On Saturday, while most basketball fans were celebrating the Knicks win over the Celtics and waiting for Game 7 between the Nuggets and Thunder, a highly anticipated WNBA game between the Chicago Sky and Indiana Fever quickly snatched the attention away.
What started as a hard foul by the Fever’s Caitlin Clark on the Sky’s Angel Reese quickly morphed into an exemplification of societal issues.
After the foul, the two had words, Clark was assessed a flagrant one and Reese stepped to the line to take free throws.
And that’s when the first issue arose.
While Reese was shooting, the Fever allegedly played sound effects that some say resembled jungle noises, fueling claims that it incited fans to make monkey noises at Reese, who is a constant target of harassment and hate.
That prompted the WNBA to issue a statement denouncing racism hate and stating they are investigating the incident.
“The WNBA strongly condemns racism, hate, and discrimination in all forms – they have no place in our league or in society. We are aware of the allegations and are looking into the matter.”
After the game, social media erupted over the treatment of Reese, the hatred she constantly faces, the tension between Reese and Clark, the role race plays in their relationship and more.
All of these emotions and debates flaring up over a simple, meaningless foul.
After a day of rage, one would think that it would subside, but no for some chose to further fuel the outrage by discussing it on their social media platforms.
One of those people was former NFL player, Robert Griffin III aka RGIII.
“After watching Caitlin Clark’s flagrant foul on Angel Reese and the aftermath, there is no way Angel Reese can continue the lie that she doesn’t dislike Caitlin Clark,” posted RGIII. “I know what hatred looks like. Angel Reese HATES Caitlin Clark. Not some basketball rivalry hate either. Hate.”
Griffin was then ripped by fans, journalists and other media personalities for his take.
One of those was ESPN analyst Ryan Clark.
“RGIII saying he could recognize “hate when ‘he’ see(s) it”, when referring to Angel Reese’s feelings toward Caitlin Clark was irresponsible, but not at all surprising. Clark’s the biggest star in women’s basketball, & deservedly so. No need to beat up Reese to add shine to it,” posted Clark on X on Monday.
“RGIII plays into the narrative that Reese is the villain of Clark’s hero origin story. Now, Oberman & Portnoy, who berated Reese in college, have an ally in Griffin. Add him to the list of black men who’ve adopted the corny trend of denigrating black women to affirm their choices.”
And that set it off.
RGIII then accused Clark of attacking his wife and family
“There’s a line you don’t cross in life and Ryan Clark sprinted past it,” posted Griffin. “Ryan Clark didn’t like my take on Angel Reese hating Caitlin Clark. That’s fine. Disagreement is part of the game. But instead of debating my point, he personally attacked me and my family. That shows how low of person he is.”
Clark then went in.
“Bruh you know what it is with me and you! I saved you the entire season on MNF. I urged people to let you be you. No matter how corny, how bad a teammate you were I had your back,” said Clark. “What did you do? Invite someone on your show you know I don’t fool with to ask questions about me, and then hit me weeks later to tell me you’re gonna challenge one of my takes! You’re a phony bro. One of the worst teammates I ever had both on the field and in TV.
“I didn’t attack your wife. I spoke on what you do on social media and TV. Like I said. I met your wife and she seemed like a lovely lady that was worth more than the color of her skin! You be good bruh.”
That exchange caused sides to be taken across social media.
Black women supported Clark while white men called Clark a race-baiter. People bashed Griffin for “coonery” while others dismissed Clark as a nobody. Users posted old clips of Angel Reese to vilify her while others egged both men on.
Former athletes and entertainers like Uncle Luke, LeSean McCoy and Emmanuel Acho waded into the drama as well.
“Cornballs calling each other corny,” posted McCoy.
“It’s just Black people being attacked [by Black people],” said an exasperated Acho as he broke down the situation’s racial characterizations.
Who knew that all it would take to ignite a powder keg comprised of racial dynamite and interracial marriage perspectives was a foul in a basketball game.
It’s become such a significant cultural issue that even Clark spoke out.
“There’s no place for that in our game, there’s no place for that in society,” Clark said about the claims of racism. “Certainly we want every person who comes into our arena, whether player, whether fan, to have a great experience…Hopefully the investigation, we’ll leave that up to [the league] to find anything and take the proper action if so.”
This current three-day saga exemplifies the continued intimacy between sports and race, a relationship that can and will be triggered by even the smallest moments.
So now we’re left with a Black on Black sports beef that we didn’t know existed and support for the two opponents divided between race and gender.
And who benefits most from all this racial drama?
The WNBA and TV, as the game, spurred by the storylines surrounding the two young stars, averaged 2.7 million viewers, making it the “most-watched WNBA game EVER on ESPN platforms—regular season or postseason” per FOS.
And social media, which generated millions and millions of impressions.
If that isn’t America, I don’t know what is.
