OPINION:
Caitlin Clark is undeniably the best thing that has ever happened to the WNBA in its 30-year history, so it is hard to fathom why the women’s professional basketball league treats the Indiana Fever superstar point guard so shabbily.
Ms. Clark, who is White, has been a victim of racist physical and verbal abuse by some players in the majority-Black league from time to time since she joined the WNBA in May 2024 as the No. 1 overall draft pick, but the league has barely lifted a finger to put a stop to it.
Shamefully, it goes beyond petty jealousy over the fan attention and appreciation the 2024 WNBA Rookie of the Year’s extraordinary hoop talents and girl-next-door image have won her. (It is more sinister than that alone. More on that in a moment.)
The most recent incident of ugly anti-Clark animus was on June 24, when Phoenix Mercury forward Alyssa Thomas, who is Black, thrust a clenched fist into Ms. Clark’s throat after Ms. Clark had fallen to the hardwood floor while the two fought for possession of a loose ball.
If it had been just a case of Ms. Thomas losing her balance, one would have expected that she would have braced for the fall with palms facing downward, not with a clenched fist.
Not only did the referees on the court at the time fail to call a foul on Ms. Thomas, but they also did not review the flagrant act when it was brought to their attention at halftime, rightly infuriating Indiana head coach Stephanie White.
“We have a generational talent and WNBA superstar who had two cheap shots [against her] right there that weren’t called,” Ms. White fumed. “Absolutely unacceptable.” (The second “cheap shot,” though not as egregious, was a foul by another Phoenix player a scant 27 seconds later.)
Even more tellingly, the league did not penalize Ms. Thomas until it was called out by many in the sports media, WNBA fans and others. Even then, the punishment was little more than a slap on the wrist: a one-game suspension.
Ms. Clark, 24, likewise has been scorned by other players, Black and White alike, because of what some might call heterophobia. She is straight, while estimates suggest the percentage of WNBA players who are lesbian ranges from as low as 25% to as high as 38%. A website, WriteThroughTheNight.com, on June 2 published a “Who’s Gay in the WNBA Report” that identified by name 52 “out gay players.”
Apparently, the fact that a straight, White woman is getting so much sports media coverage — deserved though it clearly is — does not sit well with many of the league’s players who are Black, gay or both.
The WNBA’s reluctant — almost grudging — response to the Thomas incident and its seeming indifference to prior physical and verbal abuse aimed at Ms. Clark is not just inexplicable and indefensible.
It is also self-sabotaging, given that Ms. Clark’s charisma and basketball skills have brought the league millions of new viewers it has never previously enjoyed.
As a testament to Ms. Clark’s fan-drawing power, during the 2025 season, the Washington Mystics moved their home games against the Fever on May 28 and Sept. 7 from their home court at CareFirst Arena in the District of Columbia to CFG Bank Arena in Baltimore. The former seats 4,200; the latter, nearly 11,200.
The Mystics’ Ticketmaster ticket sales website further notes: “In 2024, the Mystics helped set the all-time WNBA single-game, regular-season attendance record with 20,711 fans at Capital One Arena [in the District] in a matchup against the Indiana Fever.”
If that were not enough, Ms. Clark and her telegenic teammate, Sophie Cunningham, reportedly account for more than 71% of all WNBA jersey sales.
Yet, the vindictive pettiness hit a new low on July 2. USA Today reported that in All-Star Game balloting, “fans and the media voted Clark second and third on their respective ballots among guards,” but she “earned just the 11th-most votes from her fellow players.” That is despite her being currently second in the WNBA in assists and tied for fourth in points scored.
The bottom line is this: The WNBA must stop looking a gigantic gift horse in the mouth and eradicate its rampant Clarkophobia, lest she take her considerable hoop talents to, say, Europe, where she would get the respect she has earned and that she deserves.
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