2025 WNBA Thread

[Uncle Rico]

Fox News guy: "Caitlin Clark is the Jackie Robinson of the WNBA."

Jason Whitlock: "Actually, Caitlin Clark has it harder than Jackie Robinson."

https://www.thedailybeast.com/fox-news-declares-caitlin-clark-the-jackie-robinson-of-the-wnba-after-hard-foul

https://foxsportsradio.iheart.com/content/2024-05-29-jason-whitlock-why-caitlin-clarks-path-is-harder-than-jackie-robinsons/

That's some good ass griftin'

[Jockey]

Whitlock has been a white, southern racist for a long time.

[Pakuni]

Whitlock has been a white, southern racist for a long time.

Nah.
He's just an opportunist who recognized that there is a lucrative market for black people who say the things that white racists want to but can't without facing social consequences.
See also: Candace Owens.

[lawdog77]

Fox News guy: "Caitlin Clark is the Jackie Robinson of the WNBA."

Jason Whitlock: "Actually, Caitlin Clark has it harder than Jackie Robinson."

https://www.thedailybeast.com/fox-news-declares-caitlin-clark-the-jackie-robinson-of-the-wnba-after-hard-foul

https://foxsportsradio.iheart.com/content/2024-05-29-jason-whitlock-why-caitlin-clarks-path-is-harder-than-jackie-robinsons/

Caitlin not allowed to stay at the same hotels or eat at the same restaurants?

[Jockey]

Caitlin not allowed to stay at the same hotels or eat at the same restaurants?

She has to stay at only the best places. Alone.

The blacks and lesbians are at the Super 8.

[Not all scoop users are created equal apparently]

Caitlin not allowed to stay at the same hotels or eat at the same restaurants?

White and straight is basically that these days.

[JWags85]

Nah.
He's just an opportunist who recognized that there is a lucrative market for black people who say the things that white racists want to but can't without facing social consequences.
See also: Candace Owens.

I don't care for her, but Candace Owens has always struck me as intelligent and measured (which makes some of her insane takes seem palatable until you actually think about it).  Meanwhile, Whitlock just seems some a clumsy ham handed contrarian.  I remember people thinking he was a dipshit for years before he leaned fully into his current shtick.

What's with KC producing hot take artists.  Whitlock, Nick Wright, there is another I'm forgetting

[Hards Alumni]

I don't care for her, but Candace Owens has always struck me as intelligent and measured (which makes some of her insane takes seem palatable until you actually think about it).  Meanwhile, Whitlock just seems some a clumsy ham handed contrarian.  I remember people thinking he was a dipcrap for years before he leaned fully into his current shtick.

What's with KC producing hot take artists.  Whitlock, Nick Wright, there is another I'm forgetting

yikes.

[Not all scoop users are created equal apparently]

I don't care for her, but Candace Owens has always struck me as intelligent and measured (which makes some of her insane takes seem palatable until you actually think about it).  Meanwhile, Whitlock just seems some a clumsy ham handed contrarian.  I remember people thinking he was a dipcrap for years before he leaned fully into his current shtick.

What's with KC producing hot take artists.  Whitlock, Nick Wright, there is another I'm forgetting

Yeah I'm gonna go ahead and agree to disagree there. You're a thoughtful individual who has a lot of great insight on this board. But this one probably isn't very grey.

For Candace Owens, Just because someone is articulate doesn't mean they are intelligent. Owens at best is savvy at grifting (to which she even is having trouble with these days).

At worst, someone who anti semitic white nationalist Nick Fuentes says he supports Owens in her "full-fledged war against the Jews" and said, "This is the face of a total Jewish defeat... We f—ing got your back, Candace... They're filth.", is probably not someone I would describe as measured.

She frequently says outlandish easily disproven racist/prejudiced/sexist tropes and then plays the Christian victim card at the pushback. If you ask me it's just about the purest distillation of a cynical person.

But you are right that Whitlock is a bumbling moron

[JWags85]

Yeah I'm gonna go ahead and agree to disagree there. You're a thoughtful individual who has a lot of great insight on this board. But this one probably isn't very grey.

For Candace Owens, Just because someone is articulate doesn't mean they are intelligent. Owens at best is savvy at grifting (to which she even is having trouble with these days).

At worst, someone who anti semitic white nationalist Nick Fuentes says he supports Owens in her "full-fledged war against the Jews" and said, "This is the face of a total Jewish defeat... We f—ing got your back, Candace... They're filth.", is probably not someone I would describe as measured.

She frequently says outlandish easily disproven racist/prejudiced/sexist tropes and then plays the Christian victim card at the pushback. If you ask me it's just about the purest distillation of a cynical person.

But you are right that Whitlock is a bumbling moron

Upon further review,  "measured" was a terrible word choice. I meant more that she's the other side of an absolute moron like Fuentes. I don't think her stances are measured or reasonable, I just had previously thought her delivery represented a more intelligent person than the rest of her ilk.  But you're right, she's lost the plot a bit there.

And I'm firmly of the belief that there are plenty of very intelligent grifters or lunatic fringe scumbags.  I don't have to think someone is a low intellect fool to recognize they are wrong, morally bankrupt, or dangerous...though many people seem to need to as a way to automatically invalidate something, which I think is silly or unnecessary. 

[MU82]

According to tonight's ION Network announcers, the previous all-time high attendance for an Atlanta WNBA game was about 11K. Tonight's attendance vs the Fever: 17,575.

[Jockey]

According to tonight's ION Network announcers, the previous all-time high attendance for an Atlanta WNBA game was about 11K. Tonight's attendance vs the Fever: 17,575.

