WNBA (DR) / NBA (DR)

A full-fledged phenomenon in women’s basketball, Caitlin Clark had a difficult start in the WNBA, where she would be the subject of a reception that was too harsh, or even racism for some people’s tastes.

An incendiary theory that was sensationally evoked by the icon Becky Hammon.

After beating the competition in the NCAA, it has so far struggled to display the same domination in the big leagues.

The start of Caitlin Clark’s WNBA career did not turn out to be as sparkling as expected.

Struggling with skill, the 22-year-old virtuoso is learning to deal with the physical impact of the very high level.

 However, some observers find this impact suspicious .

Becky Hammon protests against Caitlin Clark

Supposedly targeted excessively by opposing defenses, Clark would pay for some of the WNBA fans with her never-before-seen hype.

For others, the muscular welcome given to her would even reflect a form of racism on the part of the players of color installed in the league.

So many controversies that Becky Hammon, the legendary coach of the Las Vegas Aces, has sharply refuted in recent hours:

Becky Hammon: Let me be clear: we love Caitlin Clark! There’s no… I think she’s incredible! I watch her play every chance I get! And our league loves it! It has nothing to do with… We’re just doing our job. We play hard no matter who is on the opposing team, we don’t care. I think we need to stop with this talk that everyone hates her.

Even black and white history is nonsense! So stop with all this noise. She is 22 years old, she has a lot of pressure on her shoulders, she is not perfect but she remains a rookie in this league. So stop it!

In other words, the difficulties felt by Clark on a physical level could not be more logical for a rookie, as talented as she is.

On the other hand, if Hammon refuses to believe in the theory based on racism mentioned above, she believes that the importance given to the young Fever fullback highlights the lack of recognition given to its prestigious black elders:

Becky Hammon: I think this whole story is constructed to make it seem like some of our black players hate her because she’s white, and that’s not the case.

Caitlin deserves her flowers for everything she has done in the NCAA, but if you take her out of the equation, this whole affair has highlighted the fact that the excellence of black players has not been celebrated as much until now , and it’s very sad.

Words which again risk causing a lot of ink to flow across the Atlantic.

The Caitlin Clark case remains heated in the WNBA, and it is not the intervention of Becky Hammon which risks calming the ambient tensions. Let’s see if the young prodigy will manage to ignore all that and finally make her mark in the big league.