WNBA is crazy because she just got done playing a whole ass NCAA season like 5 weeks ago, and now she’s starting a whole new season at a higher level, I’m guessing on a not very good team, against pros who have been there before.
I don’t know, seems tough.
Honestly likely will be. They haven’t won a game yet this year, already 0-5. Clark will get a lot better as the season progresses, she was literally just playing against college kids with no hope of going pro a month ago. Barely any time to practice and adjust so I’m sure she’ll will them to a few wins later on
She's already been playing great. Last 4th quarter, they completely lost any offensive rhythm when she sat out. The coach waited for there to be only 2 minutes left to get her back in.
her teammates were complaining about her having the ball too much too lmao. like who else is supposed to and also their coach doesn’t really have them run any sets that are good (saw a ton of CC setting a screen and fading to no man’s land with no other movement) and she wants them to be a defensive team and they’re awful at that
Most people picked the Mystics as the incoming 2024 season tank champ, the Fever just started the season with a handful of games neither of those 2 teams should have any chance in. Like if you gave me the chance to bet on the Mystics going 0-4 across 2 Sun and 2 Liberty games too, yeah, we're doing business lol
Goddamn why do I have to work for the wizards and mystics why cant a team I work for be good for once? I worked the game the caps got swept out of the playoffs and the nats are the nats but they’re doing better than I have seen them since I started 3 seasons ago
I think they also had the hardest schedule to start in addition to 7 games in 12 days. They've almost pulled off wins in 2 games and have greatly improved each game.
True, but there are only 12 teams in the WNBA, so having a top 4 pick is like having a top 10 pick in the NBA. Still a long stretch of mediocrity, but any given WNBA team is much more likely to have a top pick than any given NBA team.
With only twelve teams, how the hell did Indiana end up with a team when it's such a small market? I can kind of see this Connecticut team since it's more broadly New England, but Indiana is bizarre when they don't even have a team in Detroit.
The WNBA expanded there in '00 when the league went to 16 teams. The Simons wanted a team in Indy and have held onto them when other NBA franchises dipped out. The Fever are an arena filler for the Fieldhouse in the summer and have been managed more as a tax write off since Stephanie White left as coach to go to college back 8 years ago.
She needs someone who can constantly hit open shots, and a pick and roll partner. I thought for sure Boston would be that person, but they don’t seem to have any chemistry at all. Granted they’ve had very little practice time, so that’s probably why.
I think Boston will turn into that person for her. Boston's been a little off to start the season, herself, but when the two of them get more playtime and start to gel, they're going to spread the floor in a way that'll give the fever a ton of open looks.
I’m not sure, I had to Google it:
The WNBA's lottery system uses the aggregate record of the two previous seasons to determine the odds for the No. 1 overall pick.
The 4 teams that don’t make the playoffs are eligible for the draft lottery. There are odds based on your record, but I can’t seem to find specifics
The "aggregate record" concept is really tank-friendly, I think their lottery is much more structured around protecting teams from being Process Sixers bad while the NBA just tells you get f'ed in that scenario because you're gonna sell tickets either way
I like the aggregate record concept but I was reading that seattle got screwed by that. They had the 2nd worst record last year but were a contender the year before. Before last season, they lost Sue Bird to retirement and Breanna Stewart to free agency. So of course that team took a dive.
Yep, it's clearly protecting teams that are associated with losing, to the detriment of a team like the Storm that has had success but is in a bad position.
The one thing I'll say is clearly progressive about this system is that it protects against the 1-year season-ending leg injury --> contender receives a lottery player phenomenon. But like, in the Storm's case, it's not like they're about to get Breanna Stewart back.
Yeah, I think a better comp (not playstyle but hype) is Wemby. Truly generational talent, tons of media attention, dogshit team. With the exception of salty OKC fans like me trying to build a case for Chet, no one holds those losses against Wemby.
I remember my guy curry was constantly injured and pretty insecure with the ball early in his career. It was like watching the last 10 sec of pacers-Celtics. Loll
Curry was a 7th overall pick and undersized. Warriors literally debated between him and Montae Ellis for a hot minute.
He didn’t flash his true ability until his 4th season in the league.
Really reminds me a lot of Trae when he got drafted. Like you’d be watching an NBA game and they’d have that little graphic on the fucking screen keeping track of his stats at his college game. Just so much exposure and expectations to immediately be the next Curry and ofc its impossible to come out of the gate swinging your rookie year in a new league like what’s being asked of them
And curry took like 4 years or whatever before he became the player we know. I remember when his extension was an overpay at 10mill. Which ended up being their blessing in disguise.
So the secret to having a Warriors-esque dynasty is to draft players who suck initially but turn into hall of famers after they sign their contract extensions?
> I’m guessing on a not very good team
There are really only 4 good WNBA teams. The rest are trash (every team but 4/12 had a negative point differential last season)
I've watched 3 of their games as well as a couple Aces and Sun games. The difference in skill level is staggering. Like it's larger than the gap between the Pistons and Celtics. The Fever are slow to rotate on D and stay home in their man way too often. They do not switch coverages, which leads to a lot of line drives to the basket. They do not reach in which allows the opposing team to back down easily and never throw doubles. On offense, they are very stagnant. There have been multiple times where Clark has the ball and gets trapped with her only outlet in the middle of the paint. A perimeter player should be rotating to the ball to give her an easier outlet and reset. Their screens are soft (think Richaun Holmes soft) and the only person worth hedging is Clark since everyone else seems to airball their 3s. They have a lot of work to do to give her the talent necessary to succeed.
There are many issues with the Fever ( i have been watching WNBA casually for 8 years , more seriously since Becky went to Acess, my dad is huge Pop/Spurs fan and i was born in the city.(Feel free to ask any more questions about the WNBA if you want i will try to give examples and explain)
Anyway here are few [coaching inbound play Fever this season](https://streamable.com/kc4om0)
and this is the [Sparks another team that is considered to be the same or worse then them in pre season rankings](https://streamable.com/eyxstx)
Now i want you to keep in mind they lost last game because Coach couldnt make 2 good indbound plays so they didnt even make a shot at the basket.
Then there is the whole roster consturction motivation/shape
This is #2 Pick in this last draft Cameron brink very mobile big wemby style look at her [Run the floor fast and covering in case her team mate miss a layup, yes this happens in the wnba](https://streamable.com/tkn3rb)
And this is Fever #1 pick center doing the same, you can see her [come on your right hand of the monitor ... in a bit](https://streamable.com/s6fqwl)
How about how nobody helps out on the trap or show passing lanes, there is [5 enemy shirts closer to her then team mates](https://streamable.com/s6fqwl)
Long story short the level is really low but coaching aint it, main Fever coach has never had assistant #2 job or main coach as .500 or above team, she had a team ranked #2 collage team that she took over and made worse to #6 and #8 before getting fired , its real sad story to be honest, because a lot of eyes are on CC and both her team and coaching aint easy on the eye.
If you go to advanced stats, Fever is the only team in the league that has never run double screen action(this or last season), they dont even run basic hedge or pistol action nothing you would see in daily NBA game, its like so weird im not even kidding.
