Left-handed sports columnist Mike Freeman appeared on the next page. USA Today Basketball star Caitlin Clark complained Monday that she was given a shoe contract after she ended her college basketball career and headed to the WNBA.
According to various reports, Clark is expected to earn his signature shoe contract. For example, CNN reported on Monday that Nike: preparation The Iowa women’s basketball star is being offered an eight-year shoe contract worth up to $28 million.
But to Freeman, this is an insult to black players.
in him Editor On Monday, Freeman went on the offensive, writing, “In a majority-Black league, there are currently no Black players wearing signature shoes.”
“If she does,” Freeman writes of Clark’s pending shoe deal, “there will be three WNBA players who Clark will wear signature shoes: Brianna Stewart, Elena Delle Don, and Sabrina Ionescu.” It’s just going to be people. You might notice a pattern there.”
What is that “pattern”? All of those players are white women.
Cameron Brink and Kaitlyn Clark pose for a photo during the 2024 WNBA Draft at the Brooklyn Academy of Music on April 15, 2024 in Brooklyn, New York. (Emily Johnson/NBAE via Getty Images)
Freeman acknowledged that from 1995 to 2011, every signature shoe released by the WNBA belonged to a Black woman. But there are currently three WNBA players with shoe contracts, making it four if Clark gets her contract. And all four are white women. Ah, the humanities.
Freeman went on to point out that the current lack of shoe contracts for Black players in the WNBA “illustrates how ignored Black women are in a league dominated by Black women.”
Naturally, Freeman didn’t address why it’s perfectly fine for “diversity, equity, and inclusion” that white women didn’t have shoe contracts during the WNBA’s existence.
In fact, Freeman argues, if you think these four white women got (or are about to get) shoe contracts because they’re stars of the league, “you’re an idiot.”
Columnists point to A’ja Wilson as a prime example of a star without a shoe contract. And Freeman claims that’s because she’s black.
A’ja Wilson #22 of the Las Vegas Aces takes on Jonquel Jones #35 of the New York Liberty in the fourth quarter of Game 4 of the 2023 WNBA Finals at Barclays Center in New York City on October 18, 2023. dribbling. (Sarah Steer/Getty Images)
Freeman tries to backtrack, saying that Clark deserves success, but says, “Wilson deserves more, and has done so for some time. At the end of the day, she’s the best overall player in the world.”
Freeman shouts that it’s all because of racism.
“A lot of this problem is due to the WNBA’s lack of respect for Black women. Lack of respect for Black Americans as a whole is nothing new to the marketing world. This is old hat. It’s about changing its ugliness. “Not,” he insisted.
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Facebook: facebook.com/Warner.Todd.Hustonor truth social @WarnerToddHuston
