Women’s basketball is on fire!
Just think, it was a mere three years ago when Sedona Price’s TikTok, highlighting the differences between the women’s and men’s gyms at the March Madness tournaments, went viral. Forcing the NCAA to confront the rampant gender inequities in its sports programs, including women’s basketball. While much work remains to be done, the growth since then, particularly within the last year, has been off the charts.
But that growth has come with darkness. A darkness fueled by racism, misogyny and homophobia that has increased, and continues to increase, exponentially because it has gone unchecked.
With the advent of college players being permitted to earn money for the use of their name, image and likeliness (“NIL”) in 2021, growth was inevitable. Roughly 75% of all NIL activity occurs through social media, and an athlete’s social media presence impacts her NIL valuation.
Social media. A blessing, which enables athletes to reach more people and earn more money. And most certainly a curse. . . .
The surge in popularity became undeniable during the 2023 Women’s March Madness Tournament. So many new fans were tuning in to watch. Much of that surge was attributable to the followers of Caitlin Clark, an incredibly talented guard at Iowa, who became a household name that year.
Tragically, that is also when racism, misogyny and homophobia, which certainly existed before, came out with a vengeance.
In order to understand how we got to where we are today, and what needs to be done to fix this tragic situation, it is critical to understand what happened in 2023.
We have all heard of the infamous John Cena-like, “you can’t see me” moment. However, many mistakenly believe that moment occurred when Angel Reese, LSU’s star forward, waived her hand in front of her face – a la Cena -- while staring at Clark in the 2023 Championship game.
In reality, the moment occurred days earlier, and it was Clark, who made Cena’s signature gesture after nailing her sixth 3-pointer, as Iowa defeated Louisville to advance to the semi-finals against South Carolina. This behavior is very much on brand for Clark and largely celebrated by her fans.
The taunting by Clark continued into the next game against South Carolina. While guarding South Carolina’s Raven Johnson, Clark didn’t bother to close out and gave a dismissive “you can’t make it” wave. Some questionable, one-way officiating put South Carolina in early foul trouble. Giving one pause to wonder if the Iowa win was pre-ordained, as it kept some of South Carolina’s superstars, including Aliyah Boston, Clark’s current teammate, off the court and prohibited South Carolina from playing their elite defense, for which they were famous.
The response to the South Carolina-Iowa Semi-Final game, including racial slurs made by members of the national media, prompted Coach Dawn Staley to call them out. “We’re not bar fighters; we’re not thugs; we’re not monkeys; we’re not street fighters. This team exemplifies how you need to approach basketball. On the Court and off the court. And I do think that is sometimes brought into the game, and it hurts . . . and it just confirms what we already know. . . . Don’t judge us by the color of our skin.”
In the Championship game against LSU, the tides turned for Iowa, in more ways than one. First, Iowa was on the short end of the officiating stick. Two Iowa players fouled out, and Clark found herself in foul trouble, quickly racking up three fouls and adding a 4th, a technical foul, at the end of the third quarter. Although South Carolina faced similar issues with the officiating days before, it was the technical foul against Clark that sparked outrage and prompted the NCAA to conduct an investigation on the officiating.
When it was clear LSU would win the game, Reese gave Clark the Cena “you can’t see me” and grabbed her ring finger.
And in that moment, everything changed. For better and for worse.