Caitlin Clark truly is the new Larry Bird—when it comes to race and basketball

Now Clark, like NBA Hall of Famer Larry Bird 45 years ago, has unintentionally become the focus of discussions about race and her transition to professional basketball. Although Clark hasn’t said anything to advance the black-white narrative surrounding her rapid rise, there are still talks of double standards.

“I think that’s a huge thing. I think a lot of people might say it’s not about Black and White, but to me it is,” Las Vegas Aces star A’ja Wilson said when asked about the racial element of Clark’s fame and before her recently signed two major endorsement deals. “It’s really because you can achieve your best as a Black woman, but maybe that’s something people don’t want to see.

“They didn’t see it as something that could be sold, so it didn’t matter how hard I worked. As Black women, it doesn’t matter what we all do, we will still be swept under the rug. That’s why my blood boils when people say it’s not about race.”

To be clear, Clark is a skilled hardcourt specialist from Iowa. Bird is a skilled hardcourt specialist from Indiana State. And like Bird, Clark captivated audiences and brought unprecedented attention to women’s basketball with her ability to score from every corner of the court.

Neither Bird nor Clark were the first outstanding white male or female professional basketball players. Jerry West is a de facto icon of the NBA and before Clark, the long list of talented white WNBA players included Sue Bird and Breanna Stewart.

But sports can be enhanced by fierce competition, especially when race is involved.

Clark’s rise was accompanied by an on-court fearlessness that made her must-see television as she led the Hawkeyes to back-to-back NCAA championship game appearances. When Bird led the Sycamores to the title game in 1979, he played Magic Johnson in one of the most watched games in NCAA tournament history.

In Iowa, Clark’s on-court opponent in the NCAA Tournament was former LSU star Angel Reese. She then faced off against South Carolina women’s juggler and coach Dawn Staley. The matches created social media moments that captivated audiences, regardless of gender.

The matches also led to ongoing discussions about how race played a role in the treatment of Clark, a white woman from “America’s Heartland,” compared to her Black counterparts. black like Reese’s.

Clark has said that she and Reese are just part of a larger movement.

“I would say Angel and I have always been great competitors,” Clark said before Iowa’s Elite Eight game against Reese and LSU in March. “I think Angel would say the same thing, like it’s not just us in women’s basketball. That’s not the only competitive thing about our game placement, and that’s what makes it so great. We need a lot of people to be really good.”

However, the race-based debate about slights toward Black players or bias toward Clark is far from over. choice number 1 in the WNBA draft preparing for her first regular-season game Tuesday night when Indiana takes on Connecticut.

“I think new fans, or maybe old fans of women’s college basketball, have been attracted. Part of it is because of Clark. But also, you know, because of the LSU-Iowa rivalry,” said Victoria Jackson, sports historian and clinical associate professor of history at Arizona State University.

“There are basketball reasons,” Jackson said, “but there are also racial reasons as to why Clark was able to move into a completely different stratosphere than the players who came before her.”

Because the double standard is perceived as a double standard, nearly everything related to Clark is suspect:

— Clark’s first preseason game was was liveBut not Reese.

— Clark received an endorsement deal. There are not many other famous black stars.

— If Reese talk trash, it is considered unsportsmanlike. If Clark does that, she’s being competitive.

— Reese received some backlash for arriving at the Met Gala before the game, Make a question whether Clark will appear on the red carpet or not.

Wilson, who signed with Gatorade last week and announced Saturday that she would receive a pair of Nike’s signature shoes, and others cited how the companies are calling for business partnerships. business with Clark as an example of the disparity in player treatment.

The deal Clark signed with Nike will reportedly pay her $28 million over eight years – making it the richest sponsorship deal for a women’s basketball player, and it includes a signature shoe. Before Wilson’s announcement Saturday, the only other active players in the WNBA with the signature shoe were Elena Delle Donne, Sabrina Ionescu and Stewart — all of whom are white.

Awareness goes beyond endorsement.

While Clark’s preseason debut was available on the WNBA League Pass streaming app, a post on the X platform from the WNBA incorrectly stated that all gamesincluding the debuts of Reese and former South Carolina rookie standout Kamilla Cardoso for the Chicago Sky, will also be available.

So one fans in attendance at the game Sky streamed it live. It has received more than 620,000 views.

in one sorry post explanation Why Sky’s game isn’t also available, the WNBA said Clark’s game is available as part of a limited free preview of its streaming app.

There are also racial elements to Clark’s treatment on social media compared to others, most notably Reese.

Reese, who has previously spoken out about the criticism she received online, recently came under attack again after she missed preseason practice to attend the Met Gala. Clark was also the target of online criticism, but apparently not to the same extent as Reese.

According to Daniel Kilvington, course director in Cultural & Media Studies at Leeds Beckett University in Leeds, England, online hate speech accounts for about 1% of all social media posts in the sports context.

Kilvington, whose work with research group Tackling Online Hate in Football has looked at the problem through the sport of football, said: “Although this number sounds quite low, consider the amount of traffic online and how many posts are created each day. “Therefore, one percent is 1% too high because athletes are prime targets of hate speech, harassment, and death threats simply for playing the game they love.”

But as Clark’s popularity grew, so did the controversy. Jackson believes this is a good time to openly discuss this issue.

“I don’t know how many times I’ve read and heard her described as a generational talent,” the ASU professor said. “And whenever we do those cases, I immediately think, who is this other generational talent that we have? And, I think too often the athletes who could be classified in that category are black women who don’t get that much attention. And especially the kind of cross-over, general public saturation that Caitlin Clark has had.

“There are overlapping, intertwined reasons why this is the case. However, I think we can’t help but think about it if the goal here is to treat athletes fairly in this sport.”

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AP Sports Writer Mark Anderson and AP reporter Corey Williams contributed.