Tiger-Esque

[StillAWarrior]

I really do hope that Clark and Reese end up on the same team at some point. That would be fun to watch.

[MU82]

I really do hope that Clark and Reese end up on the same team at some point. That would be fun to watch.

As one who loves a great rivalry, I hope the opposite!

[StillAWarrior]

As one who loves a great rivalry, I hope the opposite!

Absolutely. I'll enjoy the great rivalry for a good long time. But I think it would be very funny to see them have to come to grips with playing together.

[The Sultan]

They'll be playing together on Team USA for years to come.

[MU82]

Absolutely. I'll enjoy the great rivalry for a good long time. But I think it would be very funny to see them have to come to grips with playing together.

Understood. Kind of the way Jordan/Pippen had to come to grips with being Rodman's teammate. That worked out pretty well for all parties.

[StillAWarrior]

They'll be playing together on Team USA for years to come.

I'm sure you're right.

[JWags85]

Absolutely. I'll enjoy the great rivalry for a good long time. But I think it would be very funny to see them have to come to grips with playing together.

The most amusing thing about the Reese/Clark rivalry, to me, is the MASSIVE difference in the aesthetics of their games.  Rodman is a pretty good comp for Reese cause its really ugly basketball, but she's incredibly effective.  Her shockingly low FG% for a post player is because she literally just chucks the ball up at the rim half the time (which is really amusing in some of the slow-mo replays for And-1s and such).  Meanwhile Clark has the flashy Steph Curry logo 3s and whipped passes all over the floor that is much more reminiscent of the NBA.

Much has been made of the racial components and way the two handle" themselves, but I think there is a really real aspect of Clark (and others like Bueckers, JuJu at USC, even Mitchell on the Fever) playing the style of basketball casual fans are used to seeing in the NBA/MBB whereas Reese plays a style (under the rim, lots of close misses, not overly athletic) that invites the criticisms the WNBA has been fighting for years.  Its not Reese's fault, it just is what it is.

The Sky-Fever game was actually great for about 80% of it, but then the final 2 min was BRUTAL and everything haters embrace.  In a 1 possession game, about 8 missed shots under 2 feet (none were blocks), an airball 3, and a potential GW jumper from one of the league's young stars that bricked about 1 foot wide of the rim.  Does that happen in the NBA?  Of course.  But it still looks like freak athletes missing shots instead of more like some of the ugly games you'd see at a rec center.

[WhiteTrash]

The most amusing thing about the Reese/Clark rivalry, to me, is the MASSIVE difference in the aesthetics of their games.  Rodman is a pretty good comp for Reese cause its really ugly basketball, but she's incredibly effective.  Her shockingly low FG% for a post player is because she literally just chucks the ball up at the rim half the time (which is really amusing in some of the slow-mo replays for And-1s and such).  Meanwhile Clark has the flashy Steph Curry logo 3s and whipped passes all over the floor that is much more reminiscent of the NBA.

Much has been made of the racial components and way the two handle" themselves, but I think there is a really real aspect of Clark (and others like Bueckers, JuJu at USC, even Mitchell on the Fever) playing the style of basketball casual fans are used to seeing in the NBA/MBB whereas Reese plays a style (under the rim, lots of close misses, not overly athletic) that invites the criticisms the WNBA has been fighting for years.  Its not Reese's fault, it just is what it is.

The Sky-Fever game was actually great for about 80% of it, but then the final 2 min was BRUTAL and everything haters embrace.  In a 1 possession game, about 8 missed shots under 2 feet (none were blocks), an airball 3, and a potential GW jumper from one of the league's young stars that bricked about 1 foot wide of the rim.  Does that happen in the NBA?  Of course.  But it still looks like freak athletes missing shots instead of more like some of the ugly games you'd see at a rec center.

People who want to compare Clark with Pistol Pete, women's college basketball to men's and the NBA to the WNBA are doing the women a great disservice. They are two very different versions of the same sport, but the WNBA will never be the NBA and to sell the public on it being comparable are not helping the women.

Would you sell a Snoop Dogg concert to a fan of the Rolling Stones as being comparable music? Both are great (IMO), but different.

[MU82]

The Athletic reports that tonight's Aces at Sky game is sold out, and tickets are going for $100+ on the secondary market.

It's not only Caitlin Clark's games, though The Clark Effect is felt throughout the league.

[Jockey]

The Athletic reports that tonight's Aces at Sky game is sold out, and tickets are going for $100+ on the secondary market.

It's not only Caitlin Clark's games, though The Clark Effect is felt throughout the league.

I compared her to Tiger earlier in this thread as to her effect on the sport. But this may be more than that.

Tiger lifted a sport (and the purses) that was already popular to unforeseen heights. Caitlin is lifting a sport with very little following to a place it never could have even imagined.

[MU82]

I compared her to Tiger earlier in this thread as to her effect on the sport. But this may be more than that.

Tiger lifted a sport (and the purses) that was already popular to unforeseen heights. Caitlin is lifting a sport with very little following to a place it never could have even imagined.

Reasonable.

Just like Tiger, she eventually (and perhaps quite soon - a year or 2 max) will have to show she justifies this kind of talk.

If Tiger had flamed out like Spieth did, or if he turned out to be never more than, say, Notah Begay, the Tiger Effect would have died out.

Clark needs to live up to the hype.

[The Sultan]

Just think what she could accomplish if she wasn't being demonized by black lesbians.

[Jockey]

Just think what she could accomplish if she wasn't being demonized by black lesbians.

Ain't that part of the appeal? 

(For the roqqets of the world, it probably is.)