The WNBA has been the butt of jokes for decades. The women's league is a perpetual money pit, with annual losses of around $40 million per year, all subsidized by the men's league. The level of play is often tedious, the pace is much slower and the athleticism is lacking compared to the men's game.
It's the reason why the WNBA has far less viewers, makes no profit and why the women athletes are paid far less. It's not sexism ad many of the players claim, it's just basic math.
One would think that any player that doubles (in some cases triples) the viewership of league games by her mere presence would be widely celebrated by all the people involved including the commission, but sadly, this has not been the case with Caitlin Clark. Clark's expertise and superior ability on the court has brought new life to a floundering sport; the problem is, she's relatively new to the league and, she's white.
This combination triggered many of the minority players, leading to public back-biting on sports talk shows and flagrant fouls on the court. The audience and social media started to take notice. In fact, one could argue that it was all the clips of jealous WNBA athletes attacking Clark on the court that made her more popular than ever. Not to mention, it seems as if most of the fouls are committed by black players.
The latest flagrant foul involved Phoenix Mercury forward Alyssa Thomas, who appeared to knee Clark in the groin area and then press her closed fist into Clark's throat while she was on the ground. No foul was called.
🔥Hold up…A closer look at the dirty play by Alyssa Thomas last night w/ a new angle — Wait for the freeze + zoom on each.
- Knee to the groin
- Pinches her underarm
- Fist to the throat
- Attempt to stomp on her (she moved)
Why do @WNBA players hate Caitlin Clark so much? 🤯 pic.twitter.com/83JZSChdEu
Clark suffered a back injury from the incident and has to sit out multiple games. This is a regular occurrence with Clark; she stands near the top of the list for most fouls and flagrant fouls in the WNBA. In many cases involving flagrant fouls, referees do not make the call, leading to anger and social media backlash among fans.
Some of the dirtiest tricks in basketball are on display regularly in WNBA games, and the attacks on Clark look practiced and organized.
It's not always black players that go for the cheap shots, but there is a clear pattern emerging. It could be envy over Clark's far larger fan following despite being a newer player (female cattiness), but suspicions are hanging in the air that her treatment is largely race motivated. By far, Clark's most vocal critics in sports media are black.
The WNBA and the NBA are not happy with the political undertones of the Clark controversy. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver recently called Clark a "political football" in interviews as he attempted to dismiss the WNBA's numerous problems with officiating fouls. He seems to outright dismiss any concerns about race-based targeting of Clark.
Speaking as part of a panel at an event in New York, Silver said the debates surrounding Clark had become about broader political and cultural issues in the United States rather than basketball alone. He specifically referenced the foul by Alyssa Thomas that led to Clark's injuries.
"That particular incident is not about whether a foul should have been called at the time of the game or whether that was ultimately a flagrant non-review....I've come to know Caitlin really well. She's an incredible player and also an incredible person. "And she wants to focus on being the best player she can. And she's become a bit of a political football in this country, and I think it's incredibly unfair to her."
Speaking of unfair, Clark was snubbed by the WNBA in a 30th Anniversary commemorative poster (she was strangely absent from the roster), and she was snubbed by the 2024 Olympic "Dream Team" despite being a top star and #1 draft pick.
Emmanuel Acho, a former NFL player and sports analyst (who is also coincidentally black), asserted on the Speakeasy podcast in June that Clark has "become a distraction" and that the WNBA would be better off without her. He argued that Clark got audiences to watch the games, and now the WNBA can throw her away.
🚨🚨WORST TAKE OF ALL-TIME🚨🚨
Ex-#NFL LB Emmanuel Acho says the WNBA would be better off without Caitlin Clark because she is a distraction.
“The WNBA would be better without Caitlin Clark, because she is a bigger distraction than she is an additive” pic.twitter.com/MVwHoWRS8u
They hate Clark and her popularity with a passion, but they like the idea of stealing her audience for themselves. It's rather pathetic, but we're talking about the WNBA. They have lived in the gutter for so long they can't imagine climbing out of it. Of course, Acho is delusional if he thinks all the "eyes" Clark brings to the WNBA won't leave with her if she exits the league.