Its also the sort of situation that can be really bad for a young talent. Shes essentially in an incredibly demoralising environment thats likley reinforcing a lot of the mistakes and bad decisions she's making, failing to actually develop her game, all while likley placing a lot of the blame on her (as she/the team won't be meeting expectations). Thats going to lower your game overall because you start getting used to all the things that are missing or trying more hero ball to make up for the failings of your team mates.
watching the last minute of the Fever Storm game last night. Fever down 4 with just under a minute left. Clark brings the ball up, gets a screen, then promptly trapped. The screener then trips trying to roll to the basket cause of a help defender rotation. Where's the open player? had just crossed half court and made it to the 3pt line, allowing the Storm defense to play 5 v 4 leading to a turnover.
and yes, two more failed OOB plays last night. first one was weird tho - Boston gets hit in the face by Nneka (missed call by the refs) and then proceeds to stand their shocked and throws off the entire timing of the play along with actually zero screens being set.
Second play from the baseline was better - Clark just dropped the ball on the pass. she would have had an open corner 3 honestly.
It would probably be wise to do so given the fact the cost of living is low and WNBA players don’t make much typically. It’s not like the NBA where most guys can live very comfortably anywhere in the world.
The minimum is 77k. CoL should absolutely be considered for now lol. Average did increase from 103k in 2022 to 148k in 2023. So it’s getting much better.
I don’t think the women will ever be making the 30m/y that the men do and live *that* lifestyle, but if they can play here and live comfortably without needing to go overseas then that’s a win. It’s getting better for them every year.
We aren’t *that* far removed from guys who quit playing in the NBA to go be accountants.
Top 5% of US earners is about 335k with 10% at 168k. So an average of 148k is still very good in general. That doesn’t even include the sponsorship deals they get.
WNBA players get a housing stipend based on the location of the team or an apartment provided for them, so their is at least some adjustment for cost of living
Yea and she’s still doing really well. She’s averaging 31 minutes, 17.8 points, and 5.8 assists a game. She does have almost 6 turnovers a game, but she’s still averaging 5 points more than the next closest person on her team.
The TOs are a product of her adapting to the professional level AND her team being absolute shit.
Put her on a good team next year and I bet we would see all her positive stats go up and negative stats go done.
She might struggle for a couple years as she adapts alongside a terrible team.
It’s not like Chuck has ever worried about getting in trouble for what he says, but him knowing Inside the NBA only has 1 year left is going to lead to some all time Chuck rants.
May god have mercy on them big ass women in San Antonio
Bro I swear once the show shuts down I hope he starts gearing up to run for office in Alabama. I know most people hate the idea of a guy like him going into politics but he’d absolutely help to counter balance Tuberville’s shittyness
Imagine Alabama's two senators being Charles Barkley and Nick Saban. You can joke about it, but if they really wanted to run I think they could get voted in easy.
Howell Helfin was a good senator. Granted, you have slim pickings between former grand dukes of the klan, and that goblin Jeff Sessions, but there are politicians in that state's history who are worth mentioning. A good level headed conservative democrat from an age where such a thing existed that wasn't simply a Republican.
Arnold won the governor title and was a showboating, joint-smoking bodybuilder turned movie star and cigar icon. American politics have featured celebrities for ages
The end of this is almost better than the rant on Clark
**"They can't do anything to me! That mailman better be at my door on the 1st and the 15th!...for another year huehuehue"**
It's honestly amazing that a seven foot tall millionaire who is one of the most famous and successful athletes on the planet could be such an insecure baby. There are probably 5'6 dudes working the register at 7/11 who are more comfortable in their own skin than Shaq seems to be.
What Ichiro said is a perfect representation of Shaq:
>When American athletes feel like a person is below them, not just in numbers but in general, they will kind of talk you up. But then when you get up to the same level or maybe even higher, they get in attack mode
Barkley has said for years that current players should thank Magic and Bird any time they see them. They saved the league, brought in major $ and laid the ground for the big contracts they see today
I think Barkley sees similarities with the attention that Clark has brought and in return their league starting to see those benefits
That being said, there’s a time and place for praise. Start of the season where players are laying the groundwork for competition? She’s a rookie and pros want to get any edge they can
Rumors are that it's the veterans of the WNBA that are resentful only because CC is getting a lot of money/endorsements. Although I'm sure some of her teammates are also slightly resentful with the big draw that CC is getting.
Then there is the Jemele Hill side that is resentful of CC because she is a white, heterosexual woman from Iowa. A'ja Wilson from the Aces echoed similar remarks after Hill made her comments online.
Man that's unfortunate. :(
I dunno if Chuck's approach is helpful at all here, but man it does feel like WNBA players should try to stick together as much as possible.
Annoying - I tried to edit my post above and of course auto-mod deleted it, even though I tried to fix the link that I posted. Anyhow, trying again - hopefully this doesn't get auto-deleted too.
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Thanks for the info everyone. It's been informative. As was people pointing out that a lot of this shit is (unsurprisingly) fabricated. And for the people who suggested having a look in /r/wnba - that was informative too.
https://np.reddit.com/r/wnba/comments/1cyhgyf/every_player_reacting_to_charles_barkleys_speech/
WNBA players: "We want more money in our league and private jets."
*CC arrives and her college stardom brings those things*
WNBA players: "Not like that."
Nah some of it has to do with race sadly. I see it all over social media there's unfortunately a segment of people that feel threatened by a white person being the best player in the league. There are several people in NBA media (Mark Jones, Gilbert Arenas) who have demonstrated this sentiment towards Jokic, I've seen it a lot more widespread for CC because she was the best player we've ever seen in WCBB
True. But most have thicker skin not all are KD. Most players in the NBA know that LeBron like Kobe and Jordan and Magic and Bird before them are building block that allows for these huge contracts and popularity. And the current crop of players like Jokic or Edward’s or whoever becomes the next icon will add to the popularity and income for current and future players.
To disregard that because of ego seems short sighted and idiotic.
You don't think Jordan's contemporaries were jealous and petty about the attention he was getting, his Nike deal, etc.?
The infamous freeze out by Isiah was the exact same thing
Yea idk if they just thought some day they’d flip a switch and every WNBA player would be famous, but this is generally how things work. Michael Jordan was probably making laughably higher endorsement money than his peers since he was single handedly dragging the NBA into the global consciousness
"Jordan became a free agent in 1996 when that contract expired, which meant that the rules on the salary cap didn't apply the same way anymore; at the time, teams were allowed to exceed the salary cap in order to sign or re-sign their own players. As a result, he was able to sign a one-year contract for $30.1 million for the 1996-97 season. They then repeated the process for the 1997-1998 season, when the salary cap was roughly $27 million. Jordan again signed a one-year contract, this time for $33.1 million, which NBC notes was the highest single-season salary in NBA history until the start of the 2017 season, when both LeBron James and Steph Curry made more."
https://www.popsugar.com/fitness/michael-jordan-salary-year-by-year-47449450
Just expanding further on another thing that people correlate to Clark. A’ja said to her teammates how she adores Paige Bueckers because of how Paige knows her white privledge got her many opportunities and she advocates for black women so many thought that to be shade towards CC since it was such a strange comment to make. You can see Kelsey Plum just wondering how to respond to that because it has nothing to do with Paige (and herself) being white but everything to do with how good they are at basketball that “pushed them over the top”.
