Caitlin Clark and the WNBA are getting a lot of attention. It’s about much more than basketball: the Tri-City Record

FILE – Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (22) passes the ball under the basket while defended by Seattle Storm guard Jordan Horston (23) and center Mercedes Russell (21) during the first half of a WNBA basketball game, May 30 2024, in Indianapolis. Even a WNBA basketball game is no escape from the arguments and polarization that are so common in American life today. (AP Photo/Doug McSchooler, File)

NEW YORK (AP) — Oh, you thought going to a WNBA basketball game could be an escape from the arguments and polarization so common in American life these days? Haha, good one.

Some of the crowd and media atmosphere surrounding the women’s professional league since the start of the season last month has been less fun and more culture war, with newcomer Caitlin Clark as the reluctant eye of the storm.

The white, 22-year-old University of Iowa standout and No. 1 draft pick has become a canvas for all kinds of projections in her debut season with the Indiana Fever. She, and the predominantly black and brown women who play alongside her in the league, seem to have become the latest proxies for long-standing American issues, from race, gender and sexual orientation to who gets to be in the spotlight (or in the spotlight is put on) and who gets left out.

FILE – Chicago Sky’s Angel Reese (5) drives to the basket as Los Angeles Sparks’ Dearica Hamby defends during the first half of a WNBA basketball game, May 30, 2024, in Chicago. Even a WNBA basketball game is no escape from the arguments and polarization that are so common in American life today. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast, File)

That shouldn’t really surprise anyone, says Sarah Fields, a communications professor at the University of Colorado Denver who studies the intersection of sports and American culture. “Sport,” she says, “is a microcosm that reflects and refracts society.”

What makes Clark distinctive also makes her a lightning rod

There is no question that Clark deserves attention for her basketball skills.

– She holds the record for most points by a Division I college basketball player, was known for her three-point shooting and strong hitting ability, and led her team to two consecutive national championship games. (They ultimately lost both, to LSU and the University of South Carolina.)

– She was the undisputed first pick in the 2024 WNBA draft in a strong class that also included LSU’s Angel Reese, South Carolina’s Kamilla Cardoso and Stanford University’s Cameron Brink.

— Clark has also been fortunate to enter the scene at a time when women’s sports, both at the collegiate and professional levels, are seeing increasing public interest and involvement. The sponsorship money came to her in college, thanks to name, image and likeness opportunities, and she recently signed a signature sneaker deal with Nike.

But this is America, where people who may have flown under the radar or are known only to a smaller community can gain widespread public attention and celebrity almost overnight, and suddenly everyone has thoughts and opinions to offer.

In some corners of the internet and among some (overwhelmingly male) sports pundits, Clark is being talked about as if she is THE reason the nearly 30-year-old WNBA is FINALLY interesting enough to watch, and that the other players should keep that in mind and basically being ‘nice’ to her, as if she needs to be protected.

FILE – Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark reacts after scoring against the Seattle Storm during the first half of a WNBA basketball game, May 30, 2024, in Indianapolis. Even a WNBA basketball game is no escape from the arguments and polarization that are so common in American life today. (AP Photo/Doug McSchooler, File)

Placing a young white woman in the central role, with black and brown women relegated to supporting characters, is about as old and familiar as it gets in a country with as troubled a racial history as the United States, says Frederick Gooding. , Jr., associate professor of African American studies at Texas Christian University.

“It’s not so much about Clark’s visibility,” he says. “It also speaks to the invisibility of black women and how difficult it is for black women to get that same kind of attention.

Bypassing Clark for the U.S. Olympic team caused a backlash

There are rumors that the league’s veterans are merely jealous of her spotlight, that she is unfairly bearing the brunt of overly physical play, such as when the Chicago Sky’s Chennedy Carter took her down in what was later deemed a flagrant foul. Rough play against other players, like when Reese was leashed by the Connecticut Sun’s Alyssa Thomas, doesn’t get nearly the same attention.

When Clark wasn’t picked as a rookie for the U.S. Olympic women’s basketball team last week, there was outrage from some, who decried the move as short-sighted because they didn’t see the marketing opportunity.

“How dare you make this decision?” asked sports commentator Stephen A. Smith on ESPN’s “First Take.” “It is stupid.”

Some of the commentary, especially online, has been overtly racist, taking the position that Clark was discriminated against in the WNBA and on the Olympic Games roster because she is white and many of the other players are black. (There are white players on the Olympics roster, an experienced squad looking for its eighth straight Olympic gold against tough international competition.)

FILE – Connecticut Sun’s DiJonai Carrington drives to the basket during a WNBA basketball game against the Chicago Sky, July 12, 2023, in Chicago. Even a WNBA basketball game is no escape from the arguments and polarization that are so common in American life today. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast, File)

On the other hand, there are criticisms that the focus on Clark is partly BECAUSE she is white – and that in a country as riven by racial tensions as the United States, it is yet another example of how black women are ignored or stereotyped, even though they have the sports league in which she is now one of the most recognized names.

That WNBA teams are now using charter flights instead of commercial flights comes after years of advocacy from players, but the timing of the league’s announcement this season was interpreted by some as a reflection of Clark’s presence.

“It’s like, OK, can we talk about the decades of Black women in sports advocating for this, and not just say it’s about this one white woman in this one moment? Because it isn’t,” said Letisha Engracia Cardoso Brown, an assistant professor of sociology at the University of Cincinnati. “Especially in a sport dominated by women of color, as well as LGBTQ+ individuals, it’s just natural to focus our attention on this heterosexual white woman. I mean, that’s part of it.”

Clark just wants to talk basketball

To be clear, none of this was started or even encouraged by Clark, who has tried to keep her public commentary on the game itself. When asked about it last week, she initially said, “People can talk about what they want to talk about, have conversations about whatever it is. But for me, I’m just here to play basketball.”

But without mentioning her by name, WNBA player DiJonai Carrington of the Connecticut Sun, who is Black, then wondered in a social media post how it could be acceptable not to talk about it.

LSU’s Angel Reese and Iowa’s Caitlyn Clark pose for a photo before the start of the WNBA basketball draft, Monday, April 15, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)

“For you to not care that their name is used to justify racism, bigotry, misogyny, xenophobia, homophobia and the intersectionality of it all is insane,” she said, adding: “We all have a platform. We all have a voice and they all carry weight. Silence is a luxury.”

Clark responded more strongly later that same day, saying it was “disappointing” and “not acceptable” that people would use her to promote their own agendas of racism and sexism.

“This league is the league I admired growing up and wanted to be a part of. Some of the women in this league were my biggest idols and role models growing up,” she said. “Treating every woman in this league with the same amount of respect is a human thing that everyone should do.”

As a fan of women’s basketball, Naomi Oberman-Breindel, 36, of Manhattan, wants this to be the case.

“There are many incredible basketball players with very interesting and compelling stories – as players and as people,” she wrote in an email. “What is happening now feels like a forced monoculture with a unique focus on one person.”

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AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball

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