The bottom line is this: Clark puts butts in seats. No other WNBA player comes close. Yet, the league and many of its commentators treat her like a pariah because they can't make their crow's nest of minority players behave. They are the cause of the controversy. They made Clark into a "political football" by remaining apathetic and dismissive.
Tyler Durden Sun, 07/19/2026 - 17:30Following the sudden July 11 death of Senator Lindsey Graham, South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster triggered eye-rolling across America when he appointed Graham's sister Darline Nordone to take over the seat. At the time, the appointment of the unqualified sibling was widely understood as a mere interim honor, with Nordone serving as a placeholder pending the outcome of a special primary election to choose a Republican candidate for November's previously-scheduled election for the seat. Now, President Trump has asked Nordone to run in that primary race and pursue the full 6-year term that will start in January.
"During her visit, I asked Darline, for the Good of our Nation, to run for the U.S. Senate in the Special Republican Primary on Tuesday, August 11, 2026," Trump wrote on Truth Social. "I hope Darline does this, in that there would be nobody better to honor the legacy of her beloved brother, Lindsey. Darline...comes from an absolutely incredible family [and] has been a WINNER all of her life...RUN, DARLINE, RUN!"
While Nordone herself hasn't announced that intention, there are reports that she's "considering" it, and it's highly unlikely Trump would have bothered with a lengthy public endorsement unless Nordone was on the verge of jumping in the abbreviated primary race that already has less than a month left in it.
At the press conference announcing her interim appointment, Nordone's language reinforced universal expectations of a short stay in the Senate:
“It is such a privilege to get to finish some of [my brother's] important work, and I promise to work hard over the next several months to support the president and carry forward the efforts of my brother on behalf of the citizens of South Carolina and the United States.”
Nordone has never held an elected office. She's a commissioner on the South Carolina Commission for the Blind, and previously held a communications role in the South Carolina Vocational Rehabilitation Department. Trump said he personally pitched Nordone on going after the seat on a permanent basis when she visited him in the Oval Office on Thursday.
So far, three people have officially announced they're running for the seat: businessman Mark Lynch, who was trounced by Graham in the June GOP primary; Ralph Norman, a 73-year-old US House member; and Duke Buckner, a lawyer who has previously run for the state's heavily-Democratic 6th Congressional District seat. Shortly after Graham died, Norman asked Trump for an endorsement. The president was said to have replied, "Give me a week." In the meantime, Norman has been endorsed by Florida Sen. Rick Scott and Utah Sen. Mike Lee.
Following Lord Lindsey’s passing, Darline, Duchess of Charleston, ascended the High Chamber: crowned Baroness of the Palmetto Seat. Her brother's fiefdom and noble lineage are preserved. Long live the House of Graham and DEI! Aristocrats celebrate in Alexandria and Tel-Aviv. https://t.co/y5JGzSwz5v
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) July 14, 2026The candidate list had been expected to grow, but Trump's preemptive endorsement of Nordone could have a chilling effect. Rep. Nancy Mace, who's poised to hand over her House seat in January -- having foregone reelection for a failed bid for governor -- teased at a run on social media within hours of Graham's death. On Friday, Axios reported she's still actively considering it. Rep. Russell Fry and Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette are among others whose names have circulated. An Emerson College poll found that a Trump endorsement would likely sway 41% of South Carolina GOP voters, but an equal percent claimed it wouldn't have an effect. If no candidate scores not just a plurality but a majority of the votes on Aug. 11, the top two vote-getters will advance to a runoff election on Aug. 25.
Graham was a chief champion of the West's proxy war against Russia in Ukraine, and a zealous collaborator with Israel in promoting American warfare against Iran. To the extent that Nordone would attempt to pick up those torches and run with them, she's sure to garner the backing of the military-industrial complex and the pro-Israel lobby. That said, it's far from clear how effective she would be, given her utter lack of experience in Washington politics.
Tyler Durden Sun, 07/19/2026 - 16:55