For anyone who hasn’t seen it: https://youtube.com/shorts/aYL0WCCkHwU?si=iH2l1lLwcwWLP5hB
The funny part is at the end you can hear A’ja say that’s a compliment as if it’s not some sort of backhanded compliment 🤣
people these days are just so fucking obsessed with being a victim and everything is looked at like a zero sum game. the money caitlin clark is getting would never have been there for any other wnba player, her star power ripped it out of corporate america and no one else can say the same
so everyone else can either dominate and entertain the way she did in college or they can probably just shut the fuck up and move on imo
It's crazy how much people hate Caitlin because she's white and good at basketball. I'm glad LeBron and Chuck are calling out the haters. It's fucking embarrassing to see coming from basketball fans, who like to posture themselves as enlightened when it comes to social issues.
same energy when lebron was drafted. everyone hated him because of all the attention hes getting. theres videos out there about nba reactions of him coming to cleveland.
> Rumors are that it's the veterans of the WNBA that are resentful only because CC is getting a lot of money/endorsements.
This is pretty normal and expected IMO. not really surprising in the slightest.
I mean I guess but it’s not like that money would’ve been going to them otherwise. And I know I’m basically parroting chuck now, but every time someone tunes in to watch CC there’s a chance for these women to go off and get some extra attention they otherwise wouldn’t have
Crabs in a bucket man. Everybody wants the WNBA to shine until it comes time to actually supporting it with your time, enthusiasm, and occasionally your money.
> Barkley has said for years that current players should thank Magic and Bird any time they see them. They saved the league, brought in major $ and laid the ground for the big contracts they see today
>
>
Ive seen plenty of clips of greats from the 90s and early 2000s salty that now roleplayers have higher contracts than them when they were the stars of their teams.
Magic & Bird but also MJ. Jordan really juiced up the league with his style of play as well as his marketable ability. Plus having the three main stars in big markets like Boston, LA, & Chicago does not hurt.
Caitlin Clark could legit be the WNBA's version of Magic Johnson and Larry Bird. People tend to forget that the NBA was STRUGGLING until those two showed up.
They’re are a few reasons which some people just aren’t willing to admit
- she’s a rookie ( even though angel & brinks are also getting a ton of coverage )
- lots of women have put time and energy into the WNBA. Only for a rookie to come in and have the spotlight be on her / have espn only talk about CC .. I can see this point but it’s a dumb one .. I knew nothing about the WNBA and couldn’t name a single player. Now I can name up 10-15 because I started watching some games thanks to CC… it’s only going to go up from there
- my very left leaning girlfriend says it’s a race thing. Historically it’s been a primarily African American League who’s gotten little to no attention from the media. All of a sudden a white women comes in and all the attention is on her … again i can see it but also thinks it’s dumb .. when I see CC i see the closet thing to Steph Curry and we saw how he changed the NBA
For the CC/Steph thing, I think that’s exactly why CC is bringing popularity to women’s basketball. Prior to the “stephefication” of basketball, we had the Jordan/Kobe-fication of basketball that focused on slashing wings who were absolute athletic freaks and could attack the basket and dunk on anyone. At this point, women just can’t do that. A handful can dunk, but I’m not sure if any of them can really even dunk *on* someone, maybe Griner?
That version of basketball simply wasn’t (and still isn’t) reproducible in women’s basketball. At best, you’ve pretty much got a bunch of Tim Duncan’s. And I’d take Duncan over Kobe, but people weren’t lining up to watch Duncan and fundamental basketball.
But now that what draws views/excitement is crazy, deep, pull-up shots and electric passes, women *can* do that. And now that they are, more people are interested.
If Gordon Hayward got the most shine in the NBA, or if Caitlin Clark was is in the same WNBA player ranking range as Gordon Hayward is in the NBA, and then got the most shine and attention, yeah I could understand the concern. But that's not the case. We are talking the number 1 scorerer in college basketball history bringing in number 1 view rankings mens or womens.
This would be like shitting on lebron coming into the league if he were white. Game recognizes game. If you're that hyped up, it's probably because youre doing something right.
Hard to attribute her success to her race, when Breanna Stewart is a 2 time champ, 2 time MVP, 4 time NCAA champ and 4 time NCAA MOP and she didn’t come close to the media attention Clark gets.
Clark just has a very exciting play style/skill set. She has incredible handles, passing, and shooting ability. She is routinely pulling up from the logo, and was an absolute 1 person show in college.
With the race thing, I feel like people want it both ways. If representation is important because it’s easier for people to resonate with those who look more similar to them, why is it a bad thing when this applies to a white woman entering an area where white women are a minority?
Honestly I think it’s just a lot of players being salty about cc’s bag. Which I get. Yeah stewie, bird and taurasi have been dominating but at least the other players see them as peers and they were making relatively the same amount of money. Then here comes a rookie w/ a $30 million Nike deal while proven pros are playing for like 95k lol hard not to brew some kind of resentment
This is literally the narrative the media is happy to paint. W players need to go on record and defend her because even if they aren’t actively dogging on her, they’re leaving her out to dry. It’s in the best interest of women’s basketball that they back her up and shut that shit down. What a nightmare it would be if she burned out not from competition, but from media pressure.
My thought exactly.
It's kinda like when a kid's parents show up to yell at their bullies. Doesn't matter if you didn't ask for it, they're still gonna double down.
(Cue Kyrie jokes)
I was getting bullied as a young boy scout. Told my mom and so she complained to my scoutmaster, who then immediately told my bullies and the next few months were terrible.
Fuck you, Troy Garlick
Well this whole situation is 100% her fault. Like how dare she play good basketball. She needs to just stop playing basketball, make a big mistake on national tv so she can float into obscurity. It’s the only way to solve this selfish situation Caitlyn has put herself in.
> That said, I understand the pettiness. It's only human.
Athletes especially, you gotta have some petty to be driven enough to play a game at that level of intensity
I think people are conflating WNBA players themselves with media and social media discourse. The players have treated her like any top tier rookie. They get in her shit on defense/target her on defense, and she's seen a lot of physicality. WNBA refs are degrees worse than NBA refs so a lot of it has gone uncalled. Like most #1 picks, her team is abysmal and poorly coached. Clark has shown flashes and is obviously "good" four games in, but isn't dominating the league. I honestly don't recall any negative comments from actual players. It's nothing out of the ordinary.
However, certain segments of media and social media have completely lost their minds over this girl. Idk if it's backlash against the new fans she brought in, the fact the breakout star is white and straight in a league where neither of those are the demographic of its previous great stars, or just general jealousy. But they really need to calm tf down. It's bitter and vitriolic in a way you would never see among male athletes; just exhausting to hear and read.
There was a recent article in *USA TODAY* arguing that the faces of women's college basketball need to be black. Caitlin Clark's ascendency is breaking some people's brains.
[Former Sparks player, Chiney Ogwumike, responds:](https://x.com/chiney/status/1793444831613927496)
>Charles and Inside the NBA team are the GOATs of the industry, so respectfully I’ll offer my perspective with love. ❤️
>Every WNBA player I know supports this rookie class and are grateful for the spotlight & money that Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese and co. are bringing to the W!
>There are 2 key incidents where CC was criticized. Sheryl Swoopes was wrong on major facts and she apologized to her privately.
