Sports broadcasting legend Bob Costas weighed into the ongoing conversation about the hard foul committed on Caitlin Clark over the weekend and the ensuing response during an appearance on CNN’s “NewsNight” on Monday.
The debate and dialogue over Chennedy Carter’s flagrant foul on Clark late in the third quarter of Saturday’s Sky-Fever game was well into its third day, as talking heads from across the media spectrum have aired their two cents for their audiences, which included everyone from ex-NBAer Matt Barnes to Whoopi Goldberg.
But it was during the conversation on CNN with host Abby Phillip and contributor Cari Champion that Costas noted how little coverage another egregious foul from a WNBA game between the Sky and Sun on May 25 got.
The play in question occurred when Reese went up to pull down a rebound, and Connecticut’s Alyssa Thomas pulled Reese down by her throat.
It was the third aggressive action in a short period of time in that game against Reese, but the play received significantly less coverage than the Clark incident.
Thomas was ejected after the foul.
“There was an incident recently where Alyssa Thomas, who happens to be African-American, grabbed Angel Reese by the throat and threw her to the floor,” Costas said. “Flagrant 2, ejected from the game. The reason why that doesn’t spark as much conversation isn’t just that Caitlin Clark is a bigger star than Alyssa Thomas. It’s because it’s a black-on-black incident.
“And you don’t have that dynamic that people can, comment on, yes, but also exaggerate and make the entire story sometimes.”
The comment seemed to be endorsed by both Champion and Phillip, as the two began to expand on the point from their perspectives.
“That is really the between-the-lines of what’s going on,” Phillip said.
“No one cared about the WNBA when women of a certain color were beating up and bruising each other, because it’s been happening since the league’s inception,” Champion added. “We have this star, this woman that people love, they want to protect her, so now, all the new fans and the new analysts and the new people have so much to say.”
Some pundits, including Champion, have pointed to the WNBA always being an aggressive and physical sport, and not just in 2024 with the arrival of Clark.
“Bob, thank you for saying that and acknowledging that, because you’re a legend in the sport, and you’re also gracious enough to say ‘Look, I’m not an expert in the WNBA, but what I do know from history is this is why she’s being treated this way and no one else is.’”
“I’ve been so angry all day, because it’s so simple to make women vs. women a conversation,” Champion added. “But it’s so simple. There should be more layers to this sport. If you’re really going to welcome yourself to the WNBA and cover it and talk about it, can we be more than just ‘jealous’? Can there be some real, true competition? Can they just be athletes?”
Former WNBA player Stacey Dales said during an appearance on “The Rich Eisen Show” that what fans are seeing is Clark “being defended as a rookie in ways that maybe we haven’t seen so much.”
“They’re doing things to her defensively, what is that? It’s respect,” Dales said. “There’s so much respect for her talent and I think that is getting overlooked. And we’re starting to say she’s getting targeted. No, it’s pride. ‘Hey, we belong here too.’ Chennedy Carter, a good example, she’s trying to make her second chance here as I alluded to.
“And you get players like that in the heat of the moment. Mistake. Boom, we’re in an uproar on the outside because have we never seen this in the WNBA? Trust me, we’ve seen plenty of this in the WNBA for 27 years in its existence.”
