Caitlin Clark is only four games into her WNBA career, and the hot takes surrounding her continue to come out.
Former ESPN journalist and current contributor to The Atlantic, Jemele Hill, has yet another hot take in regards to Caitlin Clark as she spoke in length about her popularity and what it took for her to obtain it.
Hill recently opened up about Clark’s rise to stardom and how it could cause an issue for the WNBA.
Hill thinks Clark’s race and sexuality have played a role in people tuning in for every game.
“We would all be very naive if we didn’t say race and her sexuality played a role in her popularity,” Hill told the Los Angeles Times, via Fox News Digital. “While so many people are happy for Caitlin’s success — including the players; this has had such an enormous impact on the game — there is a part of it that is a little problematic because of what it says about the worth and the marketability of the players who are already there.”
Hill continued, “There’s plenty of room to highlight and celebrate Caitlin Clark’s popularity while also discussing ways in which to not erase Black women from a league that they have built and continue to build.”
In particular, Hill criticized companies like Nike for contributing to the exclusion of more diverse athletes, claiming that “Black women are often erased from the picture.”
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Hill praised Clark’s play and expressed her belief that it would work in the WNBA, but she also took issue with the way the media has portrayed Clark. It has been difficult to ignore Clark’s influence on women’s basketball since a record 2.4 million viewers watched the WNBA draft on ESPN.
That number was higher than last year’s MLB draft on ESPN/MLB Network and the NHL draft, which also aired on ESPN.
Also Read: VIDEO: Caitlin Clark Suffers Scary Non-Contact Injury, Taken To The Locker Room vs. Connecticut Sun
Jemele Hill Was Upset By Caitlin Clark Getting Her Own Shoe Before WNBA Champion A’ja Wilson
Jemele Hill said earlier this year that A’ja Wilson ought to have her own signature shoe, following rumors that Caitlin Clark would receive her own line before ever taking the court in the WNBA.
The Wall Street Journal reported that after signing an NIL deal with Nike during her college career, Clark signed an endorsement deal with Nike worth up to $28 million over eight years.
Wilson, meanwhile, is a two-time MVP, two-time champion, and five-time All-Star, but she still does not have her own shoe.
Hill suggested that Wilson has done more than enough to get her own signature shoe.
She also made it clear that she didn’t object to Caitlin Clark, Breanna Stewart, and Sabrina Ionescu having their own shoes.
‘I didn’t say any of these players didn’t deserve their own shoe,’ Hill wrote on X. ‘I’m just surprised arguably the best player in the WNBA — a best-selling author and someone Time put on their 100-most influential list — doesn’t have her own shoe.’