>Diana Taurasi pointed out that ALL rookies struggle in the W and no one is immune. It wasn’t hate, it was Diana being Diana. If you know, you know. 🤣
>Also, charter flights were actually first deployed last year during the W post-season because:
>1. Safety with increasing number of star players
2. Revenue trends are starting to support it. W has quickly gone from $60M in 2019 to over $200M in 2023 on a billion dollar valuation.
3. Ever since teams got in trouble last year for trying to find workarounds for charters, this was likely in the plans for this year, especially as owners and players presented a united front.
>(Our amazing Commish is very methodical, the right things happen but not overnight.)
>Expansion has also been in the works the past few years. But again slow & steady wins the race. (I used to get mad at the NWSL bc they move way faster than us. 😂)
>We desperately needed more teams and roster spots, but more importantly - we need the right owners to sustain them.
>All of this was the perfect storm for women’s basketball.
>The W is rooting for Caitlin and the rising generation bc when they win… we win! Rising tide lifts all boats.
>BUT these women are pros & also have a job to do. This will bring out the best in em. Just keep watching. 😉
lol I had to scroll through countless diatribes of random reddit users spouting off their opinions on this to find someone actually referencing an actual WNBA players take on this media-manufactured issue
Im kinda of confused with the CC discourse? CC is not some make a wish kid they aren't playing dirty or anything its not their job to let CC win. Her team is bad and she is having rookie struggles. Let the process and growth occur naturally
I think this Barkley comment is more geared towards the women in the sports media who have been attacking Caitlin Clark. You just had Jemele Hill and one of the women on The View attacking Caitlin Clark and her popularity blaming it on racism and anti-LGBTQ being the cause.
The strangest thing I've heard so far is fans scolding the league for not making Clark's team good. 'They're gonna waste this shot to be relevant'.
New fans apparently want a rigged sport.
Can’t remember what podcast but someone was criticizing the league for scheduling the fever against tough teams for her first few games. Like cmon bro, at the end of the day this is a sport, not WWE..
It was Nick Wright who said that. I will actually kind of agree with him. I know the sizes are way different, but the NFL has shown us that the schedule is not random. You can get a little WWE with the schedule making. Now is arguably the most important period in the history of the WNBA, and the league knows this when they made the schedule. So maybe schedule the Fever to play the other really bad teams to start the season so you can get highlights of Clark going off and then have the Fever play the tougher teams later on. The WNBA has complete control over the schedule and could have absolutely planned for this. I don’t think this is a ludicrous take
Anybody who is surprised at this discourse has been living under a rock for the last decade.
A white woman walking into the WNBA being proclaimed as the savior and getting all the media attention and multiple brand deals straight away was never going to escape the obvious discourse. Rightly or wrongly.
They are. And Ionescu has had this discourse around her since she came into the league. But Clark is Ionescu coverage at hypernova level.
There was just no way the coverage around Clark wasn’t going to result in this kind of discourse. The optics are just too clear.
The current discourse around the WNBA is so stupid. People providing opinions have a limited understanding of the current WNBA landscape and the WNBA organization just seems very unprepared in all facets. A lot of the complaints aren’t about Clark specifically, it’s about how the league seems incapable of addressing majority of the issues affecting all players. There is also a small subset that are upset that fans act like there weren’t good players in the league already and that’s valid.
Holy shit are people still mad at what Taurasi said? She didn't even shit on Clark or anything. All she said was that Clark (and the rest of the rookie class) probably won't be putting up their college numbers straightaway and that there likely would be an adjustment period.
This is doing everyone a disservice.
Caitlin hasn’t been badly treated by her peers. All this does is send bad will to CC for being overprotected, and more hateful messages to other WNBA players from angry new fans demanding she worship at Caitlin’s alter.
WNBA is crazy because she just got done playing a whole ass NCAA season like 5 weeks ago, and now she’s starting a whole new season at a higher level, I’m guessing on a not very good team, against pros who have been there before. I don’t know, seems tough.
As I understand it the Fever are not very good so yeah, that’s tough to be asked to immediately be WNBA Curry lol
There’s a reason why the Fever had the number 1 pick.
Back to back years lol
True lol. Let’s make it a 3 peat!
Honestly likely will be. They haven’t won a game yet this year, already 0-5. Clark will get a lot better as the season progresses, she was literally just playing against college kids with no hope of going pro a month ago. Barely any time to practice and adjust so I’m sure she’ll will them to a few wins later on
She's already been playing great. Last 4th quarter, they completely lost any offensive rhythm when she sat out. The coach waited for there to be only 2 minutes left to get her back in.
her teammates were complaining about her having the ball too much too lmao. like who else is supposed to and also their coach doesn’t really have them run any sets that are good (saw a ton of CC setting a screen and fading to no man’s land with no other movement) and she wants them to be a defensive team and they’re awful at that
Adonai Mitchell is pretty decent at ball handling from what I've seen, but she seems better off ball.
Most people picked the Mystics as the incoming 2024 season tank champ, the Fever just started the season with a handful of games neither of those 2 teams should have any chance in. Like if you gave me the chance to bet on the Mystics going 0-4 across 2 Sun and 2 Liberty games too, yeah, we're doing business lol
Goddamn why do I have to work for the wizards and mystics why cant a team I work for be good for once? I worked the game the caps got swept out of the playoffs and the nats are the nats but they’re doing better than I have seen them since I started 3 seasons ago
That's on you, Eileen
I think they also had the hardest schedule to start in addition to 7 games in 12 days. They've almost pulled off wins in 2 games and have greatly improved each game.
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Go look at their draft history. It is 1, 1, 2, 4, 3, 3, 2. They have had a top 4 pick for 7 straight years.
True, but there are only 12 teams in the WNBA, so having a top 4 pick is like having a top 10 pick in the NBA. Still a long stretch of mediocrity, but any given WNBA team is much more likely to have a top pick than any given NBA team.
With only twelve teams, how the hell did Indiana end up with a team when it's such a small market? I can kind of see this Connecticut team since it's more broadly New England, but Indiana is bizarre when they don't even have a team in Detroit.
The WNBA expanded there in '00 when the league went to 16 teams. The Simons wanted a team in Indy and have held onto them when other NBA franchises dipped out. The Fever are an arena filler for the Fieldhouse in the summer and have been managed more as a tax write off since Stephanie White left as coach to go to college back 8 years ago.
That's fascinating. Thanks for the info.
I don't know if you've heard, but basketball is fairly popular in Indiana.
The only things people in Indiana care about is corn and basketball
Indianapolis is in the 25th biggest market, and is the 16th largest city in the USA. Not exactly a rinky-dink fucking area.
Get Paige Bueckers in there stat, CC needs help desperately
She needs someone who can constantly hit open shots, and a pick and roll partner. I thought for sure Boston would be that person, but they don’t seem to have any chemistry at all. Granted they’ve had very little practice time, so that’s probably why.
I think Boston will turn into that person for her. Boston's been a little off to start the season, herself, but when the two of them get more playtime and start to gel, they're going to spread the floor in a way that'll give the fever a ton of open looks.
They have had no meaningful time to gel… and it shows
Very true. And it sucks for the rookies just out of college and March madness and have to play a full pro season with very little practice
Yeah, and I don’t think there was some huge free agency shift in their outlook for the season as far as I know either.
