They’ll Still Hate You

I do not follow the NBA and I care even less about the WNBA. That being said, I do not live under a rock and thus I am aware of Caitlin Clark, the most recent first overall draft pick for the WNBA and who is projected to be a future superstar. She certainly looks to be one of the most marketable players the league has ever had. This is important because another, years-long controversy concerning the WNBA is that their players are not paid enough – especially in relation to the NBA. Now, the reasons for this are obvious enough, the NBA is a multi-billion-dollar industry with global reach, something the WNBA cannot even come close to achieving. Everyone knows this, but people would rather keep their job than make an honest observation.

If that is your goal, a player like Caitlin Clark is a welcomed addition to the league. Not that she will turn the WNBA into an NBA-level juggernaut anytime soon, but having a household name player will bring in more revenue, which will boost player pay. We can see this same phenomenon in the NBA. As hard as it is to believe now, but up until the mid-1980s and especially before the mid-1970s, basketball was nowhere near as popular as the NFL and MLB. Just to give you an idea of how little popularity the NBA once had – on March 2, 1962, Wilt Chamberlain scored 100 points in a single game. It’s a record that has never been broken and will almost certainly never be broken. The game even took place in Madison Square Garden, but no footage of it exists; basketball was not popular enough for anyone to bother filming it. But, a series of highly marketable players, the most significant of which was Michael Jordan, changed all that. One would think Caitlin Clark would be universally welcomed. A high-profile player that can bring new fans to the game and help raise player salaries. And indeed, attendance has gone up significantly in just her short time in the league.

However, one would be wrong about her welcomed status in the WNBA because Caitlin Clark is White. 

To be fair, there has been some push back on this, with many defending her, but it is still remarkable just how much hatred she is inspiring for being White. Several pieces, from mainstream outlets, are complaining about a White person being the most popular athlete in a traditionally black sport, and even some of the players have joined in with Clark being frequently fouled. One of the players even received a standing ovation from the fans after fouling Clark.

This should serve as a reminder of just how little Whites can do to appease the Left. Caitlin Clark is Catholic, but as far as I can tell, is far from being Harrison Butker. She offers the WNBA the one thing that a league needs to break through, a bankable star. It really is hard to overstate just how important this is. As I’ve already mentioned, Michael Jordan and others helped turn the NBA into what it is today. I am, believe it or not, a hockey fan, and I very much owe my fandom to Wayne Gretzky’s trade to the Los Angeles Kings. That trade opened up the sport to warm weather climates. Caitlin Clark could do the same for the WNBA. If anyone is serious about increasing player salary, Clark is a godsend. But it was never about the financial fate of WNBA players. It was about hating men, blaming sexism for the salary discrepancy and ignoring all other factors. As it turns out, that was also not enough. It is also about hating Whites, which is why Clark has soon found herself cast as a White devil rather than as an important part of the sisterhood.  

We must understand that we are dealing with fundamentally miserable people who like to wallow in their own misery. I am not talking about the average black person on the street, but the activist class that hates life. They will never be happy, and they like it better that way. There is no appeasing them. You can give them a realistic chance of getting something they say they want, and they will still hate you. Caitlin Clark is now learning that the hard way.

Harmonica