WNBA star reignites war of words with Caitlin Clark and insists she must speak out in ‘culture war’: ‘We all have a platform, we all have a voice… silence is a luxury’

 

 

Connecticut Sun star Dijonai Carrington subtweeted Caitlin Clark after the Indiana Fever star seemed to bat away claims about her name being used in an ongoing culture war.

When asked by reporters about the way people are using her name in the public discourse, Clark replied, ‘It’s not something I can control so I don’t put too much thought and time into thinking about things like that,’ she said. ‘To be honest, I don’t see a lot of it.

‘Like I said, basketball is my job. Everything on the outside, I can’t control that so I’m not going to spend time thinking about that.

‘People can talk about what they want to talk about, create conversations about whatever it is. But for myself, I am just there to play basketball.’

That appeared to be an issue with Carrington, who took to Twitter and said that players should be calling out what they see.

DiJonnai Carrington (21) subtweeted Caitlin Clark (L) for her response to a question about her name being used in an ongoing 'culture war' surrounding the WNBA in recent weeks

DiJonnai Carrington (21) subtweeted Caitlin Clark (L) for her response to a question about her name being used in an ongoing ‘culture war’ surrounding the WNBA in recent weeks

‘Dawg. How one can not be bothered by their name being used to justify racism, bigotry, misogyny, xenophobia, homophobia & the intersectionalities of them all is nuts,’ Carrington tweeted.

‘We all see the sh*t. We all have a platform. We all have a voice & they all hold weight. Silence is a luxury.’

In recent days, the discourse around Clark – especially her lack of inclusion on the US Olympic roster – has reached a high level of toxicity on the internet.

It’s evolved from beyond a basketball conversation to a point where, as Andscape writer David Dennis Jr. said on Around the Horn, ‘people on the fringe that do exist that are in real life – not just Internet trolls; politicians, pundits, and people of the like – [are] using Caitlin Clark as an avatar to lash out at the people who they have disdain for: mainly the makeup of the WNBA, Black women et al.’

Controversial conservative pundit Jason Whitlock has blamed the ‘Black Gay mafia’ and ‘angry lesbians’ as to why Clark wasn’t included in Team USA.

Another conservative pundit, Clay Travis, claimed that people are targeting Clark because she’s a ‘white heterosexual woman in a black lesbian league’.

Even a Republican governor, Glenn Youngkin of Virginia, said that Clark deserved a spot on the American Olympic team roster.

Caitlin Clark insists the raging debate around her every move in the WNBA is not a distraction

Caitlin Clark insists the raging debate around her every move in the WNBA is not a distraction

It has been claimed Clark has been targeted in the WNBA for being 'straight and white'

It has been claimed Clark has been targeted in the WNBA for being ‘straight and white’

Carrington and Clark have had a bit of a history despite the latter’s recent introduction to the league.

Just days ago, Carrington was ridiculed for mocking what she deemed to be a flop when Clark got a foul called her way.

Carrington is one of the best players on the Sun – who have the best record in the WNBA at 11-1.