Fox analyst Ric Bucher had an interesting take on Caitlin Clark’s rookie season with the Indiana Fever and her transition into the WNBA.
In an appearance on FS1’s “The Herd” on Friday, Bucher joined fill-in host and regular Colin Cowherd sidekick, Jason McIntyre, to discuss Clark’s comments on racism and misogyny.
Clark’s initial response to a question from The Athletic’s Jim Trotter about fans and others using her name in their culture wars drew criticism. Trotter wrote in his latest piece for The Athletic that Clark eventually got it right, but that she needs to consider the agenda around her.
As Bucher and McIntyre were discussing whether the criticism of Clark’s remarks were fair, Bucher had an interesting take on Clark’s welcome to the WNBA.
“Look, there’s no way to treat her fairly. The only people that are treating her fairly are the WNBA players, because you’re coming in and everybody has said you are all that. And if I’m a WNBA player and everybody is saying you’re going to take over this league, I’ve already been here, I’ve already been playing. Like, you’re going to have to show me.
“This, how she’s being treated by WNBA players is no different than any great player coming into the league. They all get tested and particularly when they’re a skilled player and they’re not very strong, what are you going to do? You’re going to be physical with them. That’s just the nature of the game. It’s not head hunting or any of that. Look, we can’t treat her fairly because we’ve never had a player that’s had her popularity coming into the league, and so there are going to be missteps. They’re figuring out as they go,” Bucher said.
“The only people that are treating [Caitlin Clark] fairly are the WNBA players.” – Ric Bucher pic.twitter.com/4LxmAsrtzx
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) June 14, 2024
Bucher’s stance is certainly a departure from those that feel fellow WNBA players’ jealousy toward Clark is problematic.
As far as any culture wars go, Bucher and McIntyre seemed to indicate that it was unnecessary for Clark to have to comment on that subject in the first place.
“I just laugh. The reporter says, ‘I know you just want to focus on basketball’ and then asks the question that has nothing to do with basketball. Like, the audacity of, ‘I know you don’t want to talk about this,’ but I’m going to ask you to talk about this,” Bucher said.
McIntyre and Bucher commented on how LeBron James and Michael Jordan didn’t wade into social issues when he was a 22-year-old.
“Nor were we asking him, but now we ask him all the time and even that’s not fair. It’s where we are. It’s the media’s fault. Blame us. You can blame all of us. We’re all guilty,” Bucher said.
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