This rivalry between Fever G Caitlin Clark and Sky F Angel Reese -- “not hate or racism, but this rivalry -- is good for the game,” according to Mike Vorel of the SEATTLE TIMES. Rivalries -- “heroes and villains and storylines, all subjective -- build both leagues and legends.” The rivalry between Clark and Reese has “played a part,” and it is “ultimately beneficial” to women’s basketball. But people should “not be naive to the cultural context accompanying the rivalry -- a charged political climate, a racial dynamic in which an anointed white player is credited with lifting a majority Black league, a social media landscape where anyone with Wi-Fi is afforded a microphone.” The WNBA “should absolutely investigate and do whatever possible to promote a safe and positive workplace for all of its players” (SEATTLE TIMES, 5/20).
EVERYONE HAS AN OPINION: In Chicago, Steve Greenberg wrote the public “can’t figure out how to talk about” Reese. Everyone is “for Reese or against her, or for the Fever’s Caitlin Clark or against her, or for the WNBA or against it.” But some “view things with more nuance.” Reese is “bright, fascinating and the hardest-playing baller in Chicago.” The “hateful slurs and tropes used against Reese are vile and despicable and would put anyone on guard.” Greenberg: “I feel for Reese, who is picked on, ridiculed and dehumanized on nearly a daily basis -- a grossly outsized response to whatever she ever might have done along the way to evoke some small measure of scorn.” The Sky “keep making small decisions that suggest the entire organization, from top to bottom, should avail itself of media training.” In Indianapolis, a local reporter “attempted to ask Reese a perfectly reasonable follow-up question about the play involving Clark’s flagrant foul,” but a PR staffer shut it down. Back in Deerfield yesterday, Reese was asked if she had “shared any details with the league about anything she might have heard from the crowd, prompting a PR staffer to leap needlessly to her rescue there, too.” None of it “does Reese any favors” (CHICAGO SUN-TIMES, 5/20).
TWO THINGS CAN BE TRUE: In Indianapolis, Gregg Doyel noted Clark is “trying to be part of the solution, saying the right things and saying them quickly and loudly, but the people who are the problem ... aren’t listening.” Clark “didn’t ask anyone climb out of the gutters and slither into the WNBA crowd.” But while Clark “has a right to all the accolades she gets,” Reese, Basketball HOFer Sheryl Swoopes and others “have the right to their heartfelt reactions about being overlooked.” The WNBA needs to “do exactly what it’s doing right now, tracking down allegations of racism in one of its arenas” (INDIANAPOLIS STAR, 5/20).
