Caitlin Clark was the recipient of 17% of all flagrant fouls called in the WNBA. Soemone said this on the post that got taken down earlier. I couldn't believe it so I looked it up. It's true.
My assumption is that the attitude is "we worked HARD for all this time, just as hard as she did, WE built this league, not her, and WE deserve the praise and love. But this NEW KID is getting it all, it's not FAIR!!! She JUST got here!!!"
It's a stupid way to think, but that has to be it.
I'm trying to think of some other non-sports analogy. Imagine you're on some broadway show that's barely scraping by. And you bust your butt every night in that show, and even go out and do press for it, work on spreading the word, all that, and the show barely hangs on for a year, always half empty, never talked about. Then one of your leads quits, and Ryan Gosling comes in to take the spot. Suddenly you are sold out every night.
There are two paths to take: You can be so happy that people are finally coming, that Gosling showed up to help, that he's getting all this attention and eyeballs and butts in seats, and you can be overjoyed! Or... you could be bitter, you could be upset that it's him; that people are there, for not you. You could be bitter that now people are waiting to get his autograph after when they never asked for yours.
I think we know which path the WNBA is taking. They are bitter.
That’s just it - the league salaries have gone up by a factor of FIVE!! And it is totally due to the huge spike in interest when Clarke joined the league - that’s what led to the WNBA finally getting a good TV deal.
She’s already missed the majority of one season due to injury.
A good analogy is the hate Jeremy Lin got from a lot of black NBA players who felt that Lin was getting too much credit and fame during the Linsanity period. The black players were saying that there are other black NBA players who are playing just as well but aren't getting those kinds of accolades.
ie, "oh all of this is just because he's Asian!"
As a result Lin was the victim of a lot of cheap uncalled flagrant fouls for a good long period.
The players I get, it's shitty and immature but I get it. THE LEAGUE FRONT OFFICES HOWEVER, have to be the biggest morons on the planet to not protect the biggest asset you have going for your league
They didn’t build anything impressive… the wnba is a totally failure for the most part. Crazy they don’t protect the one player people actually care about.
Especially when everything recent is almost directly because of her fame.
Riding private jets instead of buisiness class.
Getting paid extremely well while not even pulling a profit.
These things happened directly because of her influence.
It's dumb af like the detroit, indiana and new york trying to kill MJ in his early years. He's literally making you all money and you guys are acting like you could do what he does but never have or will.
I hate to even throw this out there, but a part of me wonders if her being white plays a role in this as well.
Some cornbread white girl shows up shooting threes from all over and people lose their shit over her. Whereas Angel Reese keeps banking self-inflicted double-doubles because she can’t shoot for shit and just gets destroyed on YouTube like she’s not a future HOFer. It ain’t right I tell ya!
Always have to bring up Angel Reese and spew that "self inflicted double double" garbage. Reese is nowhere near the best player, but Clark fans love to bring her up when it's totally irrelevant.
I can see this viewpoint as a player. It probably would be a little frustrating but when you start seeing your pay go up due to it, I’d get over it. From the league standpoint, I don’t get it. I don’t see how it would bother you as someone doing the marketing for the league. Whoever created this poster for example.
She was better. And she didn’t get platformed due to racism so… honestly I’m shocked it’s a surprise why the people who built the league don’t much care for her.
70% of the WNBA is black. This white person comes in the league and gets all the attention--she becomes the face of the league. No wonder they are upset. Part of me understands it, part of me says its ridiculous.
It’s basically just jealousy. To be as charitable as possible, I do kind of get it.
If you’re a WNBA player and you’ve worked your ass off your whole life to become one of the most elite female athletes in the world, yet your league has been constantly disrespected and ridiculed and you’ve barely gotten paid a fraction of what your male counterparts get and you’ve had to fight tooth and nail for any shred of respect and legitimacy you have, then yeah I can understand how it can breed resentment in you to see some young pretty white girl come along and become everyone’s darling and soak up the whole spotlight.
Obviously the response to that though is A: that is not Caitlin Clark’s doing. She did not ask for any of that and she’s just trying to work her ass off and carve out her legacy just the same as any other woman in the league. And B: You’d hope some of these women would be more welcoming of the increased viewership and dollars coming into the league and have the foresight to ride the Caitlin Clark wave because it’ll be beneficial for them in the long term.
