Tipsheet

Oh, So That Explains These Wild Paragraphs About Caitlin Clark in That USA Today Op-Ed

Matt Vespa
Matt Vespa  |  July 23, 2026 3:00 PM

Caitlin Clark is getting hammered on the court. We’ve seen it. The WNBA is getting media coverage, but for all the wrong reasons. She’s one of the few players who draws a crowd, boosts ratings, and the officiating is downright absurd—she got punched in the throat, and no foul was called during the game. Clark, being classy, has mostly played down the drama, saying the officiating can always be improved.

Still, this USA Today op-ed about Clark’s supposed flopping decided to include an Emmett Till reference, which was outlandish and forced. Also, the criticism about Clark getting beaten up led to accusations of white nationalism in this piece. It’s almost a parody. I mean, what the hell is this [emphasis mine]:

Twice in the last two weeks, Clark has raged over non-calls and spun a narrative easily debunked by video of the actual game.

First, she tried to sell a foul on Chelsea Gray in the Indiana Fever’s July 12 game against the Las Vegas Aces. The two did have contact as Gray was driving to the basket, but it was minimal. No different than what’s seen dozens of times in every WNBA game.

[…]

It seems there is a white nationalist element to Clark’s fandom that is deeply, deeply problematic, made even more so because the WNBA is made up predominantly of Black women, many of them queer. When Clark claims fouls that don’t exist, when she goes on profanity-laced tirades at referees, those racists see her as a white woman in need of saving and take matters into their own hands.

Gray posted just one of the messages she got following the Fever game, in which a man called her a racial slur. After fans identified the man, he was fired by his employer, Hilton Grand Vacations.

It shouldn’t need reminding this country has an awful history of Black people being harmed, even killed, in the name of “defending” white women. The WNBA's All-Star Game this weekend is in Chicago, Emmett Till's hometown, and a local art gallery is currently hosting an exhibit imagining his life if he hadn't been lynched. While it’s incumbent on the WNBA to do more to protect its players, there also should be an expectation on Clark to recognize the wider consequences of her actions.

Again, what in the world is this? Being a Clark fan means you might be involved in Klan activity—it’s not even worth commenting on, and you can see why this league remains irrelevant: it doesn’t help when your sports media is beyond unserious. 

And when reading the author’s biography—she also delivers lectures—you can see how and why these passages came about.

"The intersection of sports and social issues"—sounds like a perfect summary for someone who doesn’t know how to cover this beat. 

UPDATE: She apologized, sort of. Not really.