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Why is Caitlin Clark so popular?
If you’re Team Caitlin you might point to her charisma and unique on-court panache. If you’re a critic, you think it’s because she’s white. The truth is none of the above.
Caitlin Clark is popular because she has mastered an athletic skill that does not rely much on athleticism.
In every other physical aspect of basketball - speed, size, strength, agility, vertical jump - the most talented male player is far superior to the most talented female. Fans want to watch the best players, plain and simple. So NBA viewership has always dwarfed the WNBA.
But shooting - unlike, say, dunking - is about dexterity, not dominance.
Enter Caitlin.
Counter to the culture of women’s basketball, Clark’s game is all about the 3-point shot. Her performances beyond the arc are electrifying, and objectively excellent:
Caitlin Clark can flat out shoot. No one can deny it. And she can shoot just as well — or better — than the boys.
That’s why fans like me who weren’t watching women’s basketball before are tuned in now. This is a great development for all of women’s sport.
Why isn’t that obvious to the WNBA veterans throwing shade at Clark?
In the subtle yet brutal way women can undermine each other, the elders have gone after this poor girl — and she seems visibly affected by the hate. The pile on recently got so bad that Charles Barkley and Lebron James came to her defense.
These slacktivists should be ashamed of themselves. Their claim that Clark’s rise is caused by white privilege is absurd. And it entirely misapprehends why the WNBA has struggled relative to the NBA in the past, and why it now has a very bright future.
It also reveals how the braindead hackery that pervades our politics has now also infected sport.
That’s sad.
The only solution is Caitlin has to keep shooting. And we have to keep watching to support her.
This woman represents something now rare in our culture: objective excellence.
In a sea of mediocrity, diversity hires, participation trophies, and rampant grade inflation at elite universities, Clark’s skill stands out. Her celebrity is truly worth celebrating.
Shooters shoot - and Clark, above all, must never stop.
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