Former ESPN and Fox Sports 1 hot-taker Skip Bayless says that he avoided voicing support for Caitlin Clark because he felt it would add to already heightened racial tensions.
In a Thursday episode of his podcast, Bayless, who has never avoided controversy on any other tissue, claimed that he believed his support for Clark would be perceived as a “red state white guy cheering for this red state white girl.”
“I started to think, deep down in my psyche, ‘Wait a second, she’s really good.’ But I’ll be the first to admit I felt guilty saying so on TV or on social media. I did not want to look like this red state white guy cheering for this red state white girl. Our country feels split enough racially already. I didn’t want to pour gasoline on that fire,” Bayless said.
Bayless apparently felt no guilt when criticizing Clark, as he did in June when he questioned her heart.
“Caitlin, I don’t know if she has that dog in her,” Bayless said. “I know she’s got talent, I know she’s got distant shooting talent, and I know she definitely has a gift for passing the basketball. But I don’t know if she has that dog in her because I start to wonder — I know it’s extremely early, but I’m just saying, I start to wonder when I see what I saw (Sunday).”
Bayless specifically said he withheld his support because he felt Caitlin Clark was being used as a “right-win symbol.”
“Maybe I was wrong about this, but Caitlin Clark started to feel like some sort of new right-wing symbol. ‘White woman dominating game dominated by Black men and women for years and years.’ I could almost hear some people thinking, ‘White power baby!’ And please, I’m not saying Caitlin Clark is far-right in her politics or beliefs. I have no idea what her politics or religion are because she has carefully, and I say smartly, avoided taking any rookie year stance because she is already such a lightning rod.
“I know what a powerful point of pride basketball has been to the Black community in this country. Black men and women obviously have been routinely and consistently better at basketball.”
The racial dynamic Bayless references with Clark has been a constant. Her rivalry with Chicago Sky forward Angel Reese, who is black, goes back to their high school days. The pair played a memorable pair of Women’s Final Four matchups in college, with Reese’s LSU squad winning the first game and Clark winning the second the following year. In the WNBA, the Reese and Clark faced off four times, with Clark’s squad, the Fever, winning three.
The racial dynamic became even more in focus during Clark’s rookie season in the WNBA as she became frequently targeted for hard fouls by veteran players, nearly all of whom were black.
Despite the visible, on-the-court attacks, Caitlin Clark has never cried racism or asked for preferential treatment. On the other hand, her rival, Angel Reese, has accused Clark’s fans of racism.
“I think it’s really just the fans, her fans, the Iowa fans, now the Indiana fans, that are really just, they ride for her, and I respect that, respectfully. But sometimes it’s very disrespectful. I think there’s a lot of racism when it comes to it,” Reese said on a recent podcast.
