Angel Reese on Caitlin Clark: WNBA's popularity not due to one person | FIRST THINGS FIRST

let's check in on the ripple effect on a topic that has been dominating Sports media a single flagrant foul Kenny Carter on Caitlyn Clark this weekend with some Applause from Angel Reese from the bench that people didn't like here's uh Reese on the growing popularity Brew your reaction well when I first heard about this quote I I just heard it to the level of me too yep right and that's when it it seemed like wow she's belittling the other rookies and the other great players in the league but when you look at the whole comment I have no problem with what she said okay now but the the Caitlyn Clark is most the overwhelming majority of why people are watching women's basketball is that fair is that right whatever that's the fact all right that LSU game she's talking about against Iowa Caitlyn Clark was drawing bigger numbers against South Carolina and Yukon too so you can't just say it's just that one game all right so Caitlyn Clark is the driving force and it does seem like there's some resentment some jealousy which is Schwartz there was I brought up yesterday and not to focus on Michael Jordan there was resentment of Michael Jordan with the Cavs we talked about off the air when LeBron went to the Cavs there was some resentment in that locker room that here comes this kid we gonna show him we're better than him so that's fine but Caitlyn Clark is the main reason people are tuning in to the WNBA and so that's number one now is is there's been brought up race is it because she's white I don't doubt there are some people in this country that are watching her and and cheering her on because she is white all right but Diana terasi was white Brianna Stewart is white Sue bird is white Sabrina UNESCO is white all right and they didn't get what she's gotten it is because she plays like a female Steph Curry she got the logo three she's a tremendous passer that is what is drawing people so I don't think it's primarily race that's made her so popular what I do think is race is this our editorial I read in the Chicago tribute yesterday where their editorial board this was not a sports columnist in the sports the newspaper opin they they were writing about Caitlyn Clark like she was some princess who found herself in the jungle and all of a sudden we got a protector it was ridiculous as was like I saw whoopy Goldberg and sunny hus talking about trying to defend uh the Clark's Kennedy Clark's shot or k you know Kennedy Carter's shot on Clark and there's no defending it it was a bad play it's not Sports it wasn't a basketball play just admit she was wrong for what you we're not trying to castigate Carter and say she's a terrible person it was a bad play all right let's move on you you got a flagrant one that's what you should have got but the racism I thought was that Chicago Tribune article didn't see it said that that would have been an assault if it were on the street but for the record so what a box out outside of a they refer to it as a sporting contest that's when I it was ridiculous they they even written about all the the other athletes black they get no go ahead no go ahead victimize I listen this is I just I implore my colleagues in sports media to take a deep breath please it I understand people l i mean guys at its core what we have is a super popular rookie who is getting hazed a bit y who there is some jealousy maybe from other uh players in the league maybe even from some of her own teammates is there may not what do you mean go ahead just maybe not I feel like that narrative has just like there's jealousy and animosity I'm like there is what proof do you have you mean from out from people on the other team or on her team that that there has been a narrative that what is driving flagrant fowls or or competition is actually jealousy and not re rooted in highlevel athletes competing fiercely and this what this is I'll just throw it back to you with this Jamal quote in the Atlantic when it comes to hard-nosed play against Clark however male pundits seem unable to see women as Fierce competitors they just see Mean Girls And I I felt like there was a lot of baggage that comes with male uh analysts where it's like no man May Kenny Carter is playing her heart out and she gave her a little something extra that happens everywhere in the NBA every sport in playgrounds everywhere it's not weird that I don't think's weird I I though I I feel like and I'm sorry hubs give us one extra minute here I I have been I think correctly defending Angel Reese multiple times over the last 15 months I also think and she showed it in this quote I jealousy is maybe the the wrong exact word but there is a God Dogg I was in that game and I won it and that's the game that blew everything up and then I dealt for a year where me and my and this where race comes into it majority black team were painted as villains and dirty debutant and her majority white team were treated like they were the champion but we won the game and then there's right and then there was the you have a $20 million shoe deal Asia Wilson have a $20 million shoe deal she' been the best player two-time defending champ and there's a racial component to that there is also the I want to be the best rookie and you're the best rookie there's all of this and people I think are afraid to have the real conversation where I agree with Jamal is because we're all somewhat Johnny come lately to the WNBA and because race is a complicated topic people can't talk about the real Sports of it which is these are Rivals yes and they are and there's going to be this was this was not an assault it was a hard foul and it was a non-basketball foul a dirty play a dirty exactly right not the worst thing in the world but it was a dirty play and that happens in men and women's sports and but people are P the jealousy stuff though that narrative came before she was even playing in the WNBA it was when Diana toaz oh we going to show her now she was right we going to show her like what she comes right but there were then you heard the comments about well there's been great female players forever and that's true kayln Clark is not at this moment the greatest female basketball player ever we said she's not the goat college player but her style of play captured people's imaginations unlike any recent black girl or white girl in recent memory great Paige Beckers is awesome and got some some flare to her too she had captured the uh the imagination of the basketball world like Caitlyn Clark cuz she doesn't do it like Caitlyn she's got another year give her one more year all right she was freshman year she was looking like that yeah she she one player the year thanks for watching subscribe here to get more from the show and to check out clips from other shows on FS1

Channel: First Things First

Views: 201,140

Keywords: Angel Reese, Caitlin Clark, WNBA, Basketball, first things first, first things first fs1, first things first fox sports, first things first fox, first things first nick wright, nick wright, kevin wildes, fox, fox sports, fox sports 1, fs1, sports news, sports, news, Chris Broussard, caitlin clark, angel reese, indiana fever, rookie star, women's basketball

Id: r1hISEJgFT4

Length: 7min 20sec (440 seconds)

Published: Tue Jun 04 2024