Bob Costas feels it’s all very hypocritical after hearing the outrage over the brutal foul suffered by Caitlin Clark last Saturday.
The internet was abuzz over the weekend after Chicago Sky’s Chennedy Carter surprised Kaitlyn Clark with a surprise attack.
Look how fired up Angel Reese is on the bench after that vile attack by Caitlin Clark 😭 pic.twitter.com/GyeG1Q6OhZ
— Emo Jimmy (@WheelerJaylen) June 1, 2024
But in an interview with CNN on Monday, Costas noted that the incident did not spark the same kind of outrage as when Connecticut Sun player Alyssa Thomas launched a clothesline attack on Angel Reese earlier in the season.
“The reason this case isn’t talked about as much isn’t just because Caitlin Clark is more well-known than Alyssa Thomas,” Costas says, “it’s because it’s a black-on-black case. There’s no dynamic that people can comment on, but sometimes they exaggerate and make the whole thing into a story.”
Alyssa Thomas was ejected for a hard foul on Angel Reese. pic.twitter.com/CxJNDkfePd
— Sports Center (@SportsCenter) May 26, 2024
Costas’ point isn’t entirely wrong. Not everyone covered the Angel Reese case. We did. But it didn’t get the attention that the Clark Carter case did. Race was clearly a factor, so it would be foolish to ignore it from the entire discussion.
However, the fact that Angel Reese receives similar treatment to Clark (though less frequently) proves that much of the motivation for Clark and Reese’s treatment is driven as much, if not more, by jealousy rather than racial anxiety.
For more than two decades the WNBA has been in obscurity, with no single player who captured widespread public attention, but now a bona fide star in Caitlin Clark and a lesser star in Angel Reese are suddenly turning heads at TVs and sticking their cheeks in the stands, and some NBA veterans aren’t happy about it.
Money also plays a big part in why some people are jealous. Clark and Rees have taken advantage of sponsorship opportunities that no other athlete in the sport has had access to.
Race will always be an issue, but that’s only part of what’s happening to Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese.
