Writer New York Magazine He has praised the physical and verbal abuse he has inflicted on WNBA star Kaitlyn Clark, arguing that the daily attacks are a “good thing” for both Clark and the league.
Columnist Will Leach published a 1,500-word op-ed on Tuesday arguing for more attacks from the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) on the Iowa native, Clark, with a headline declaring, “Kaitlyn Clark is getting downtrodden in the WNBA. Good thing.”
(L-R) Caitlin Clark #22 of the Indiana Fever and Kayla Thornton #5 of the New York Liberty battle for control of the ball during the first half at Barclays Center on June 2, 2024 in New York City. (Luke Hales/Getty Images)
Leach bounces between two camps: those who hate Clark and rejoice in seeing her punched, spat on and universally insulted — what he calls the “purists” — and those who are relatively new, or at least recently excited, about the WNBA because Clark plays — what he calls the “casuals.”
He spends half his op-ed defending the “purists” who get worked up over Clark’s mistreatment because they insist that Clark should have been taught, and that anyone who complains about the way she’s been treated is a competitive wimp, and dismisses the “regular people,” saying that he’s happy they’re new fans but that they’re latecomers and should just sit back and accept that many players and sportswriters dislike Clark.
Oddly enough, he wastes no time trying to explain. why “Purists” and his fellow sports nerds hate Clark, completely ignore the fact that Clark is white and heterosexual as if it’s irrelevant, and never even try to explain why Clark is the target of such massive physical and verbal abuse.
So why doesn’t the abuse matter? As for Leach, it doesn’t matter because Clark hasn’t said anything publicly. “It’s also a reminder that Clark is often left out of these conversations,” he exclaimed.
The player herself, unlike her advocates, hasn’t complained about all the attention she’s receiving or how difficult the transition to the WNBA has been for her and her team. She’s focused on the one thing she can control: how she’s going to improve as she transitions to a new league. After all, great players tune out the noise and work to be great.
But here’s the thing: Clarke is in a no-win situation at this level. Her haters — Jemele Hill, Chennedy Carter, Angel Reese, and, apparently, Leach herself — attack her, taunt her, tell her she’s weak, dismiss her extraordinary abilities as merely the result of “privilege,” and say she deserves to be mistreated. But when she speaks out against all of this and complains about how she’s been treated, those same haters go even further. More abusive And in addition to the current abuse, she will also be called a “whiner,” a “complainer,” and a “child,” and we all know this is true.
Indiana Fever’s Caitlin Clark, wearing number 22, dribbles the ball during the second half of a game against the New York Liberty at Barclays Center on June 2, 2024 in New York City. (Luke Hales/Getty Images)
Clarke has no choice but to grin, bear it and keep playing to prove his critics wrong with his excellence.
But Leach justifies the attacks. Because Clarke is “expected to be a generational talent,” he says, it’s completely acceptable and expected for her haters and rivals to apply the “slam her” policy to her. In fact, Leach argues that hitting her for rebounds is a great thing: “Pushing Clarke is a way of showing respect for her game.”
His stance on this might be something like, “Mr. Lincoln, don’t worry about the bullet hole in your head. Mr. Booth was just showing his respect for your game.”
But that’s not all. Leach concludes the article by saying: you If you are one of those people who believes fair play and sportsmanship are desirable in sport, he seems to think it’s a sign of weakness and that supporting Caitlin Clark makes you the real bad guy.
“Ultimately, acting as if this treatment of Clark was born out of mere jealousy or personal resentment is a way of indicting yourself. It shows that you view the WNBA as a vehicle to convey Kaitlyn Clark rather than a real basketball league,” Leach scolded his readers, adding that if you want to ease Clark’s burden, you’re not a real fan.
“The quality of play in the WNBA has been great for years, and it’s gotten even better with the addition of Clark (and Reese and the other high draft picks). But if you want to see Clark score with ease like she did at Iowa, then you’re not a real WNBA fan,” he added disapprovingly.
“And if you think Clarke deserves special treatment, it shows a lack of respect for not only the league but Clarke herself. She’s great because she’s a fierce, relentless competitor. At the end of the day, that’s the only way to get great,” he ranted.
He concludes by saying that taking the physical abuse is a good thing because “ultimately, it will improve both her and the league.”
But the reality is, no one wants Clarke to be “treated specially.” Not being punched, thrown to the floor, called a “bitch,” or told she’s “privileged” just for breathing is not “special treatment.” Being allowed to do her best without physical violence is not just a sign of respect for her abilities, but of common human decency.
Sadly, to people like Jemele Hill and Will Leach, Caitlin Clark, who is white and heterosexual, deserves to be “slammed” simply for existing. Anyone who disagrees should just stay quiet. Their opinions shouldn’t matter because they’re not “real” basketball fans. And that’s it, really.
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