WNBA legend Sue Bird said Friday that Caitlin Clark’s arrival in the league has sparked some terrible takes by media and fans mistaking her reception for “hate.”
Appearing on Sarah Spain’s new iHeartRadio podcast, Good Game, Bird and Spain talked about how media has reacted to the sensational rookie. It’s not a new conversation among sports media or WNBA insiders. Observers have pointed out that the league’s soaring popularity — boosted by Clark in particular — has led to coverage by reporters that don’t know the sport.
That has led to some brutal takes about Clark’s reception in the league. Robert Griffin III, for example, said in June that Clark and fellow rookie and rival Angel Reese “are being used in a race war.” And before that, bad hot takes abounded after Chennedy Carter shoved Clark during a game.
Bird acknowledged Clark’s impact on the league, but thinks too much of the new WNBA coverage lacks context.
“Caitlin will go down as, whatever you want to call it, the one who made the change, this pivotal person,” Bird said. “She will, 100 percent. But in other leagues … it was never like when LeBron (James) came, ‘Oh, Michael Jordan didn’t matter.’
“And for some reason that happened, and it caused this whole thing. When the reality was, no player felt that way toward Caitlin, everybody was very welcoming and inviting, and (media) mistook competitive talk for hate, with hating on somebody.”
Bird is convinced that WNBA players have reacted to Clark with a competitive attitude, not animosity.
“I think the majority of WNBA players with their play, with their talk, it was just competition, not hate for a person,” Bird said.
“It’s just sports, but we have trouble not being weird around women in sports — so we made it weird,” Spain said.
[Good Game with Sarah Spain]
About Arthur Weinstein
Arthur spends his free time traveling around the U.S. to sporting events, state and national parks, and in search of great restaurants off the beaten path.