Caitlin Clark is one of the biggest names in sports right now, considering all the hype around her even before she left college and entered the WNBA Draft. Even before her debut in the league, the 22-year-old guard has drawn a lot of attention, although not every comment has been positive.
Nick Wright clapped back at all the comments about Clark’s race, calling out people for saying she’s getting some sort of advantage because of the color of her skin. During today’s edition of First Thing First, Wright sent a clear message about Caitlin.
“It has really, really bummed me out that the Caitlin Clark commentary has spilled over into the ‘more divisive than sports’ piece of it,” Wright said. “I think my track record speaks for itself where I feel like there’s a racial injustice or double standard, I’m not afraid to talk about it. (:12 mark)
“Do I think from a marketability perspective, it helps that Caitlin Clark is a white athlete? Yes, I do. But do I think she’s some great white hype, like she’s being elevated based purely because she’s a white girl? She’s been excellent at every level, and even compared to rookies, she is playing excellent.”
He also touched on LeBron James’ comments about the young player, criticizing that people are immersed in a ‘culture war’ between white and black players.
“It is such a bummer that LeBron supports her and people are like, ‘Where was this for the Black female basketball players?’ By the way, he did that as well. A lot of that is a bummer because this is a sport that a lot of people cared massively about, and now more people are starting to pay attention to. It’s turned into some weird culture war stuff.”
These comments come after former ESPN host Sunny Hostin claimed that Caitlin Clark is ‘more relatable‘ to people because of her race and her sexual preference. This conversation hadn’t happened until now, but Wright quickly shut it all down.
Charles Barkley defends Caitlin Clark against WNBA opponents
Just like Wright defended Clark against this host, Charles Barkley did the same against her on-court opponents. During the first five games of the season, Clark received tough fouls, which raised eyebrows around the league.
The NBA legend reminded everybody that Caitlin Clark is the reason why so many things around the league are changing and her colleagues should be careful about her if they want to keep them.
“You women out there, y’all petty man. LeBron, you are 100% right on these girls hating on Caitlin Clark. Y’all petty girls,” Barkley said.
“Y’all should be thanking that girl for getting y’all private charters and all the money and visibility she’s bringing into the WNBA. Don’t be petty like dudes.”
She’s a pretty big deal, not only in the WNBA but in the basketball world in general. It seems like no matter what she does, she’ll get a lot of attention. The good thing is that she doesn’t seem to care about that.
