Over this past winter, but particularly over the past 6 weeks, there has been overwhelming attention on the University of Iowa women's basketball team and its superstar player, Caitlin Clark. When I say overwhelming, I mean local and national media outlets covering it as a top story, along with local and national commercials featuring Clark on a near-constant loop.
This attention may be a bit over-the-top, but it's mostly deserved. Clark has been a uniquely dominant player on a highly successful team, and she's almost single-handedly brought women's basketball to unparalleled heights of popularity. (Full disclosure: My spouse was her 7th and 8th grade math teacher, so I may be slightly biased.)
To me, the Clark-mania is very similar to the late 1970s when Larry Bird dominated men's college basketball with his prolific scoring and passing ability, and brought popularity to the game that hadn't been there before. Among the similarities, it can't be dismissed that both were white players. Among the differences, Bird did it when few games were even on TV, while Clark's games are seen by millions.
Clark has handled herself both on and off the court with style and grace -- although often with a little less grace on the court. Regardless, people want to see her play, and hear what she has to say.
All of this attention, however, is bringing out some haters. Success has a way of doing that, as does the ubiquitousness and anonymity of social media, where idiots compete to offer their extreme opinions.
I get why some are tired of Clark. Her record-breaking performances have been going on for a few months now, as has the attention to her. I'm even ready for a break now that college basketball season is over. What I don't get, though, is the hate coming from current and former women's basketball stars.
I'm sure some of it is economics; Clark's play and ensuring stardom have already enriched her well beyond what those other players have earned over many more years. However, those players don't seem to understand that the rising tide of attention to the game has lifted their financial boats as well. It's like someone who won't accept a gift, because they felt deserving of more.
I'm also sure that most of it is plain jealousy. Those veteran Clark-hating women's players are butt-hurt that even though they worked hard to become elite players, nobody paid much attention to them. So they've resorted to trying to bring down Clark by suggesting she had to win an NCAA championship to be considered great, or some other such nonsense.
Their complaints are pitifully weak, and frankly, make them look like morons. It's hard to belittle a player who led the nation in scoring and assists two years in a row. Besides, what makes Clark great isn't just what she does on the court, but HOW she does it. No one consistently attempted and made 30-foot shots in the college game before. It's fun to watch.
It remains to be seen how Clark might continue to transform the women's game going forward. While she changed the college-level game, that will be harder to do in professional basketball, where better players and extra effort will be available to contain her.
While we wait to find out, let's use the time to make fun of the old-school morons who won't simply acknowledge Caitlin Clark as one of the greatest college basketball players of all-time.
