Did you know that Caitlin Clark is an "avatar for people who want to spread hate"?
asserted
who → know → hate
Because Cari Champion does.
asserted
Champion → do → ?
Did you know that the fans who latched onto her are just middle Americans "who want to see White women do well in a sport that's traditionally Black"?
asserted
that → know → sport
The former ESPN anchor would also like you to know that Clark hasn't done enough to give Black players their respect, and that the WNBA is coddling Caitlin and her "MAGA" fans to the detriment of the league.
asserted
WNBA → like → league
She shared these insights in separate podcasts with Jemele Hill and Bakari Sellers.
asserted
She → share → Hill
And by enlightening I mean ridiculous.
asserted
I → mean → ?
No doubt that Clark — the most popular women's basketball player ever — has displayed traits that warrant criticism.
asserted
that → display → criticism
And she's about to lead the league in turnovers for the third consecutive season.
asserted
she → lead → season
Let's start with Champion's notion that Clark's fans are essentially country bumpkins looking for a white face to cheer for.
asserted
fans → let → face
This makes no sense.
asserted
This → make → sense
Sue Bird, Dianna Taurasi, Breanna Stewart, Sabrina Ionescu, and Kelsey Plum were all No. 1 overall picks who won the Wooden Award in their final year of college.
asserted
who → win → college
All White — but none were selling out arenas.
asserted
none → sell → ?
That's because they weren't pulling up from 28 feet ten times a game en route to setting the all-time NCAA scoring record while leading the country in assists for three straight years.
asserted
they → pull → years
Clark didn't rise to fame because she played college basketball unlike any woman who's come before her, she did it because she played college hoops unlike any person had before.
asserted
person → rise → hoops
Given how popular athletes such as Serena Williams and Simone Biles were, it seems silly to think Clark wouldn't have achieved the same notoriety if she were Black.
asserted
she → give → notoriety
Plus, wasn't it LeBron James who posted "if you don't rock with Caitlin Clark's game you're just a FLAT OUT HATER!!!!!"?
asserted
you → post → game
Could just be me, but those guys don't look very White.
uncertain
guys → look → ?
Next, there is Champion's assertion that Clark's fans are trying to "spread hate."
asserted
fans → be → hate
Or that the league looks the other way when this "entitled" and "nasty" fan base "behaves like MAGA."
asserted
base → look → MAGA
She went so far as to say that Clark supporters can't accept other players' "queerness" or "blackness."
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supporters → go → queerness
The source Clark detractors always cite is online vitriol, and there's no doubt that exists.
asserted
that → cite → ?
But such vitriol never seems to be quantified in a way that's comparable to other famous athletes' fan bases.
asserted
that → seem → bases
The unfortunate truth is that there are always going to be internet trolls who want to denigrate people behind their cat avatar on X.
asserted
who → be → X.
But are there any examples in which Clark fans crossed the line from online noise into real-world harassment?
asserted
fans → cross → harassment
In 2024, Brittney Griner said "I don’t appreciate the new fans that sit there and yell racial slurs at myself, my teammates and the people that I play against."
asserted
I → say → that
But she provided no specifics or evidence to substantiate the claim, and though she didn’t single out Fever fans as the culprits, there was a strong implication that they were.
uncertain
they → provide → culprits
Similarly, in May of last year, Angel Reese claimed that Fever fans hurled racist comments her way during a game.
uncertain
fans → claim → game
But after a review involving fans, team and arena staff and audio and video from the game, the WNBA said it could not substantiate the allegation.
uncertain
it → involve → allegation
Does this mean it never happened?
asserted
it → mean → ?
But concrete evidence of Clark fans acting in a hateful manner — at least in real time — is severely lacking.
asserted
fans → act → time
What's not lacking, however, is the hostility toward Clark and her fans.
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lacking → lack → Clark
Champion said that Clark being heterosexual, White and Catholic helped bring a new fan base that the WNBA is "coddling" for the sake of business.
asserted
WNBA → say → business
First of all, Clark being the most entertaining women's basketball player in the world is what brought in all those new fans — but could you imagine the inverse of that statement?
uncertain
you → bring → statement
That if a broadcaster bemoaned the "coddling" of a gay, Black and Muslim fan base?
asserted
broadcaster → bemoan → base
But Champion goes on.
asserted
Champion → go → ?
And she seems to disapprove of Clark not going out of her way to highlight Black players in a league that is 70 percent Black.
asserted
that → seem → league
She wishes Caitlin could be more like Wings point guard Paige Bueckers, who, in her 2021 ESPY's speech, said that Black women's basketball players were being overlooked.
uncertain
players → wish → speech
1)Every women's basketball player was being overlooked before Clark came on the scene.
asserted
Clark → overlook → scene
Her arrival elevated the popularity of players Black and White alike.
asserted
arrival → elevate → players
2) Could you imagine if a pundit said that Tiger Woods should do more to highlight his white peers in a white-dominated sport? Or that Shohei Ohtani should thank all the white players that came before him?
uncertain
that → imagine → him
…and 15 more, not listed.
The Aporia
