A host of The view has claimed where Indiana Fever basketball player Caitlin Clark gets her popularity.
On Wednesday, May 22, the hosts discussed a recent article written by the Los Angeles Times in which former ESPN host Jemele Hill told the outlet that Clark’s race and sexuality played a role in why she is a popular player.
“We’d all be very naive if we didn’t say that race and her sexuality played a role in her popularity,” says the contributing writer of The Atlantic Ocean the outlet told us. “While so many people are happy with Caitlin’s success – including the players; this has had such a huge impact on the game – there’s some part of it that’s a bit problematic because of what it says about the value and marketability of the players already there.
Sunny Hostin reflected on being a basketball fan for as long as she could remember and appreciating the increase in attention and viewership Clark generated through her record-breaking games, but she agreed with Hill’s assessment that her race and sexuality were a played a role. be part of her success.
“I think there is such a thing as a decent privilege. There is such a thing as white privilege,” she told her fellow hosts. “There is such a thing as great privilege, and we have to recognize that, and so some of it is about race, because when you think about the Brittney Grinners of the world, why did she have to go play in Russia? Because they (the WNBA) didn’t want to pay her.”
“Now Caitlin Clark is starting to put this money, this sponsorship, we hope, into the league and other players will benefit from it. But I do think she’s more relatable to people because she’s white, because she’s attractive, and unfortunately there’s still a stigma attached to the LGBTQ+ community.”
Hostin then listed statistics showing that 70 percent of the WNBA was black and a third of them identify as part of the LGBTQ+ community. “I think people have a problem with lesbians playing basketball. Who cares? They are great athletes,” she said on the show.
Fellow host Alyssa Farah Griffin explained her reasoning for why she likes Clark as someone who wasn’t “into sports” beforehand. She started watching women’s basketball because everyone around her was talking about Clark and she quickly found her “so fun to watch,” regardless of her skin color.
Host Whoopi Goldberg also joined the conversation, saying that both she and Hostin have been trying to talk more about the WNBA and bring more recognition to women’s basketball for years.
“These women are often equal, if not better, sometimes, than the people you’re looking at,” Goldberg said of the players.
Clark first became popular during her senior year as a basketball player for the University of Iowa. During her final college basketball season, Clark received multiple awards for her skills on the court, including Women’s Basketball Superstar and National Player of the Year, making her one of the most successful players in the NCAA.
In addition to being the NCAA’s all-time leading scorer, Clark was also the first D1 player to “record more than 3,700 points, more than 1,000 assists and more than 850 rebounds in a career.” When the Hawkeyes won the 2023 Gulf Coast Showcase last November, Clark was named Tournament MVP.
She went on to become the number one draft pick in the WNBA and was selected by the Indiana Fever.
The independent has contacted a Clark representative for comment.