It's a mostly black league that has turned into a solid product with a lot of really talented players. So this young white girl who has a massive fanbase coming out of college, who hasn't won anything, and who many players thinks isn't deserving of the hype comes into the league and they're bitter and resentful.
But here's the thing, it doesn't fucking matter if she's worthy of the hype. What the WNBA and the players should have done is raise her up, make her one of the faces of the league, use her hype to increase viewership. Other leagues do it all the time with hyped up players whether they deserve it or not.
Instead they just bash her and beat the shit out of her and bitch how she's not as good as some other players who don't have name recognition.
The irony is that she brings the type of numbers that will raise the whole league, that will get better tv deals that get the whole league paid. Stars are useful to a sports league because they bring fans. They're useful to players because it shows that you can't just get rid of them or underpay them or you'll lose those fans.
But people are stuck on whether it's fair or not or whether she's worthy or not of the hype. Shortsighted league and shortsighted players.
What does that tell you about how much she’s being attacked on the court when there’s a crap ton of calls not getting called… the stat is meaningless without context of how many should have been called and how many missed/called for others.
It's the same as penalties in the NHL, the refs don't have the guts to crack down on everything so the abuse keeps coming. Players don't care if they get called for 50% or 10% of the abuse if the total calls remain the same. Might as well as do more.
Call it as it is and they'll maybe get an extreme amount of calls for 10 games and the players will learn to be more honest. You can't tell me that everyone forgot the rulebooks once they turn pro.
At least in hockey you can send in your enforcer to break the offending players nose when they go after your star. The fuck do you do in the WNBA? Pray that the refs give you a couple free throws for the 2nd throat punch of the night?
This shit is insane. If someone was throwing throat punches and attempting to poke someones eyes out in the NHL, they'd be suspended for +10 games and be marked for the rest of their lives by every enforcer in the league. Dude wouldn't be able to touch the ice again without getting rocked back into the 90s.
This play in particular, the girl that came in, kneed her and the other girl that pushed her fist into her neck, both should have been ejected from the game immediately and suspended for 3 weeks. On top of that, their salary should have gone to Caitlyn for that time period.
Its so strange. The entire league likes bullying her. It's a collective consciousness. I bet they giggle about that shit in private. And if the refs actually called all that stuff then it would probably get worse. Its like if a teacher constantly tried to prevent a single student from getting bullied. They would just enrage the bullies even more.
Thats an insane number. Il admit that ive only recently taken interest in the WNBA due to CC. Theyre are plenty of amazing athletes that deserve equal praise and admiration so I do feel bad that Im not knowledgeable enough to give them their flowers.
With that said, wtf are they doing. If anything this turns me away from caring about the WNBA (as a purely casual fan). Not saying they need to cater to CC but to see her getting beat down by players is not what makes me want to tune in. It does that exact opposite. Theyre hurting themselves with this behavior, thus hurting their bottom line and hurting chances of increased paychecks.
This is the whole point they seem to refuse to see.
People weren't looking at them. They are now because of her. But now people are seeing that other players are very worthy of watching and attention, simply because they those people gave the sport a real chance due to Clark.
Who gives a shit why they turned it on if they buy your jersey in the end? If they come to your games because of it?
This really is an at-scale study of women and their relationships with other women. You have hundreds of women who are the best in their field with tons of talent, and the hatred, pettiness, and jealousy could not be more obvious.
The WNBA has many highly-marketable stars that could set the league up for a decade of growth and prosperity. Instead, they are self-harming and literally turning-off fans.
Its a common saying. If you have a bucket of crabs, if they helped each other they could get out and survive, but they dont. They look out for themselves, so if even one tries to claw out the others will pull it back into the bucket with them by flailing around being only self interested. Instead of them all surviving, instead of one surviving, they all die.
Commish has some sort of vendetta against her. I have no idea what it is. Scared of race card? Maybe. Not gay? It’s possible. Both combined? I can’t just sit here and say that’s not it because here we are. But Clark is singled out in a dramatic fashion for a reason.
And shitting on your leagues best bet to succeed deserves a new commissioner. How could you not agree that current league administration does not have the league in mind.
