The annual return of so-called “pride” month has made that hideous vice more conspicuous even where it involves nothing LGBT-related.
For instance, near the conclusion of a very lengthy segment on Monday’s edition of ESPN’s “First Take,” veteran sports commentator Stephen A. Smith took exception to the tone of a conversation regarding rookie basketball star Caitlin Clark of the WNBA’s Indiana Fever.
Smith, host Molly Qerim, ESPN basketball analyst Monica McNutt and former NFL tight end and Hall-of-Famer Shannon Sharpe spent nearly 40 minutes discussing the professional women’s basketball league, its players and their occasionally uncharitable reaction to Clark’s superstardom.
By the time the segment reached a commercial break, the conversation had degenerated into expressions of resentment, race- and gender-based victim-mongering and that strange aspect of virtue-signaling that manifests when a speaker tries to claim the role of both victim and benefactor — all symptoms of pride.
For context, on Saturday Clark’s Fever defeated the Chicago Sky, 71-70. Rookie Sky forward Angel Reese starred in college with the LSU Tigers, who defeated Clark’s Iowa Hawkeyes to win the 2023 NCAA basketball championship. Clark and Iowa then returned the favor by knocking Reese’s Tigers out of the 2024 tournament. Thus Clark, who happens to have lighter skin, and Reese, who happens to have darker skin, developed a perceived rivalry. And fans tuned in to watch.
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Late in the third quarter of Saturday’s game, Sky guard Chennedy Carter reacted to apparent trash-talking from Clark by calling the Fever guard “a b****” and then hip-checking the rookie to the ground. Reese reacted with approval, embracing her teammate.
The league later upgraded Carter’s cheap shot from a “common” to a “flagrant” foul. That means that future transgressions of a similar nature could result in suspensions or fines. (Clark, too, has amassed her share of post-whistle technical fouls that could trigger automatic suspensions.)
Later on social media, the jealous-sounding Sky guard denigrated Clark’s basketball abilities.
In the context of ordinary sports competition, the Clark-Carter-Reese brouhaha would have attracted little notice — much like the WNBA has for decades.
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According to Sports Business Journal, the WNBA brings in a meager $200 million annually. By contrast, the NBA rakes in about $10 billion in annual revenue and actually helps subsidize the women’s league.
Meanwhile, the usual race-hustlers have complained about everything from Clark’s shoe deal to her many alleged forms of privilege.
The ESPN “First Take” conversation, therefore, occurred outside an ordinary sports context. Smith and his fellow panelists discussed Carter’s cheap shot in light of race, money and the league’s future.
To begin, Smith sensibly argued that WNBA players should be careful not to bite the hand that feeds them. Jealousy of Clark notwithstanding, those players need to be smarter by recognizing that Clark’s popularity can help the entire league. Sharpe agreed, whereas McNutt and Qerim appeared more sympathetic to the WNBA veterans who resented Clark’s superstardom.
All of this occurred more than 30 minutes into the segment, setting the stage for some tense and pride-filled exchanges.
“We’re talking about them maximizing their great potential,” an animated Smith said of WNBA players as a whole in a clip posted to the social media platform X.
“And because we bring that up and talk about what potentially might get in their way, which we do to men all the time, now we gotta sit up here and watch every syllable. I resent that. And I’ll leave it at that,” he added.
Then came the flurry of victim-mongering.
“Welcome to the world of being a woman, Stephen A., and how you have to dance about your word choice and you have to please everybody and anybody as you navigate your being,” McNutt replied.
“How about being a black man?” Smith shot back.
“Being black,” Sharpe added.
Apparently, being black or a woman means that you must weigh your words carefully. But, in that same imaginary world, people of any other description may say whatever they please without consequences.
Moments later, McNutt tried to shame peddlers of a “prevailing sentiment” that she called “unfair to the women of this league … who have laid the groundwork for Caitlin Clark to come in and now take it to the next level.”
McNutt did not say whether by “next level” she meant “self-sustaining.”
In any event, Smith took exception.
“Who talks about the WNBA, who talks about women, who talks about women’s sports more than ‘First Take?’” he asked in an indignant tone.
“Stephen A., respectfully, with your platform, you could have been doing this three years ago if you wanted to,” McNutt replied.
“Wow,” an incredulous Smith responded.
Meanwhile, Qerim desperately tried to regain control and take the show to a commercial break.
“Stephen A., I’m talking to you. I’m talking to you. Don’t do that. I’m talking to you about the power that you have,” McNutt added, ignoring Qerim.
Stephen A. Smith: “Who talks about the WNBA, who talks about women, who talks about women’s sports more than First Take?”
Monica McNutt: “Stephen A., respectfully, with your platform, you could have been doing this three years ago if you wanted to.”
Stephen A.: “Wow.” pic.twitter.com/szQXOPQ3h4
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) June 3, 2024
In sum, McNutt implied that Smith and others with a large “platform” should not have ignored the WNBA for years. But, as the league’s revenues showed, nearly everyone has ignored the WNBA since its inception in 1996. Women’s basketball fans have had nearly three decades to attract others to the sport. And not until Clark have they realized any meaningful success.
Instead of saying that, however, Smith tried to pose as someone who talks about the WNBA and women’s sports all the time. He called attention to himself, claiming the status of both victim and benefactor.
McNutt, meanwhile, defended veteran WNBA players whose indefensible pride caused them to resent Clark. The analyst also showcased her own pride by hilariously alleging that women cannot say what they really think — all while saying what she really thinks — and then by blaming the WNBA’s failure on people like Smith, i.e. male sports commentators with large audiences.
It must be that time of year again.
