Can the media actually keep their talk about Caitlin Clark to focus on basketball?
It hasn’t happened for three years while she has been in the WNBA as Clark has been at the center of one drama and controversy after another. Even the federal government has threatened to get involved on her behalf when she has not asked for it. None of this has been at Clark’s own doing as she has become a hot potato of the culture wars and used as a prop to advance and embrace debate.
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That debate has reached alarming levels this week. In an attempt to condemn individuals making threats to Black WNBA players after encounters on the floor with Clark, USA Today columnist Nancy Armour linked the Indiana Fever star’s on-court behavior to the lynching of Emmett Till in a widely-condemned opinion piece.
The most recent furor around Caitlin Clark has at least led to one prominent WNBA voice to ask everyone to take a step back.
On Friday’s episode of First Take, ESPN women’s basketball analyst Chiney Ogwumike pleaded with anyone who would listen to turn the temperature down and try to stick to basketball when it comes to Clark. She even acknowledged her own role in past conversations that went beyond what happened between the lines.
“I feel like it’s time to reset the conversation. And I understand that you and I and this platform First Take, we have a job to do. Every day we’re asked to break down the game, to analyze the game. To give our opinions on players. To give our opinions on teams. To really talk about these big moments in sports. Well, overall, this conversation about the WNBA and one of its shining stars, a shooting star that only happens once in a while, Caitlin Clark, who is a phenomenal player, she just wants to play basketball like every other player in the W. And this conversation has reached levels that stray so far away from the sport. And I feel like it is our responsibility, now, to recenter it. And I know I’ve not been perfect in this,” Ogwumike said.
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The ESPN analyst then added that she didn’t even want to touch on the latest round of controversy surrounding Clark because it’s been so exhausting and it sucks up all the oxygen in the room that should and could be used to focus on Clark and the other stars in the WNBA.
“In full transparency I did not want to talk about this today. Because I personally believe our shows have a choice on deciding what we give airtime to and what we don’t. And in my opinion, we should be giving airtime to the beautiful basketball in this 30th season in the WNBA and not other things that stoke the fire and fuel the fire and add more to a little bit of the madness that we’re experiencing. I understand I’m not perfect. I’m grateful to have a voice in the conversation, but the intersection of what we’re talking about and what these players are having to deal with and the weight they carry, these are basketball players that just want to celebrate the game,” she added.
While it’s a hopeful sentiment from Chiney Ogwumike, the sad reality is that it is likely no more than wishful thinking on her part, or anyone else that hopes to restore common sense and proper perspective to WNBA coverage. It was a year ago when both Ogwumike and Monica McNutt made a similar plea regarding Clark’s rivalry with Angel Reese. And it has been an unrelenting pattern throughout Clark’s time in the WNBA.
Caitlin Clark is the face of the WNBA. She’s a crossover star in the vein of Tiger Woods and LeBron James. But her popularity means that bad actors will attach themselves to her in the hopes of advancing their own agendas. And because of the very real racial, cultural, and social dynamics, that will mean the worst of us is brought to the forefront time and time again.
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But even putting aside those bad actors and people with non-altruistic motives, even the mainstream media has been incapable of reasonable coverage of Clark, as we saw this week. It would be wonderful if ESPN, USA Today, and others could focus on the Fever leading the Eastern Conference, Clark’s terrific numbers, the dominance of A’ja Wilson, and the incredible efforts of the Minnesota Lynx without their best player in Napheesa Collier. But at this point you can only believe it when you see it.
The post ESPN’s Chiney Ogwumike wants to recenter Caitlin Clark conversation appeared first on Awful Announcing.