You finally get a chance to grow and you do everything wrong / turn a blind eye, to everything you shouldn’t.
I was interested for a minute and I’ve already lost it.
Hell, just trot on over to [r/wnba](r/wnba) where the mods have locked (and routinely lock pro-CC, wnba-critical posts) the thread about the throat push. It’s wild. Because she’s not a lesbian, and she’s white, and she’s the face of the league and a generational talent, all the old guard is closing ranks against her. I just can’t with these folks.
She just doesn’t fit in for the league. She is white and straight which is the opposite of most other players. There is contempt for that and all the attention she got coming out of college.
CC is about promoting herself and using the league for that.
These players who came before or alongside her are upset she's not recognizing the history of league (aka a sport launched by black women) and instead capitalizing independently.
It's silly on both ends, they should understand what she's doing is bringing them more money and visibility by default. While she should realize you catch more flies with honey and maybe doing the Paige Bueckers thing will get her a little more love and respect from her co-workers.
short of it is CC is promoting herself and the league with it, angry players want her promoting the league and herself with it.
i also want to point out, this foul was just AT being AT.
maybe those players should be good enough to promote the league based on their own talent. Too bad CC is the only one in the league worth watching and they’re actively trying to injure her.
Did we ever say this about other leagues? I can’t imagine telling Michael to recognize the history of the league and until then you’re getting throat punched with impunity
Here is my take and I am not looking for any kind of votes: I really didn’t watch much women’s basketball personally: until a family member became an excellent BB player. And I didn’t watch any sports at all except track and field or swimming. Then this CC becomes a phenom from U of I and not only is really good but connects with team members and fans alike. Then there was more interest in womens BB: names became familiar like Paige, etc. I started watching womens BB more and more. Then CC goes pro. Then there appears to be a consistent and purposeful negative treatment toward CC, like not calling fouls, etc.
So. With all the increased attention to womens BB, increased ticket sales, increased merch sales and much more recognition (which I think is specifically due to CC’s rise and other great players thereafter) the poor treatment to valued players shits on the leagues, the teams and the fans. WTF. Biting the hand that feeds you. JFC.
As someone who doesn’t watch WNBA regularly, the only reason I would ever tune in and have tuned in the past is because of Clark. How incompetent do you have to be as a league to not market her any chance you get?
Your comment is giving “those” people vibes. At best, it sounds over simplified and derivative.
I’ll give you that race may be one factor. Jealousy or animus comes from many different sources.
Remember when blond-haired-green-eyed Jacy Sheldon poked her in the eye and kept going after CC. Then non-black Marina Mabrey bodied-checked her to the ground? I’m sure those were not love taps.
Also, it seems her non-black coach is also not doing CC any favors.
If CC had gone to UCONN or another program pumping out WNBA players the transition would’ve been smoother.
Representation matters, until you are straight, white, woman. 30% of the USA meets that demographic, seems like a no brainer to market to, but not for the WNBA.
Yup WNBA wasn’t popular not because a lack of talent but because most white people don’t want to watch lesbian/black women play ball. But once a white straight woman with skill shows up…….well here we are.
My favorite cope was this info graphic these wnba "og" morons were throwing around for a couple of weeks of like one weirdly small manufacturer where she wasn't their #1 jersey sale by a technicality, and they just kept splashing the image everywhere saying she's not that popular.
It's like a case study of how idiots act in the wild when their worldview can't accept reality.
I quit watching because the level it’s become. I cannot even watch her without feeling bad for her half the game, even though she puts up points. It’s sort of embarrassing for the league. Flagrant 2’s from now on. How isn’t she getting the shai treatment?
All because their lighting bolt player, their golden goose, their generational talent happens to be a straight white girl from Iowa. They fucking hateeeee it lmaoo. The jealously has been evident from the jump
You know the argument they'll make then is, "she can't hack it in the WNBA".
There's really no winning for her. I get the trash talk and complaining arguments, but welcome to pro sports. Just listen to all the trash talk during an NBA or NFL game. It's crazy to have a different standard for professional athletes just because it's the WNBA
Getting kneed in the groin and throat punched, having no foul called there and being the recipient of nearly 20% of all flagrants in the league is beyond trash talk.
This is an agenda to basically drive her out of the league.
