Police arrested a man on Sunday accused of stalking WNBA superstar Caitlin Clark. The Marion County Prosecutor’s Office said the man sent Clark numerous threats and sexually explicit messages on social media before trying to physically contact her while traveling to Indianapolis.
The accused stalker, Michael Thomas Lewis, happily admitted the charges in court on Tuesday. “Guilty as charged,” he shouted proudly.
For the moment, the WNBA has not commented on the subject. There are no notable WNBA players either. The sports media covered the case to the point of reading the police report.
The silence is deafening.
RIGHT? Isn’t that what we heard all summer when black WNBA players received hate messages from internet trolls? Additionally, these same groups – players, former players, media – unaware of Clark’s stalker story, spent months demanding that she speak on behalf of these black women.
In June, two New York Times reporters asked Clark why she didn’t comment on the so-called “mean tweets” that DiJonai Carrington and Chennedy Carter received after he raped her on the field.
“Yeah, I think it’s disappointing,” Clark responded. “People should not use my name to promote these programs.”
Fair. However, Clark’s answer wasn’t good enough for Carrington. Not even close.
“Dawg. How anyone can’t be bothered by their name being used to justify racism, bigotry, misogyny, xenophobia, homophobia and their intersectionalities is crazy. We all see the shit. We all have a platform. We all have a voice and they all have weight. Silence is a luxury,” Carrington said on X.
DiJonai Carrington, who constantly posts about Clark on social media, did not recognize the man arrested for harassing Clark. As she says, silence is a luxury.
Where is Jemele Hill, who couldn’t help but insert herself into the WNBA’s race war last season? In September, Hill posted a lengthy message on X saying Clark didn’t face the same “hate” online as black women in the WNBA.
Oh.
Jemele deleted this post this week, shortly after the man’s arrest:
ESPN HAS BARELY RECOGNIZED CAITLIN CLARK’S STALKER
Where are the ESPNers who vilified Clark for not using her platform to end the online hatred that women of color in the WNBA face? Where are David Dennis Jr., Elle Duncan, Malika Andrews, Monica McNutt and Chiney Ogwumike? They have nothing to say…
Neither does the official WNBA Players Association.
The WNPA released a statement in September calling on USA Today to sanction reporter Christine Brennan for questioning Carrington about an on-court incident in which she poked her nail into Clark’s eye, which multiple video angles said , was intentional.
“USA Today Sports should explain why a reporter with clear bias and ulterior motives was assigned to cover the league,” Terri Jackson, executive director of the WNBA Players Association, said in a statement.
Given Carrington’s admitted problems with Clark, Brennan’s question was justified. But we understand that the players’ association supports the players.
What we cannot understand is that the WNPA is not commenting on the police arrest of a stalker who sought physical contact with Clark after sending him sexually explicit messages.
In June, the entire WNBA community rallied around Angle Reese and her teammates following an alleged incident outside of a team hotel. Reese claimed on social media that a Cailtin Clark fan “harassed” the Chicago Sky crew while getting off the bus. She said he then blocked the women from entering the hotel, while repeatedly calling them “ghetto sluts.”
However, a video later released shows the man in question doing none of that. Simply put, he asked Chennedy Carter if she “had a chance to contact Caitlin Clark” after he assaulted her.
Sky’s own chief executive, Jeff Pagliocca, confirmed a week later that the man had only approached Carter with a camera – as seen in the video.
“The man had a camera and was trying to approach guard Chennedy Carter. However, security was able to defuse the situation without police assistance, General Manager Jeff Pagliocca said,” USA Today reported.
Another racial scam? So it seems.
The Chicago Sky team ignored multiple requests for comment from OutKick, asking for additional evidence and whether the team supported Reese’s allegations.
Yet the conflicting evidence didn’t stop the press, other WNBA players, and bitter former players like Sheryl Swoopes from feigning outrage over the incident. They used it as proof that black players in the WNBA are in danger.
Here’s what an ESPN WNBA writer said following the hoax:
Of course.
But it seems that white, Asian and Hispanic women also need protection (especially with Joe Biden’s open border). Arielle Chambers didn’t say anything about Clark this week.
Essentially, Caitlin Clark has no sympathy for the type of online hate that has actually become dangerous, but black gamers are victims because @Joemanthedude69 said something mean about them on X.
This is all a lie.
Black women in the WNBA are not victims. Honestly, neither does Caitlin Clark. Online hate and harassment are part of a public figure’s territory. This is unfortunate, but it is undoubtedly the reality.
The more famous a person is, the more unpleasant messages they receive and the more security they need. And given that Clark is by far the most famous player in the WNBA, she’s probably the target of more crude messages than any other female athlete in America.
In fact, the only reason Reese, Carrington and Carter received so much attention on social media last summer is because they inserted themselves into the national conversation by fighting, often literally, with the biggest star sports.
Ultimately, no one should be surprised by the silence from the WNBA, the Players’ Association and the WNBA sports media. They’ve already proven themselves to be a bunch of bad-faith, racism-obsessed mean girls who can’t stand that a little white girl from Iowa is so popular.
