Luigi “Geno” Auriemma, legendary college basketball coach whose coaching career began at the former Bishop McDevitt High School, has weighed in on the controversy surrounding WNBA star Caitlin Clark.
According to ESPN.com, the UConn women’s basketball coach said the following on Tuesday: “Is she facing the rookie challenge, the rookie hardships that are inherent with being a rookie? Yes. She’s also being targeted.”
Clark was shoulder-checked from behind by Chicago Sky guard Chennedy Carter on Saturday, a call which was later classified as a flagrant foul.
After the game, Carter refused to answer questions, which Auriemma called “junior high stuff,” ESPN wrote.
“I don’t remember when [Michael] Jordan came into the [NBA], guys looking to go out and beat him up,” Auriemma told reporters. “I don’t remember when [Larry] Bird and Magic [Johnson] came in the league and elevated the NBA, them getting targeted and getting beat up just because of who they were and the attention they were getting.
“Appreciate the fact that now’s the time [for the WNBA]. I get it. It’s long overdue. Why are you blaming that kid? It’s not her fault, because you would trade places with her in a minute, but you are not there. You’re not her. So, you’re [complaining] that she’s getting what she’s getting.”
On Tuesday, Clark was featured by Sports Illustrated in an article titled “Caitlin Clark and the WNBA Don’t Need Your Protection“, a story which discusses the “devolving discourse” surrounding Carter’s foul and the mainstream media attention the league has received as of late.
An excerpt:
The inclination to highlight the foul(s) on Clark alone exhibits an unfamiliarity with the WNBA. It’s a physical league, and things get chippy, just like in any other professional sport. Unlike other leagues, however, the WNBA boasts very few roster spots, meaning on any given night the most elite basketball players in the world are on the floor battling it out in highly competitive matchups. While “not appropriate,” as Sky coach Teresa Weatherspoon categorized Carter’s foul on Clark, it is also not remarkable, nor is it a new occurrence.
Then there’s the racial element of Clark commentary, to which ESPN anchor Stephen A. Smith said on Monday:
There are girls – young ladies – in the WNBA who are jealous of Caitlin Clark. She is a White girl that has come into the league. She has bursted onto the scene. She hasn’t proven herself yet. It’s not even about them thinking they’re better than her because they probably know it at this particular juncture because they’ve been playing on a level she just arrived to.
Where the resentment comes in is the hard work, the commitment, the dedication, the pounding of the pavement, the being on the grind all of these years trying to uplift this brand that is the WNBA and is women’s professional basketball and all of their efforts were in vain until this girl comes along and takes the league by storm, takes the sport by form in college and has accomplished in a short period of time what they haven’t been able to.
One would think that folks would be smart enough to recognize and appreciate that about Caitlin Clark – piggyback off of that to their benefit and praise her and support her for it while competing on the court against her.
Clark, the No. 1 pick in the 2023 draft, has started all 11 games for Indiana, averaging 15.6 points, 5.1 rebounds, 6.4 assists, 1.3 steals and 1 block per contest.
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Photos: Wikipedia.com, ESPN.com