephen A. Smith wasn't happy with the criticism. He got defensive, asking, "Who talks about the WNBA...who talks about women's sports more than 'First Take'?"
McNutt retorted, "Stephen A., with your platform, you could've been doing this three years ago if you wanted to."
The discussion quickly fell apart, then ESPN took a commercial break.
New to the WNBA, the mainstream media is facing a tough learning curve. We can only hope they'll improve their game, too. [Paraphrased by J.C. Hardy]
Read also:
The business aspect of the WNBA has seen a significant boost due to Caitlin Clark's impact.Despite the media's previous lackluster coverage of women's basketball, platforms like ESPN have started paying more attention to the league.
