If you haven’t watched the WNBA at all this year, let me just say that I don’t blame you.
But even if you haven’t, you’ve probably heard of a player named Caitlin Clark. She’s a rookie for the Indiana Fever, and she’s been setting records left and right and boosting the league’s popularity a hundredfold. Heck, even LeBron James has praised her and told anyone who dislikes her that they need to check themselves.
Of course, Clark has deservedly gotten lots of attention and praise from the media as a result of her phenomenal season. Everyone in the media seems to agree that Clark is a once-in-a-generation talent and have been quick to praise her.
Everyone, that is, except Skip Bayless.
The former “Undisputed” host went on his podcast “The Skip Bayless Show” and discussed his initial perspective on Clark’s rise to stardom. He mentioned that he quickly recognized how talented she was, but that he believed his admiration for was somehow racially charged.
“I started to think, deep down in my psyche, ‘Wait a second, she’s really good.’ But I’ll be the first to admit, I felt guilty saying so on TV or on social media,” Bayless said. “I did not want to look like this red state white guy cheering for this red state white girl. Our country feels split enough racially already. I didn’t want to pour gasoline on that fire.
“Maybe I was wrong about this, but Caitlin Clark started to feel like some sort of new right-wing symbol. ‘White woman dominating game dominated by Black men and women for years and years.’ I could almost hear some people thinking, ‘White power baby!’” Bayless continued. “And please, I’m not saying Caitlin Clark is far-right in her politics or beliefs…But obviously, I know what a powerful point of pride basketball has been to the Black community in this country, Black men and women obviously have been routinely and consistently better at basketball.”
There are soooo many things wrong with this statement, I’m going to have to create a list:
- Liking Clark does not mean that you side with a certain political ideology. I like plenty of athletes that are liberal, and I’m not woke.
- There are many reasons why people like Clark - her exceptional skill, drama-free personality, etc. But absolutely no one is applauding her rise for some twisted sense of racial superiority.
- Bayless might be right that Black men and women are more often better at basketball than other ethnicities. But saying that Clark is good isn’t a commentary on which race is better, and Black people shouldn’t take offense to it. After all, no one ethnicity can take sole claim to a sports league.
Bayless shouldn’t feel conflicted about liking Clark, and I guarantee he’s the only who had a race-infused mental dilemma because of it.
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