Caitlan Clark: A Modern Day Jackie Robinson

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, TX -- There is no doubt that the magic of Indiana Fever point guard Caitlin Clark has brought back awareness to the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She, being just one woman, has fans back in the stands, and despite her meager $77,000 salary for her first year in the women’s league, she willingly plays her best, which comes natural to her no doubt. Clark’s ‘High Road’ approach is brilliant, and even after being snubbed by the US Women’s Basketball Team at the Paris Olympics, she took everything in stride, and with her selfless attitude she has lifted her WNBA team to heights unachievable from dismal results of past seasons. It’s not hard to look at Caitlin Clark, and see the similarities to Jackie Robinson, and his integration into Major League Baseball in 1947.

Some may say that Caitlin Clark’s road is more difficult than Jackie Robinson’s, who faced fears for his physical safety and threats against his life. MLB racial demographics in 1947 heavily favored Whites by 98.3%, while Blacks made up nearly 64% of the WNBA in a 2023 study. While Robinson faced threats of harm on and off the field of play, being hit by pitches six dozen times or being intentionally spiked most notably by Enos Slaughter, he remained calm, cool, and collected. Clark herself has faced being targeted physically on the basketball court, garnering nearly 20% of the flagrant fouls for the entire league. With those types of personal fouls involving excessive or violent contact that could injure the fouled player, and in a good portion of the cases, the play against Clark yields to the arena of intentional fouls.

There is no doubt that the WNBA before Caitlin Clark was in a downward spiral, and her talent has put the fans in the seats with sellouts, a nearly 160% increase over 2023 numbers. The viewership of the All-Star game in July, in which Clark and her rookie rival Angel Reese, beat the Olympics bound US Women’s Basketball Team, was doubled over the previous year. The public snub of Clark from the Olympics, further embarrassed USA Women’s basketball, with Olympic fans choosing to snub the American women’s team with notoriously low attendance numbers, and even though they won the gold medal, the team lost points with many fans.

There is no doubt that Caitlin Clark is good news for the WNBA. The league just recently inked a long term deal with multiple media partners that has been valued at $2 billion upwards to three, and Clark has barely played a full season with the league. And with players jealous of Clark’s media darling status, it will be interesting to see how far the league will go in protecting the 22 year old star. The Fever are officially in the 2024 playoffs following a long drought, one of the goals that Clark set when she was introduced to Indiana fans back in April. And a long term or career ending flagrant injury against Caitlin, could spell doom for all the success that the WNBA has been achieving as of late.

One thing that is quite telling and almost on the same par as Jackie Robinson is the players racial attitudes towards Clark, but this time the shoe is on the other foot. It’s not whites harassing Robinson, but rather blacks harassing Clark. Some may fear for her sanity, but I have a feeling that she is taking it in the same style as Jackie Robinson, and any attempts to cancel Clark have resulted in dismal failure. The left's attempt at turning the athlete into some sort of white savior are unfounded. Her numbers are impressive, and she has performed incredibly in her first season, and no doubt she has a future in the league, but I don’t think she is stuck up. I believe she wants to win, and despite her numbers, which are off the charts, she has helped her team feel an importance amongst themselves that they haven’t felt in years.

Clark recognizes that she will garner the most defensive efforts against her, and has no problems with sharing the wealth of scoring amongst her teammates. She has uplifted her team, and they support her in return. But still she faces a league that is not so friendly: she has pale skin, has a boyfriend, and she is Roman Catholic, with nearly 40% of WNBA players publicly declared as lesbian. And that number is probably much higher with those in the closet.

For being just out of college, Caitlin Clark faces enormous pressures. The Indiana Fever started the season with an 0-5 record, but they have rebounded into the playoffs. While some think that the league will break Caitlin, I think that they underestimate her religious faith. I’m not comparing Clark to Jesus and his struggles, but she is worthy of being compared to Jackie Robinson. As a kid, she played against boys, and that may have done its part to strengthen her resolve. Her resume even before the WNBA was impressive, and with her success in her first season, she is destined for a great career.

I’m still bewildered why the majority of the league's players want to take Caitlin Clark out. And it goes with my proven theory that Democrats think not on the consequences to their actions. Do those players think that a ‘taken out’ Clark, will garner the same amount of interest in the women’s league post Caitlin?

I argue that Clark’s bravado is what has taken a floundering WNBA, and has breathed new life into it. In a recent game in Chicago against the team of her rookie rival Angel Reese, Clark whipped up the Sky crowd to massive cheers before being subbed out of the remainder of the game, in the Fever’s 100-81 victory. While Caitlin had a double-double with 31 points and 10 assists, Reese was able to only scrap together 10 points and 11 rebounds.

The rise of Caitlin Clark is a point of contention for many WNBA players, but at the same time, they don’t realize that a rising tide lifts all boats. They can’t admit that a white girl is able to jump, which would be tantamount to admitting that Clark is saving the league. So you get the racial bitterness, the flagrant fouls, and jealousy that the league's players are emoting.

There is no doubt Clark will be a WNBA champion one day. It may not be this year, but that is OK. Then again, you never know. She is a shoe-in for Rookie of the Year, and as far as Most Valuable Player, that remains to be seen. No doubt, she’s taken a gutter team to the playoffs, and despite her low pay, obviously made up with advertising endorsements, her winning attitude is reward enough for her sacrifices on the court. I believe Clark is more proud of her team success than her individual achievements, but it's her individual success that made her team better, which has given them hope that they can play more effectively, and better than they previously thought possible. That’s the magic of Clark.

Early on in the season, sports writers were insistent that Clark was destined for failure, and obviously opposing defenses were formulated to stop her. And it could have worked, had Caitlin been greedy and stingy, insisting that she carry the team, at all times. But the ‘W’ is much more important to her than individual achievements, finding the open player for an easy basket is much better for her than constantly risking bodily injury. And even with her sharing the points with her Fever teammates, she is still setting records.

The greats like Jackie Robinson, and even NBA players Magic Johnson and Larry Bird were never tasked with saving their leagues. But for Clark, she has taken a dying WNBA and made it matter again. I doubt if Caitlin takes anything personal. For her it's just water off a duck's back. If she did take it personally, she would be at the same low spots as her biggest critics. Not a chance.

Ruben can be reached at: ruben@montgomerycountynews.net