A host of The View has claimed where Indiana Fever basketball player, Caitlin Clark, gets her popularity from.
On Wednesday 22 May, the hosts were discussing a recent article written by the Los Angeles Times in which former ESPN host Jemele Hill told the outlet that Clark’s race and sexuality played into why she is a popular player.
“We would all be very naive if we didn’t say race and her sexuality played a role in her popularity,” the contributing writer for The Atlantic told the outlet. “While so many people are happy for Caitlin’s success – including the players; this has had such an enormous impact on the game – there is a part of it that is a little problematic because of what it says about the worth and the marketability of the players who are already there.”
Sunny Hostin, reflected on being a basketball fan for as long as she could remember and being appreciative of the increase in attention and viewership that Clark was generating through her record-breaking games, but she agreed with Hill’s opinion that her race and sexuality played a part in her success.
“I do think that there is a thing called pretty privilege. There is a thing called white privilege,” she told her fellow hosts. “There is a thing called tall privilege, and we have to acknowledge that, and so part of it is about race, because if you think about the Brittney Griners of the world, why did she have to go play in Russia? Because they (the WNBA) wouldn’t pay her.”
“Now Caitlin Clark is beginning this money, these sponsorships, we hope, into the league and other players will benefit from it. But I do think that she is more relatable to people because she’s white, because she’s attractive, and unfortunately, there still is that stigma against the LGBTQ+ community.”
Hostin then listed off statistics mentioning that 70 per cent of the WNBA was Black and one-third of them identify as part of the LGBTQ+ community. “I think people have a problem with basketball-playing women that are lesbians. Who cares? They are great athletes,” she said on the show.
Fellow host Alyssa Farah Griffin explained her reasoning for why she likes watching Clark as someone who wasn’t “into sports” beforehand. She started watching women’s basketball because everyone around her was talking about Clark and she quickly found her “so fun to watch” regardless of skin color.
Host Whoopi Goldberg also chimed into the conversation saying that both her and Hostin have been attempting to talk about the WNBA more and bring more recognition to women’s basketball for years.
“These women are oftentimes equal if not better, sometimes, than the folks you’re watching,” Goldberg said about the players.
Clark first rose to popularity during her senior year playing basketball for the University of Iowa. Throughout her last college basketball season, Clark received multiple awards for her skills on the court, including the Women’s Basketball Superstar and National Player of the Year, making her one of the most successful players in the NCAA.
Along with being the NCAA all-time leading scorer, Clark was also the first D1 player to “record 3,700+ points, 1,000+ assists, and 850+ rebounds in a career”. When the Hawkeyes won the 2023 Gulf Coast Showcase this past November, Clark was named the Tournament MVP.
She went on to be the number one draft pick in the WNBA being selected by the Indiana Fever.
The Independent has reached out to a representative for Clark for comment.