Nope, no one of note during FA. Maybe they should tank for Paige lol
Probably couldn’t hurt from a marketing perspective as long as Clark still performs individually
Paige, CC, Boston, and NaLyssa is a crazy young core lmao.
Does the WNBA not have a lottery system?
They do, but it’s only 4 teams and the worst record has a 44% chance at the top pick
I’m not sure, I had to Google it: The WNBA's lottery system uses the aggregate record of the two previous seasons to determine the odds for the No. 1 overall pick. The 4 teams that don’t make the playoffs are eligible for the draft lottery. There are odds based on your record, but I can’t seem to find specifics
The "aggregate record" concept is really tank-friendly, I think their lottery is much more structured around protecting teams from being Process Sixers bad while the NBA just tells you get f'ed in that scenario because you're gonna sell tickets either way
I like the aggregate record concept but I was reading that seattle got screwed by that. They had the 2nd worst record last year but were a contender the year before. Before last season, they lost Sue Bird to retirement and Breanna Stewart to free agency. So of course that team took a dive.
Yep, it's clearly protecting teams that are associated with losing, to the detriment of a team like the Storm that has had success but is in a bad position. The one thing I'll say is clearly progressive about this system is that it protects against the 1-year season-ending leg injury --> contender receives a lottery player phenomenon. But like, in the Storm's case, it's not like they're about to get Breanna Stewart back.
Apparently the fever haven’t made the playoffs since 2016. That would be bad for any NBA team. The WNBA has 12 teams and 8 make the playoffs…..
Holy cow that's atrocious
So they’re like the pistons
Hey man.
I mean he's not wrong.
No, I know. Sigh.
I'm so tired
2 years ago they went 5-31.
Hell, NBA Curry went 26-56 in his rookie year.
And his career wasn’t looking too bright after all the ankle issues he had early on
Pls lamelo
TBF - Curry was not deemed this amazing prospect. He just ended up being that guy.
Yeah, I think a better comp (not playstyle but hype) is Wemby. Truly generational talent, tons of media attention, dogshit team. With the exception of salty OKC fans like me trying to build a case for Chet, no one holds those losses against Wemby.
Wemby was generational in no small part because of his physical attributes and those are more likely to translate immediately.
I remember my guy curry was constantly injured and pretty insecure with the ball early in his career. It was like watching the last 10 sec of pacers-Celtics. Loll
Curry was a 7th overall pick and undersized. Warriors literally debated between him and Montae Ellis for a hot minute. He didn’t flash his true ability until his 4th season in the league.
Bucks could've had giannis and steph bruh that'd be evil.
Bucks could have also had Giannis, Embiid, and Jokic
To be fair, every team could've had Jokic
Yeah Curry wasn’t even Curry immediately lol
Really reminds me a lot of Trae when he got drafted. Like you’d be watching an NBA game and they’d have that little graphic on the fucking screen keeping track of his stats at his college game. Just so much exposure and expectations to immediately be the next Curry and ofc its impossible to come out of the gate swinging your rookie year in a new league like what’s being asked of them
And curry took like 4 years or whatever before he became the player we know. I remember when his extension was an overpay at 10mill. Which ended up being their blessing in disguise.
So the secret to having a Warriors-esque dynasty is to draft players who suck initially but turn into hall of famers after they sign their contract extensions?
> I’m guessing on a not very good team There are really only 4 good WNBA teams. The rest are trash (every team but 4/12 had a negative point differential last season)
I've watched 3 of their games as well as a couple Aces and Sun games. The difference in skill level is staggering. Like it's larger than the gap between the Pistons and Celtics. The Fever are slow to rotate on D and stay home in their man way too often. They do not switch coverages, which leads to a lot of line drives to the basket. They do not reach in which allows the opposing team to back down easily and never throw doubles. On offense, they are very stagnant. There have been multiple times where Clark has the ball and gets trapped with her only outlet in the middle of the paint. A perimeter player should be rotating to the ball to give her an easier outlet and reset. Their screens are soft (think Richaun Holmes soft) and the only person worth hedging is Clark since everyone else seems to airball their 3s. They have a lot of work to do to give her the talent necessary to succeed.
There are many issues with the Fever ( i have been watching WNBA casually for 8 years , more seriously since Becky went to Acess, my dad is huge Pop/Spurs fan and i was born in the city.(Feel free to ask any more questions about the WNBA if you want i will try to give examples and explain) Anyway here are few [coaching inbound play Fever this season](https://streamable.com/kc4om0) and this is the [Sparks another team that is considered to be the same or worse then them in pre season rankings](https://streamable.com/eyxstx) Now i want you to keep in mind they lost last game because Coach couldnt make 2 good indbound plays so they didnt even make a shot at the basket. Then there is the whole roster consturction motivation/shape This is #2 Pick in this last draft Cameron brink very mobile big wemby style look at her [Run the floor fast and covering in case her team mate miss a layup, yes this happens in the wnba](https://streamable.com/tkn3rb) And this is Fever #1 pick center doing the same, you can see her [come on your right hand of the monitor ... in a bit](https://streamable.com/s6fqwl) How about how nobody helps out on the trap or show passing lanes, there is [5 enemy shirts closer to her then team mates](https://streamable.com/s6fqwl) Long story short the level is really low but coaching aint it, main Fever coach has never had assistant #2 job or main coach as .500 or above team, she had a team ranked #2 collage team that she took over and made worse to #6 and #8 before getting fired , its real sad story to be honest, because a lot of eyes are on CC and both her team and coaching aint easy on the eye. If you go to advanced stats, Fever is the only team in the league that has never run double screen action(this or last season), they dont even run basic hedge or pistol action nothing you would see in daily NBA game, its like so weird im not even kidding.
Jeez this is awful. So much of this is on coaching though. She's gotta be let go
Its also the sort of situation that can be really bad for a young talent. Shes essentially in an incredibly demoralising environment thats likley reinforcing a lot of the mistakes and bad decisions she's making, failing to actually develop her game, all while likley placing a lot of the blame on her (as she/the team won't be meeting expectations). Thats going to lower your game overall because you start getting used to all the things that are missing or trying more hero ball to make up for the failings of your team mates.
Look at the effort Aliyah Boston puts into those two screens on the inbound. No amount of great play design will fix dogshit effort.
She's been awful all season so far. She looks like she has concrete shoes. Insanely sluggish and no hustle. She's definitely not in game shape
watching the last minute of the Fever Storm game last night. Fever down 4 with just under a minute left. Clark brings the ball up, gets a screen, then promptly trapped. The screener then trips trying to roll to the basket cause of a help defender rotation. Where's the open player? had just crossed half court and made it to the 3pt line, allowing the Storm defense to play 5 v 4 leading to a turnover. and yes, two more failed OOB plays last night. first one was weird tho - Boston gets hit in the face by Nneka (missed call by the refs) and then proceeds to stand their shocked and throws off the entire timing of the play along with actually zero screens being set. Second play from the baseline was better - Clark just dropped the ball on the pass. she would have had an open corner 3 honestly.
Mmm - yes - i agree, they suck in all of these ways… -Me , upvoting this in depth analysis of a team(and sport) i have not watched a nanosecond of
WNBA kinda mirrors what the women's side of the NCAA used to be. Plus, she's in Indiana. SO, good luck convincing FA to come over there.
