Open season on Caitlin Clark
- Thread starter Jerry
- Start date
well, she happens to have come along at a point in history when social media is at it's height, as opposed to talented white players before her..also, in large part because of social media, racial issues get way more attention and result in much more controversy..
normally i agree with a good portion of your posts, but i knew your 60% was off when i read it...all available online data, most recent from 2023 has black nba players around 72%, clearly a majority..white representation is around 17%, and it seems for the last decade at least, the best white players are non american..and maybe he doesn't watch, it's a crap product
Who's making it about race? Clark isn't
Delle Donne and Plum weren't playing before "social media"--they just don't have a game like Curry's that draws in fans. The "logo 3" aspect is huge for her fame.
WNBA not NBA
WNBA is at 60% as of 2024
And, yes, the best white NBA players are Euros--Jokic, Doncic, Markkanen and Sabonis (though he's pretty much an American) which goes to the point Americans in general don't care about race. The top selling jerseys of NBA are all black other than Doncic and Jokic.
The WNBA would be best served to stop trying to promote Reese and push A'ja Wilson and Napheesa Collier in addition to Clark
ok, you may have had a typo in the original, you put nba..i'd agree that most americans don't care about race, to a point..when it becomes a media driven narrative like black on white/white on black crime for example, is gets heated..speaking only for myself, i cheer for the jersey..i was all about showtime lakers in the 80's, couldn't stand the celtics..of course, that's the problem, older fans like me can't watch much of an nba game because it's changed too much and isn't the same game...
honestly, you know way too much about the wnba..best i can do is cheryl swoopes and cheryl miller...of course clark isn't making it about race, that's what we're here for
True. Her games are the only ones semi watchable.
Only things good about the WNBA is Caitlin Clark and they have cool hardwood.
Your comment only reinforces my point: she came into the WNBA with more hype than anyone else ever...to include the players you mentioned in an earlier post.
She broke the assist record by a total of four assists while averaging almost two fewer assists per game than the woman who led the league in that department a few years ago.
As a pro, she's averaged 19 points a game while shooting 40% from the field.
At the collegiate level, she attained the status of legend, rightly so. In the WNBA, she's a very good player, but not Hall of Fame material quite yet.
Meanwhile, Angel Reese set a record for rebounds and A'ja Wilson, who ended up winning the league's MVP, set a record for points scored in the same year that Caitlin set the assists record. Are they legends too? If so, why aren't they selling out arenas? Why aren't all those white fans who've flocked to see Caitlin sticking around to see A'ja? Why didn't those guys get the record endorsement deals?
As it happens, A'ja has a theory on those questions. Here's what she had to say last year:
>>I think a lot of people may say it’s not about Black and White, but to me, it is. It really is because you can be top-notch at what you are as a Black woman, but yet maybe that’s something that people don’t want to see. They don’t see it as marketable, so it doesn’t matter how hard I work. It doesn’t matter what we all do as Black women, we’re still going to be swept underneath the rug. That’s why it boils my blood when people say it’s not about race because it is.<<
This from the league MVP who set a WNBA scoring record.
Look, my politics are deep-red conservative. There are few people with greater contempt for the cottage industry of racial grievance that's sprung up in this country in recent years...the noose hoaxes...the hate-speech scam...the accusations of racism at every turn...the whole sick deal. This includes recent claims that Indiana fans were shouting racist taunts at Angel Reese during a game, which mysteriously nobody in the building heard.
All that said, however, I remain partial to facts, evidence, and simple common sense. There's been a documented explosion of interest within the white demographic since the white phenom from the heartland entered the WNBA. To believe this has something to do with Caitlin's race is not a knock on Caitlin. It's a recognition of reality.
Anyway, no hard feelings. As is standard in board debates, neither one of us is going to persuade the other.
And if the WNBA existed when Cheryl Miller was in her prime she'd have been the face of the league--in the 80s.
As a pro she was the 7th leading scorer in the league, lead the league in assists and top 20 in rebounds and steals--that's a HOF start to a career if anyone ever had one.
Wilson as a rookie 20.7/8.0/2.2/0.8/1.7 while shooting 46% without attempting a 3
Clark as a rookie 19.2/5.7/8.4/1.3/0.7 while shooting 41.7% with 61% of those coming from 3
Who wouldn't see those as, at the very least, comparable and Wilson was considered elite at that time just like Clark? You lose any credibility when you start claiming that she doesn't have the stats to back it up
A'ja should be taking that up with the WNBA who refuses to market her instead of Reese. She's marketable--they just aren't doing a good job of it. The issue isn't race--the issue is the WNBA is full of idiots that want Reese to be relevant. It would be like Kareem, Elvin Hayes and Rick Barry (plus countless others) that starred in the NBA in the 70s not comprehending (or appreciating) that Magic/Bird and the 84 class changed everything.
Oh, and Angel isn't a legend because she shoots under 40% and misses about half her layups. The fact her shooting percentage is lower than someone that's living beyond the arc is...well, it's telling. She wasn't even the best rookie on her own team.
And it's also not true--see countless black female stars that were marketable. Just start with tennis--Gauff, Keys, Venus, Serena....
You aren't using facts, evidence or common sense. You like the storyline.
You keep mentioning facts, well here you go:
Fact: the all time leading college scorer prior to Clark was Kelsey Plum…a white girl who did not play for UConn or SC…she did not get the draw that Clark got as a junior in college, before ever breaking her record.
Fact: there have been plenty of really talented white girls in the W, but none had the drawing power of Clark.
Fact: Clark plays the game like no one else before her.
I wonder why she draws eyeballs. And Aja Wilson is boring to watch, that’s why she doesn’t draw people. She gets it dumped inside to her and she shoots a short jump shot…much like many other players from the past…that’s not a draw, that’s more of the same. If the WNBA was an all white league, Clark would still be the only person people would watch.
