New York
CNN
—
The male-dominated sports media apparatus is stumbling over Caitlin Clark.
It is trying to pretend that it hasn’t ignored the WNBA for decades until the superstar rookie came along. But rather than admitting its blind spots, several male commentators are parachuting themselves into a league they barely understand and dismissing anyone who suggests they could do better.
It’s getting ugly.
In the flurry of hot takes that followed Chennedy Carter’s foul against Clark over the weekend, ESPN host Pat McAfee went on his show Monday to argue that Clark — whom he casually called the “White b*tch for the Indiana team” — was singularly responsible for the sudden surge of WNBA popularity and therefore she should be given more respect. He later apologized for using the slur, emphasizing that his broader thesis was that Clark’s star power created a halo around a league that’s been languishing in obscurity.
“I was talking about how I hoped that the WNBA and sports media, ex-WNBA players, would show a little bit more respect to Caitlin Clark for what she has brought to the WNBA,” McAfee said on his show Tuesday.
Of course, it’s not that the league was dormant before Clark got there, it’s that most of the mainstream press weren’t paying attention. The impact of Clark’s arrival is undeniable. But McAfee and the four men flanking him in his Indiana studio are not the best people to lead that conversation on one of the most influential sports networks in America.
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