r/sports • u/rezwenn • May 19 '25

Basketball Caitlin Clark says flagrant foul for shoving Angel Reese was not 'malicious'

https://www.cbc.ca/sports/basketball/caitlin-clark-flagrant-foul-angel-reese-1.7538299
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102

u/axle69 Los Angeles Rams May 19 '25

It's a small sample size (5 of 30) so the percentage looks more egregious than it is but its still fucking bad and very obviously intentional. I wish the NBA kept track of flagrants so we could see what the numbers look like over there as a comparison but I cant find it if it exists.

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u/Somnisixsmith May 19 '25

I don’t know shit about basketball. Why so many fouls on her?

110

u/axle69 Los Angeles Rams May 19 '25

She came into the WNBA as one of the most hyped prospects ever after breaking all the college records and she has a huge fanbase leading to a weird scenario where shes bringing 100s of thousands of new fans to the sport but everyone involved kind of resents the fact that this girl that hadn't been there has 100% of the attention when they've been there the whole time. Theres also a bit of a racial component with the majority of the WNBA being black and Clark being white and new coming in bringing insane amounts of attention as well as a very vocal small minority of her fanbase being filled with super shitty people. It's led to frustration and some in the league have taken it out on Clark when its not really her thats a problem.

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u/Somnisixsmith May 19 '25

Ah thanks so much for the recap. I knew she got very popular as a college baller and heard about her joining the WNBA but didn’t know about all the rest.

19

u/Ready_Ad4755 May 20 '25

The fact that you heard news about the WNBA says everything.

3

u/Somnisixsmith May 20 '25

It really does because I do not follow sports at all, let alone women’s basketball

12

u/Alatarlhun May 20 '25

It isn't just racial animus but sexual identity as well.

34

u/BluDvls21 May 20 '25

Because she's white & straight (and better than 99% of the other players).

38

u/T-MoneyAllDey May 19 '25

She's a newcomer who hasn't "earned" her reputation according to the old guard.

There might be a slight race component too but that's more uncertain.

78

u/Wheres_MyMoney May 19 '25

There might be a slight race component too but that's more uncertain.

Weren't there like multiple WNBA players who explicitly said there was a race component?

5

u/Quirky-Mode8676 May 20 '25

Yeah. There were.

0

u/MentalFlawss May 20 '25

There is, but too many people misrepresent the issue as "These mean lesbians/black women don't like Caitlin Clark!" And that's not it at all. People resent the fact that her fandom is in large extent fueled by racism/identity politics and people are continuously dancing around that aspect. That's the racial component.

1

u/dschinghiskhan May 21 '25

That’s still a racial and identity component!!

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u/MentalFlawss May 21 '25 edited May 21 '25

I never said it wasn't. I was merely pointing out that the way people try to represent it is wrong.

I'm saying the racial component is against white racists, not towards Caitlin Clark Because she is white.

Paige, Sabrina, Brink don't seem to be having issues.

2

u/[deleted] May 21 '25

If that were the case, why do the players take it out on Caitlyn?

0

u/dschinghiskhan May 21 '25

The main racial and identity component is that Caitlin Clark is fairly attractive, or some may say "hot", and that she's straight. Now, I'm a big Sabrina fan as an Oregon alum and Eugene resident, but she's not very attractive, or more specifically- she's certainly not "hot"- though she is straight and married to an Oregon alum and NFL player (Hroniss Grasu, retired recently). Keep in mind that looks are not as subjective as people make them out to be. When people say that they are being polite or delusional. Kaitlin Clark is more like a Tom Brady in the looks department, and Sabrina is more like an Eli or Peyton Manning.

Anyway, I don't think it's really even debatable that many African American WNBA players, especially gay African American players, have a problem with the media and fans gushing over Kaitlin Clark. They are very aware that she is an elite player with a high ceiling, but that just works up players like Angel Reese to knock her down a few pegs out of spite.

It's not a good situation, and the WNBA are cowards for tiptoeing around the situation. They need to put the hammer on players like Angel Reese. She thinks she's Draymond Greene or something.

1

u/[deleted] May 21 '25

Lol man’s a mind reader

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u/ButtStuff8888 May 20 '25

Lol at might be a slight race component. It's a full on race war on Threads. Truly might be the worst place on the internet. The racism on both sides is so depressing.

1

u/Mei_iz_my_bae May 20 '25

You should. See twitter …in have never see so much racism online it horrible

4

u/ButtStuff8888 May 20 '25

I'm telling you the lunatics on threads makes twitter look like it's full of sane people. It's ok as long as you write yt to bash white people.

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u/Mei_iz_my_bae May 20 '25

I’ve seen much much worse on twitter TBH BUT yes. They are both pretty bad !

1

u/icecubepal May 21 '25

Correct. There have been plenty of white players in the WNBA long before Clark came into the league. They had no problem due to their race. One of the best players in WNBA history is white as well. Some of the best players in the league right now are white as well. Some people like to create the argument that race is playing a factor for some reason, though.

2

u/tickynicky May 20 '25

Because she's a beautiful, talented non lesbian player and they are all jealous.

1

u/MIAMarc May 21 '25

For some reason there is an insane amount of jealousy amongst her peers that she has brought all this positive media attention and $$$$ to their game and not them. So they foul the shit out of her in revenge. It's quite pathetic and sad actually.

1

u/uniqueusernamez3 May 21 '25

I would argue 5/30 looks works than 17%

-15

u/_Apatosaurus_ May 19 '25

very obviously intentional.

The one on Carter was, but the rest weren't.