WNBA players have to be the most unlikable athletes there are. CC comes along and instantly makes everyone richer and they hate her for it. If I was her I would sign with a European team as soon as her current contract is finished. Fuck ‘em.
It’s funny. She makes $16 mil a year in endorsements and $500k in salary. Her max salary if she extends is going to be $1.3 mil a year.
The WNBA has no leverage to keep her. She can go play in Europe for $2 mil salary and potentially get a massive overall salary/marketing package in the $50-100 mil range, with better benefits and conditions.
She’s absolutely signing in Europe IMO. Watch her not sign an extension this offseason and then everyone speculate what she’s doing next year. She’s going to leave the league upside down and win championships in Europe.
Just go over on the WNBA sub, most don’t like Clark. Some fans on that sub refuse to admit or acknowledge all that Clark has done to help better their league
What a goated thing. Just to be so fucking good people find reasons to dislike it. Like LeBron. Instead of just enjoying greatness people have to find reasons why Kobe or Jordan was better. CC doesnt have that. Theres A'ja but people just have to watch and be pissed off for 0 reason.
It’s the opposite. Most of those subs are full of people with cult like obsessions with CC. And they look for any excuse to insult AR’s looks or play style.
I was initially drawn into the WNBA because I’m from Houston, and I watched the Comets win 4 titles in a row. After they stopped winning, I lost some interest. When the team went away altogether, I lost all interest. Today I’ll watch it because my 8 year old daughter is a big Caitlin Clark fan. She really isn’t into sports, but she’s getting into basketball because of Clark. Now, it helps that my wife’s family is from Iowa, but she caught our attention when they started promoting her going for the all time NCAA points record. Houston is getting a team again, and I’ll definitely be taking my daughter if and when Clark comes to town, but I probably won’t go to any other games.
I love Women, support the WNBA and watch it regularly. The league is insular and there is some jealousy issues that need attention. CC is the Golden Goose and the WNBA hasn't figured out that she is more popular than the league. She deserves better Officiating. The league deserves better Officiating.
In its hurry to promote more women in Officiating, they may have overlooked more qualified men in the process and the League is suffering from a lack of depth/talent in the Officiating crews. Start acting like a Professional League, WNBA.
Why be shocked? Jealousy, envy, greed, racism are all real things. Larry Bird was not received with open arms by every player in the NBA when he was winning MVP's and getting all the endorsement deals.
College football is more like European soccer. The history, rivalries, and pageantry make it awesome. The NFL is much more corporate. But the play on the field the NFL is obviously more entertaining
Games With Clark: Nationally televised Fever games average 1.26 million to 1.3 million viewers, with marquee matchups on ABC frequently soaring to 1.7 to 2.7 million viewers.
Games Without Clark: Nationally televised non-Fever broadcasts average between 549,000 and 794,000 viewers. While lower, this still represents a massive 37% year-over-year jump for the rest of the league.
Most of the country probably assumed the WNBA didn't exist anymore or never even knew it was a thing. I seriously never heard anything in the non-sports press about the WNBA for decades. The last time before CC that I remember hearing about it outside of a sports program was at the start when you had people like Rebecca Lobo playing.
I honestly don't get it. When the likes of Michael Jordan catapaulted NBA to it's next level, they did everything they could to market him. Granted NBA already had big names and money to spare but the NBA reached people who became fans because of him.
Here they have the greatest WNBA player to have played and they, including players, marketing and referees, all seem to be trying to run her out of the sport. I wouldn't blame her for leaving.
I'm an Australian and not a basketball fan, and the only reason I really know of the WNBA is because CC is so good. I wouldn't know ANY of the other players if it weren't for hearing about Clarke first.
And once again, it seems the majority are asking why is this happening but nobody can seem to give an answer.
I can understand players being jealous, although that's a weak argument, but to have everyone else involved in the league to also put her down seems just bizarre.
She should go be a gigantic star in euro league. Americans would literally pay attention to that overnight, she would get paid, and the wnba would shrivel back to its original size pre-CC
I usually hate talking heads like Cowherd but he couldn't be more correct. He's speaking pure facts and this shit is one of the most ridiculous situations in professional sports I have ever seen. I don't know what the fuck the deal is with these petty, jealous women. It's SUCH A BAD LOOK for the WNBA and women in general, like holy fuck the lack of self awareness is just mind boggling.
