The WNBA’s announced crackdown on racism at games and online has received the full-throated support of the league’s top player.
During exit interviews on Friday, Clark was asked about the league’s initiative condemning “racist, derogatory or threatening comments” directed at players and coaches. The WNBA announced the plan after Sun forward Alyssa Thomas accused Caitlin Clark’s fans of being racist.
“Those aren’t fans. Those are trolls,” Clark said. “Nobody in our league should be facing any sort of racism, disrespectful or hurtful comments and threats.”
After Connecticut’s Game 2 win over the Fever, a win that ended Indiana’s season, Alyssa Thomas unleashed on Fever fans whom – she claims – hurled racial slurs at her online.
“We’ve been professional throughout the whole entire thing, but I’ve never been called the things that I’ve been calling on social media, and there’s no place for it,” Thomas said. “Basketball is headed in a great direction, but no, we don’t want fans that are going to degrade us and call us racial names. ”
Of course, Clark could have handled the question at her exit interview differently. Throughout the year, the rookie sensation has been subjected to multiple physical attacks by veteran players—nearly all of whom were black—. In addition, WNBA legend Sheryl Swoopes belittled Clark’s historic season by saying she was not “dominating” the league, despite Clark putting up numbers no other player in league history has put up.
Not to mention The View host Sunny Hostin, who absurdly attributed Clark’s popularity to “white privilege.”
Clark’s archrival, Angel Reese, debuted her new podcast by slamming Clar’s fans as racists.
“I think it’s really just the fans, her fans, the Iowa fans, now the Indiana fans, that are really just, they ride for her, and I respect that, respectfully,” Reese said. “But sometimes it’s very disrespectful. I think there’s a lot of racism when it comes to it.”
It is important to note that neither Thomas nor Reese supplied any examples of the racist abuse they claim to receive. Nonetheless, the WNBA acted on the words of some players, making vague claims of racism.
What they didn’t do, at any point from the start of the season up until the end, was take any action against players committing blatant, flagrant fouls against Clark. It’s not unreasonable to assume that if they’re willing to act on the words of black players claiming racism without evidence, they would have reacted with great haste if white players started singling out a black player for physical abuse.
But, of course, that didn’t happen.