Ex-ESPN Host Claims Caitlin Clark Is Popular Because She Is White And Heterosexual

For most fans of women’s basketball, WNBA rookie Caitlin Clark deserves the accolades she has received due to her dominating performance while in college.

Radical leftists who must inject race and sexual identity into every conversation, however, see things differently.

Former ESPN host Jemele Hill proved this point during her recent remarks on Clark’s success.

According to the New York Post:

“We would all be very naive if we didn’t say race and her sexuality played a role in her popularity,” the Atlantic writer Jemele Hill told the LA Times. “While so many people are happy for Caitlin’s success — including the players; this has had such an enormous impact on the game — there is a part of it that is a little problematic because of what it says about the worth and the marketability of the players who are already there.”

Hill specifically called out brands like Nike for playing a part in ignoring more diverse players, arguing that “Black women are often erased from the picture.”

“There’s plenty of room to highlight and celebrate Caitlin Clark’s popularity while also discussing ways in which to not erase Black women from a league that they have built and continue to build,” Hill said.

Nicole Melton, co-director of the Laboratory for Inclusion and Diversity in Sport at the University of Massachusetts, also described Clark’s popularity as pushing a “comfortable” image.

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“Cailtin fits a very comfortable narrative for a lot of people in the United States,” Melton said. “She comes from the heartland. She’s an amazing talent. She’s also a white, straight woman, right? There’s not a lot of things that would make people feel uncomfortable with that person being successful.”

Caitlin Clark last night had 41 points, 12 assists, 7 rebounds, 2 steals and a block in Iowa’s win over LSU.

Jemele Hill: Caitlin Clark only receives the media coverage she does because she's white. 😂🤪🤡 pic.twitter.com/xQtyMfmwf6

— Joe Has Dementia (@RokerGlasses) April 2, 2024

Hill and Melton aren’t the only ones who have been pushing this racially motivated narrative.

According to WNBA star A’ja Wilson, fans only like Caitlyn Clark because she’s “white”. It’s not about being black or white. Some of my favorite athletes are black. It’s not about race. It’s about their ability and skill to play the sport they’re competing in. pic.twitter.com/EDyoinnJbJ

— Space-(𝕏) 🪐 (@spacebescary) May 13, 2024

Parading Caitlyn Clark around instead of the many black women that built women’s basketball gotta feel like what they did with Eminem with hip hop. They just need a white face for it to be “mainstream”. https://t.co/Kv0T23v41G

— Goofywise TALL ASS DEI (@GoofyWise) April 14, 2024

Of course, plenty of others are pushing back against this baseless argument.

If Caitlyn Clark is marketable because she’s a white girl in a predominantly African American sport I’m curious what the perception of the Williams sisters and Tiger Woods is?

Was there racial motivation there? It’s gotta work both ways right? Just some food for thought. https://t.co/LdWRqxv5Bv

— 🍀KALEB👑 (@KalebScott33) May 13, 2024

Earlier this month, WNBA player A’ja Wilson chimed in, as the Daily Mail reported:

Caitlin Clark has been the biggest story in college basketball for two years thanks to her run to two national title games capping off a record-shattering collegiate career.

But as she’s set to take part in her first regular-season WNBA game, whether she likes it or not, discussions about her race and transition to playing pro ball have popped up.

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She has not said anything to fuel any tensions between Black and White players. However, deals that she has already signed have led to conversations about double-standards in women’s pro basketball – even before her WNBA career has officially started.

‘I think it’s a huge thing. I think a lot of people may say it’s not about Black and white, but to me, it is,’ Las Vegas Aces star A’ja Wilson said when asked in an interview with the Associated Press about the race element in Clark’s popularity and before she recently signed two major endorsement deals.

‘It really is because you can be top notch at what you are as a Black woman, but yet maybe that’s something that people don’t want to see.

For a little context regarding why Clark’s entry into the WNBA received so much attention, here is a highlight reel from her final college season: