(Photo by Matthew Huang/Icon Sportswire) (Icon Sportswire via AP Images)
The most prominent figures in sports media were quick to join the latest discourse involving Caitlin Clark. They made themselves look foolish in the process.
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Conversations around the WNBA this week once again revolved around Clark and the league’s supposed mistreatment of her. It started when the Indiana Fever guard was involved in an on-court incident with Phoenix Mercury forward Alyssa Thomas on Wednesday night. During play, Clark fell to the ground as she was dribbling the ball. Seeing this, Thomas quickly dove to ground in an effort to either steal the ball or force a jump ball. Clark quickly passed it to a nearby teammate, prompting Thomas to get up and resume play.
A close-up of the action revealed that one of Thomas’s hands landed on Clark’s neck when she went for the ball. The WNBA later reviewed the play and assessed Thomas a flagrant foul. She was also suspended one game for the act, which many viewed as deliberately hostile.
The discourse surrounding the play was predictably outrageous and quickly devolved into debates about race and sexual orientation. But the ridiculousness of it all paled in comparison to the topic that emerged on Thursday.
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The WNBA recently unveiled a poster to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the league. Included on that poster were some of the biggest stars spanning the entire history of the WNBA. It even included current players like Atlanta Dream forward Angel Reese and Dallas Wings guard Paige Bueckers. Clark, arguably the most famous name in the league, was notably absent from the poster.
Some accused the WNBA of deliberately excluding Clark out of jealousy. Others theorized it was simply a egregious oversight by the league. Whatever the reasoning, many agreed that the league messed up by failing to put Clark on the poster.
Those points were echoed by some of the biggest names and outlets in the business. OutKick founder Clay Travis claimed the WNBA “doing everything they can to kill her.” Fox Sports commentator Colin Cowherd slammed Clark’s absence as “embarrassing.” Ex-NFL QB Robert Griffin III called the omission “ridiculous.” ESPN senior writer Dan Wetzel said it was “unreal” to leave Clark off. NFL writer Albert Breer claimed he was “blown away” by the league not including her. USA Today’s Mitchell Northam accused the WNBA of “incompetence” for the move.
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As noted by Griffin, however, there were other questionable omissions that could have helped explain what the actual issue was. In his tweet, Griffin pointed out the fact that WNBA legends like Diana Taurasi, Sue Bird, and Candace Parker were all missing from the poster. These are icons who are still regularly celebrated by the league. At some point in the development pipeline for this piece of memorabilia, someone would have caught something like that.
When I first noticed these omissions, my initial reaction was not to attack the league for missing the mark. Being somewhat familiar with the way the real world operates, I thought, “It has to be a licensing issue or something.”
Lo and behold, that appeared to be the case. Top sports business reporter Darren Rovell tweeted Thursday evening:
The reason why Caitlin is not on this poster is…. you ready? …. Caitlin Clark herself.
Other than Nike, Clark allows licensees like Wincraft, who makes this to only use her name and number.
Not her likeness.
Moving on… the “disrespect” card was fun for a day.
A fair counter to that revelation would be, “The WNBA could’ve just partnered with a different company for the poster.” While I don’t know the specifics of the league’s dealings, I can understand someone trying to make that argument. But that’s completely beside the point here. In their eagerness to jump on the hate train, veteran journalists pushed a narrative that fell apart under the smallest bit of scrutiny. For that, they should be embarrassed.
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The post The Biggest Names in Sports Media Embarrassed Themselves Latching onto the Latest Manufactured Caitlin Clark Outrage first appeared on Mediaite.
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