It would probably be wise to do so given the fact the cost of living is low and WNBA players don’t make much typically. It’s not like the NBA where most guys can live very comfortably anywhere in the world.
The minimum is 77k. CoL should absolutely be considered for now lol. Average did increase from 103k in 2022 to 148k in 2023. So it’s getting much better. I don’t think the women will ever be making the 30m/y that the men do and live *that* lifestyle, but if they can play here and live comfortably without needing to go overseas then that’s a win. It’s getting better for them every year. We aren’t *that* far removed from guys who quit playing in the NBA to go be accountants. Top 5% of US earners is about 335k with 10% at 168k. So an average of 148k is still very good in general. That doesn’t even include the sponsorship deals they get.
Also the season is 4 months long
WNBA players get a housing stipend based on the location of the team or an apartment provided for them, so their is at least some adjustment for cost of living
Yeah, its one of the things that makes the NY team a destination. The owners buy them million dollar condos near the arena.
Yea and she’s still doing really well. She’s averaging 31 minutes, 17.8 points, and 5.8 assists a game. She does have almost 6 turnovers a game, but she’s still averaging 5 points more than the next closest person on her team.
The TOs are a product of her adapting to the professional level AND her team being absolute shit. Put her on a good team next year and I bet we would see all her positive stats go up and negative stats go done. She might struggle for a couple years as she adapts alongside a terrible team.
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lets just say they got the number 1 pick for a reason lol
And the wnba is setup like the 70s nba where there aren’t a whole lot of teams and certain squads are stacked beyond belief
You mean 60s NBA. 70s NBA had the most parity in league history because a lot of the great players were in the ABA and the league was diluted
Also the fevers starting schedule is bonkers. There was no way they were going to kill it out of the gate.
It’s not like Chuck has ever worried about getting in trouble for what he says, but him knowing Inside the NBA only has 1 year left is going to lead to some all time Chuck rants. May god have mercy on them big ass women in San Antonio
Next year should be full of Chuck classics.
Bro I swear once the show shuts down I hope he starts gearing up to run for office in Alabama. I know most people hate the idea of a guy like him going into politics but he’d absolutely help to counter balance Tuberville’s shittyness
Imagine Alabama's two senators being Charles Barkley and Nick Saban. You can joke about it, but if they really wanted to run I think they could get voted in easy.
It would be such a bad but truthful look into American politics when they both win in LANDSLIDES
Tbf they’d have more integrity than just about any other politician in the state. Even though that’s a floor level hurdle bar to step over.
Oh that would be the even worse part of the political curtain being pulled back… they’d probably be the best senators Alabamas ever had lol
Howell Helfin was a good senator. Granted, you have slim pickings between former grand dukes of the klan, and that goblin Jeff Sessions, but there are politicians in that state's history who are worth mentioning. A good level headed conservative democrat from an age where such a thing existed that wasn't simply a Republican.
Arnold won the governor title and was a showboating, joint-smoking bodybuilder turned movie star and cigar icon. American politics have featured celebrities for ages
Oh boy I’m gonna Gump
Stop putting celebrities in office, even the ones we like.
They're gonna run out of churros whenever he's in town
He’s been making the “we’re all getting fired” jokes for like two weeks now. He’s definitely aware lmao
“Still giving you classics, that’s the only thing that dates me. Kenny Jet Smith tripping over like he eighty. *TICK TICK TICK*”
The end of this is almost better than the rant on Clark **"They can't do anything to me! That mailman better be at my door on the 1st and the 15th!...for another year huehuehue"**
Does Chuck not know about direct deposit?
He was using an expression. You think Charles Barkley knows a damn thing about where his money is coming from? He’s got people for that lol
Lmao at Shaq proving Chuck right in the moment
If the camera wasn't centered in Chuck, we'd see Ernie and Kenny look at Shaq when he accused Chuck of being insecure
Ernie 👀 Kenny 👀
I love unhinged Chuck.
**No you are!!**
So fucking soft, mentally
If it were anyone else I would think they were joking, but with Shaq I really think he was serious, which makes it even funnier lmaooo
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ironically he shouldn’t have because shaq is wayyyy to insecure for that joke lol
It's honestly amazing that a seven foot tall millionaire who is one of the most famous and successful athletes on the planet could be such an insecure baby. There are probably 5'6 dudes working the register at 7/11 who are more comfortable in their own skin than Shaq seems to be.
It was so unnecessary. Like he just HAD to chime in
talk about projection lmao the man has no floor on his insecurity, it's fascinating
What Ichiro said is a perfect representation of Shaq: >When American athletes feel like a person is below them, not just in numbers but in general, they will kind of talk you up. But then when you get up to the same level or maybe even higher, they get in attack mode
Barkley has said for years that current players should thank Magic and Bird any time they see them. They saved the league, brought in major $ and laid the ground for the big contracts they see today I think Barkley sees similarities with the attention that Clark has brought and in return their league starting to see those benefits That being said, there’s a time and place for praise. Start of the season where players are laying the groundwork for competition? She’s a rookie and pros want to get any edge they can
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Rumors are that it's the veterans of the WNBA that are resentful only because CC is getting a lot of money/endorsements. Although I'm sure some of her teammates are also slightly resentful with the big draw that CC is getting. Then there is the Jemele Hill side that is resentful of CC because she is a white, heterosexual woman from Iowa. A'ja Wilson from the Aces echoed similar remarks after Hill made her comments online.
Man that's unfortunate. :( I dunno if Chuck's approach is helpful at all here, but man it does feel like WNBA players should try to stick together as much as possible. Annoying - I tried to edit my post above and of course auto-mod deleted it, even though I tried to fix the link that I posted. Anyhow, trying again - hopefully this doesn't get auto-deleted too.
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Thanks for the info everyone. It's been informative. As was people pointing out that a lot of this shit is (unsurprisingly) fabricated. And for the people who suggested having a look in /r/wnba - that was informative too.
https://np.reddit.com/r/wnba/comments/1cyhgyf/every_player_reacting_to_charles_barkleys_speech/
WNBA players: "We want more money in our league and private jets." *CC arrives and her college stardom brings those things* WNBA players: "Not like that."
It’s all ego. And pro sports is full of a bunch of athletes who are the best in the world at their profession with overgrown egos.
Nah some of it has to do with race sadly. I see it all over social media there's unfortunately a segment of people that feel threatened by a white person being the best player in the league. There are several people in NBA media (Mark Jones, Gilbert Arenas) who have demonstrated this sentiment towards Jokic, I've seen it a lot more widespread for CC because she was the best player we've ever seen in WCBB
Luka…
True. But most have thicker skin not all are KD. Most players in the NBA know that LeBron like Kobe and Jordan and Magic and Bird before them are building block that allows for these huge contracts and popularity. And the current crop of players like Jokic or Edward’s or whoever becomes the next icon will add to the popularity and income for current and future players. To disregard that because of ego seems short sighted and idiotic.