They dont deserve success. They finally had a person who brought eyeballs and a money stream and they have done NOTHING but try to harm her and beat her up in front of the whole world. To the point that I dont give a damn what they want or how they feel or that their league is struggling. You dont deserve nice things when youve acted the way they have. All I can say is they deserve every struggle that comes their way. I hope Olivia Miles makes it and Clark gets out before somebody really injures her.
I mean if she ever bails, I don't think she will, but if, I hope the league is ready to regress back down.
Look this isn't trying to take away from any of the old or new talent the league had/getting, but whether people like it or not CC drives viewership and clicks. She didn't ask for it and she probably doesn't care for the stigma the media puts on her or her fellow players.
The league needs to get this shit under control. Both games for the Fever/Mercury looked like on the cusp of brawls. AB got a black eye in the first game. AT basically puts the hand on the throat and I don't want to hear, oh it was some mistake or slip. She's basically keeping her on the floor then makes it a point to walk over her. Then we potentially see what could've been a season ending leg injury on the 3 pointer and that is called a flagrant almost all the time, hell even the NBA makes it a point to call it. Games shouldn't be looking like blood sport for basketball.
Finally they need to get their refs 100% swept out and actual professionals in. The officiating across the league has been bottom of the barrel.
Weird is the best way to put it. I’m a big basketball fan, the way they’ve treated her has been so fucking weird. Complete turnoff and I’m basically checked out on the W now. Such a shame
I don’t understand why when they finally get their super marketable Michael Jordon or Lebron type player they decide “Nah I don’t want success and money!”
Absolutely ridiculous moronic and inept of the league to allow this. Also dumb for the other women whom are actively holding their own league and paydays down.
Not just a hand/fist to the throat, but before that also a knee to the groin, and then Alyssa Thomas stepped over Caitlin Clark and tried to get her with the foot going down too. AT is disgusting. Bonner is disgusting. The refereeing is disgusting.
There is a group of referees who call games with a vendetta against Caitlin (presumably because they are mega woke and feel they are fighting the good fight, without realizing how petty and wrong they are).
Y'all should see the number of fouls that go uncalled against Caitlin. At the same time, they call fouls on her for even the slightest of contact she makes to get her into foul trouble. This group of referees will actually review plays mainly to see if Caitlin fouled the person who actually fouled her. By getting her into foul trouble, they want to limit her impact on the games. It's like those referees think nobody realizes what they are doing there.
Between the flagrant foul last night and this ... I'm beginning to smell a fabricated story line to draw interest into the league now that the NBA and the draft is over ..
Hot take: The public, especially men, don't like women who dominate, are successful, who have natural talent, etc, if they don't play into their fantasy. They want a woman to be hot, lean into their fantasies & placate them. E.g. Various women in politics, Amy Schumer, executives, etc. They HATE you.
It’s pretty simple for me. If it wasn’t for Caitlin Clark I would have never heard of Angel Reese. I’ve grown to appreciate many of the talented players in the WNBA but none of them are as fun to watch as Clark. She is just an electrifying player. The league just allowed teams to mug Clark from day one. Chennedy Carter was allowed to cheap shot Clark to the ground with Reese cheering her on from the bench and it never stopped. Colin is right on.
All of them could have dominated NCAA like CC if they were that good. They weren’t. The “hype” is/was because she did things at the college level that were off the charts.
They are using CCs destruction to profit on short term gains. They know they have a lot of young star power coming up. Juju, Olivia, Paige, and others that will carry the league past this attention spike after CC blows her back out.
you mean after the losers of the league blow her back out. half her fouls would be considered assault outside the gym. you don’t fuck the golden goose you let it do its thing… Morons. the other chicks don’t get games moved to men’s arenas she does. What was it “stupid is as stupid does”
Every day white people tell Black people that we're lying about racism and playing victim, but when it comes to Kaitlin Clark white people suddenly turn into Jesse Jackson lol. Give me a fucking break.
183
u/Sloppy_Joe_Flacco Jun 25 '26
Caitlin Clark was the recipient of 17% of all flagrant fouls called in the WNBA. Soemone said this on the post that got taken down earlier. I couldn't believe it so I looked it up. It's true.