Will Caitlin Clark be called out for not responding publicly to Enes Kanter Freedom’s ouster from Sunday night’s Fever-Sky game?
Enes Kanter Freedom heckled Natasha Cloud during Sunday night’s contest and was eventually removed from the arena.
Enes Kanter Freedom and Natasha Cloud (photo courtesy PEOPLE)
Should Clark have addressed the issue, including criticizing Kanter Freedom? She doesn’t typically speak out on social issues, focusing instead on what she is paid to do: play basketball. Just because others speak out doesn’t mean she’s supposed to do so.
Would any company encourage anyone to talk about social issues on company time? I don’t think so, and sports shouldn’t be different. Last I checked, sports should be a haven for anyone to get away from real-world problems.
But that’s not how it is. For example, last month Monica McNutt, one of ESPN’s WNBA sports analysts, called out Clark for not protecting “the WNBA sisterhood,” whatever that means. Roberta Rodrigues, a long-time WNBA reporter, created a grandstanding moment by asking the Fever’s Kelsey Mitchell about Sophie Cunningham’s saying transgender people shouldn’t play in women’s sports. She requested an interview with Clark and Cunningham at the presser, and the Fever declined, so she went after those two in a conversation with Mitchell.
No basketball player should be subjected to social issues questions when they don’t want to answer, especially after the game.
The WNBA has become a circus since Clark entered the league, not by Clark’s doing, but by her critics and even her supporters. The Fever star is trying to quell all that by saying nothing and letting her play do the talking.
We should be celebrating Clark for her performance. It’s not just Clark. We don’t celebrate Olivia Miles. We don’t celebrate the Minnesota Lynx’s excellence. All we do is crap on the league, and people like DiJonai Carrington, Alyssa Thomas, Angel Reese, and Cloud stain the league with their own stupidity.
Clark is trying to put the focus on the game. But when you’ve got people like Rodrigues and McNutt attacking her, it’s hard for anyone to celebrate the game. What these people are doing is harming the brand rather than promoting it.
I will be frank: If Clark weren’t in the WNBA, I wouldn’t be watching or writing about the league. Furthermore, I’ve always wondered why any WNBA player, such as Clark, wants to go through the nonsense.
Clark deserves respect for doing her job.