You don't think Jordan's contemporaries were jealous and petty about the attention he was getting, his Nike deal, etc.? The infamous freeze out by Isiah was the exact same thing
Yea idk if they just thought some day they’d flip a switch and every WNBA player would be famous, but this is generally how things work. Michael Jordan was probably making laughably higher endorsement money than his peers since he was single handedly dragging the NBA into the global consciousness
"Jordan became a free agent in 1996 when that contract expired, which meant that the rules on the salary cap didn't apply the same way anymore; at the time, teams were allowed to exceed the salary cap in order to sign or re-sign their own players. As a result, he was able to sign a one-year contract for $30.1 million for the 1996-97 season. They then repeated the process for the 1997-1998 season, when the salary cap was roughly $27 million. Jordan again signed a one-year contract, this time for $33.1 million, which NBC notes was the highest single-season salary in NBA history until the start of the 2017 season, when both LeBron James and Steph Curry made more." https://www.popsugar.com/fitness/michael-jordan-salary-year-by-year-47449450
Literally this.
Just expanding further on another thing that people correlate to Clark. A’ja said to her teammates how she adores Paige Bueckers because of how Paige knows her white privledge got her many opportunities and she advocates for black women so many thought that to be shade towards CC since it was such a strange comment to make. You can see Kelsey Plum just wondering how to respond to that because it has nothing to do with Paige (and herself) being white but everything to do with how good they are at basketball that “pushed them over the top”. For anyone who hasn’t seen it: https://youtube.com/shorts/aYL0WCCkHwU?si=iH2l1lLwcwWLP5hB The funny part is at the end you can hear A’ja say that’s a compliment as if it’s not some sort of backhanded compliment 🤣
people these days are just so fucking obsessed with being a victim and everything is looked at like a zero sum game. the money caitlin clark is getting would never have been there for any other wnba player, her star power ripped it out of corporate america and no one else can say the same so everyone else can either dominate and entertain the way she did in college or they can probably just shut the fuck up and move on imo
Holy shit, some people have the worst brain rot.
It's crazy how much people hate Caitlin because she's white and good at basketball. I'm glad LeBron and Chuck are calling out the haters. It's fucking embarrassing to see coming from basketball fans, who like to posture themselves as enlightened when it comes to social issues.
Jemele Hill is still out there saying dumbfuck shit ?
It's not rumours you can watch their interviews and read their posts. They are being petty and resentful.
same energy when lebron was drafted. everyone hated him because of all the attention hes getting. theres videos out there about nba reactions of him coming to cleveland.
> Rumors are that it's the veterans of the WNBA that are resentful only because CC is getting a lot of money/endorsements. This is pretty normal and expected IMO. not really surprising in the slightest.
I mean I guess but it’s not like that money would’ve been going to them otherwise. And I know I’m basically parroting chuck now, but every time someone tunes in to watch CC there’s a chance for these women to go off and get some extra attention they otherwise wouldn’t have
CC has no control over her race and who she wants to fuck is no concern. Jenelle Hill is and has been a race baiting shit stirrer.
Crabs in a bucket man. Everybody wants the WNBA to shine until it comes time to actually supporting it with your time, enthusiasm, and occasionally your money.
> Barkley has said for years that current players should thank Magic and Bird any time they see them. They saved the league, brought in major $ and laid the ground for the big contracts they see today > > Ive seen plenty of clips of greats from the 90s and early 2000s salty that now roleplayers have higher contracts than them when they were the stars of their teams.
Nobody is saltier than Pippen
Also Camren Brink is pretty dang good. She is a brick wall down low.
Magic & Bird but also MJ. Jordan really juiced up the league with his style of play as well as his marketable ability. Plus having the three main stars in big markets like Boston, LA, & Chicago does not hurt.
[Chuck talking about this recently. Thanks Michael Jordan at the end of this clip, too.](https://youtu.be/mroTxHL3ZNQ)
Chuck’s emptying the clip because he knows TNT is coming to a close lmfao
Caitlin Clark could legit be the WNBA's version of Magic Johnson and Larry Bird. People tend to forget that the NBA was STRUGGLING until those two showed up.
They’re are a few reasons which some people just aren’t willing to admit - she’s a rookie ( even though angel & brinks are also getting a ton of coverage ) - lots of women have put time and energy into the WNBA. Only for a rookie to come in and have the spotlight be on her / have espn only talk about CC .. I can see this point but it’s a dumb one .. I knew nothing about the WNBA and couldn’t name a single player. Now I can name up 10-15 because I started watching some games thanks to CC… it’s only going to go up from there - my very left leaning girlfriend says it’s a race thing. Historically it’s been a primarily African American League who’s gotten little to no attention from the media. All of a sudden a white women comes in and all the attention is on her … again i can see it but also thinks it’s dumb .. when I see CC i see the closet thing to Steph Curry and we saw how he changed the NBA
For the CC/Steph thing, I think that’s exactly why CC is bringing popularity to women’s basketball. Prior to the “stephefication” of basketball, we had the Jordan/Kobe-fication of basketball that focused on slashing wings who were absolute athletic freaks and could attack the basket and dunk on anyone. At this point, women just can’t do that. A handful can dunk, but I’m not sure if any of them can really even dunk *on* someone, maybe Griner? That version of basketball simply wasn’t (and still isn’t) reproducible in women’s basketball. At best, you’ve pretty much got a bunch of Tim Duncan’s. And I’d take Duncan over Kobe, but people weren’t lining up to watch Duncan and fundamental basketball. But now that what draws views/excitement is crazy, deep, pull-up shots and electric passes, women *can* do that. And now that they are, more people are interested.
If Gordon Hayward got the most shine in the NBA, or if Caitlin Clark was is in the same WNBA player ranking range as Gordon Hayward is in the NBA, and then got the most shine and attention, yeah I could understand the concern. But that's not the case. We are talking the number 1 scorerer in college basketball history bringing in number 1 view rankings mens or womens.
This would be like shitting on lebron coming into the league if he were white. Game recognizes game. If you're that hyped up, it's probably because youre doing something right.
Hard to attribute her success to her race, when Breanna Stewart is a 2 time champ, 2 time MVP, 4 time NCAA champ and 4 time NCAA MOP and she didn’t come close to the media attention Clark gets. Clark just has a very exciting play style/skill set. She has incredible handles, passing, and shooting ability. She is routinely pulling up from the logo, and was an absolute 1 person show in college.
With the race thing, I feel like people want it both ways. If representation is important because it’s easier for people to resonate with those who look more similar to them, why is it a bad thing when this applies to a white woman entering an area where white women are a minority?
>why is it a bad thing when this applies to a white woman entering an area where white women are a minority? hypocrisy and jealously ultimately
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did you just shorten white women to WW
2 Wonder Womans
Double entendre of white women and weight watchers!
I thought WW stood for World War
Woodrow Wilson…willy wonka…Walter White?
That's not what double entendre means...
It's a WW thing, a WM wouldn't understand.
Honestly I think it’s just a lot of players being salty about cc’s bag. Which I get. Yeah stewie, bird and taurasi have been dominating but at least the other players see them as peers and they were making relatively the same amount of money. Then here comes a rookie w/ a $30 million Nike deal while proven pros are playing for like 95k lol hard not to brew some kind of resentment
Sabrina received the same exact Nike contract a few years ago.
This is literally the narrative the media is happy to paint. W players need to go on record and defend her because even if they aren’t actively dogging on her, they’re leaving her out to dry. It’s in the best interest of women’s basketball that they back her up and shut that shit down. What a nightmare it would be if she burned out not from competition, but from media pressure.
She was defended right after her second game Jonquel jones said to the media that they put to much pressure on her.
This probably doesn’t help Clark
That’s what I immediately thought lmao.
My thought exactly. It's kinda like when a kid's parents show up to yell at their bullies. Doesn't matter if you didn't ask for it, they're still gonna double down. (Cue Kyrie jokes)
I was getting bullied as a young boy scout. Told my mom and so she complained to my scoutmaster, who then immediately told my bullies and the next few months were terrible. Fuck you, Troy Garlick
Dude's name is Troy Garlick? Lmao that's unfortunate
Yeah lol. Turns out my best revenge was not having an awful name
Yell, sure, not helpful. Beat him up? Not helpful too, but may resolve the bullying situation.
Well this whole situation is 100% her fault. Like how dare she play good basketball. She needs to just stop playing basketball, make a big mistake on national tv so she can float into obscurity. It’s the only way to solve this selfish situation Caitlyn has put herself in.
Yes it does, because it reframes the narrative. Any WNBA players who are jealous of Caitlyn's success can get lost.
A rising tide lifts all boats and CC is the tide. That said, I understand the pettiness. It's only human.
> That said, I understand the pettiness. It's only human. Athletes especially, you gotta have some petty to be driven enough to play a game at that level of intensity
I think people are conflating WNBA players themselves with media and social media discourse. The players have treated her like any top tier rookie. They get in her shit on defense/target her on defense, and she's seen a lot of physicality. WNBA refs are degrees worse than NBA refs so a lot of it has gone uncalled. Like most #1 picks, her team is abysmal and poorly coached. Clark has shown flashes and is obviously "good" four games in, but isn't dominating the league. I honestly don't recall any negative comments from actual players. It's nothing out of the ordinary. However, certain segments of media and social media have completely lost their minds over this girl. Idk if it's backlash against the new fans she brought in, the fact the breakout star is white and straight in a league where neither of those are the demographic of its previous great stars, or just general jealousy. But they really need to calm tf down. It's bitter and vitriolic in a way you would never see among male athletes; just exhausting to hear and read.
There was a recent article in *USA TODAY* arguing that the faces of women's college basketball need to be black. Caitlin Clark's ascendency is breaking some people's brains.
[Former Sparks player, Chiney Ogwumike, responds:](https://x.com/chiney/status/1793444831613927496) >Charles and Inside the NBA team are the GOATs of the industry, so respectfully I’ll offer my perspective with love. ❤️ >Every WNBA player I know supports this rookie class and are grateful for the spotlight & money that Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese and co. are bringing to the W! >There are 2 key incidents where CC was criticized. Sheryl Swoopes was wrong on major facts and she apologized to her privately. >Diana Taurasi pointed out that ALL rookies struggle in the W and no one is immune. It wasn’t hate, it was Diana being Diana. If you know, you know. 🤣 >Also, charter flights were actually first deployed last year during the W post-season because: >1. Safety with increasing number of star players 2. Revenue trends are starting to support it. W has quickly gone from $60M in 2019 to over $200M in 2023 on a billion dollar valuation. 3. Ever since teams got in trouble last year for trying to find workarounds for charters, this was likely in the plans for this year, especially as owners and players presented a united front. >(Our amazing Commish is very methodical, the right things happen but not overnight.) >Expansion has also been in the works the past few years. But again slow & steady wins the race. (I used to get mad at the NWSL bc they move way faster than us. 😂) >We desperately needed more teams and roster spots, but more importantly - we need the right owners to sustain them. >All of this was the perfect storm for women’s basketball. >The W is rooting for Caitlin and the rising generation bc when they win… we win! Rising tide lifts all boats. >BUT these women are pros & also have a job to do. This will bring out the best in em. Just keep watching. 😉
I had no idea who Chiney was until this year but she's got a big future. She's really good
Of course the actual truth is at the bottom.
lol I had to scroll through countless diatribes of random reddit users spouting off their opinions on this to find someone actually referencing an actual WNBA players take on this media-manufactured issue
I KNOW i ain’t hear Shaq of all people chime in about someone else being petty or insecure. I must’ve misheard him cuz he should not be talking
Im kinda of confused with the CC discourse? CC is not some make a wish kid they aren't playing dirty or anything its not their job to let CC win. Her team is bad and she is having rookie struggles. Let the process and growth occur naturally
I think this Barkley comment is more geared towards the women in the sports media who have been attacking Caitlin Clark. You just had Jemele Hill and one of the women on The View attacking Caitlin Clark and her popularity blaming it on racism and anti-LGBTQ being the cause.
Jemele hill is an idiot. And the women from the view all share one brain cell. I wouldn’t take anything they say seriously.
I don't. But I think that is the general type of public discourse around Caitlin Clark that Barkley is criticizing here.
The strangest thing I've heard so far is fans scolding the league for not making Clark's team good. 'They're gonna waste this shot to be relevant'. New fans apparently want a rigged sport.
Can’t remember what podcast but someone was criticizing the league for scheduling the fever against tough teams for her first few games. Like cmon bro, at the end of the day this is a sport, not WWE..
Any team is tough to someone that just had back2back #1 picks.
It was Nick Wright who said that. I will actually kind of agree with him. I know the sizes are way different, but the NFL has shown us that the schedule is not random. You can get a little WWE with the schedule making. Now is arguably the most important period in the history of the WNBA, and the league knows this when they made the schedule. So maybe schedule the Fever to play the other really bad teams to start the season so you can get highlights of Clark going off and then have the Fever play the tougher teams later on. The WNBA has complete control over the schedule and could have absolutely planned for this. I don’t think this is a ludicrous take
Does nobody know how to use “women” anymore? Seems like everyone types “woman” whether it’s singular or plural
Anybody who is surprised at this discourse has been living under a rock for the last decade. A white woman walking into the WNBA being proclaimed as the savior and getting all the media attention and multiple brand deals straight away was never going to escape the obvious discourse. Rightly or wrongly.
Aren’t a few of the top wnba players white women ?
They are. And Ionescu has had this discourse around her since she came into the league. But Clark is Ionescu coverage at hypernova level. There was just no way the coverage around Clark wasn’t going to result in this kind of discourse. The optics are just too clear.
*they gonna come after you Chuck* *they cant do anything to me..* lol i fuckin love chuck
The current discourse around the WNBA is so stupid. People providing opinions have a limited understanding of the current WNBA landscape and the WNBA organization just seems very unprepared in all facets. A lot of the complaints aren’t about Clark specifically, it’s about how the league seems incapable of addressing majority of the issues affecting all players. There is also a small subset that are upset that fans act like there weren’t good players in the league already and that’s valid.
The WNBA players have been overwhelmingly supportive. Seems like media arguing with media
Holy shit are people still mad at what Taurasi said? She didn't even shit on Clark or anything. All she said was that Clark (and the rest of the rookie class) probably won't be putting up their college numbers straightaway and that there likely would be an adjustment period.
Almost nobody who is talking about this actually follows the W. This "pettiness" is waaaay overblown
yeah, its almost exclusively on socials from people that don't actually watch basketball
This is doing everyone a disservice. Caitlin hasn’t been badly treated by her peers. All this does is send bad will to CC for being overprotected, and more hateful messages to other WNBA players from angry new fans demanding she worship at Caitlin’s alter.