Former ESPN Pundit Jemele Hill Thinks Caitlin Clark Gets More Coverage Because She’s White
You know those old WWE gimmicks before the Attitude Era? One dimensional. Lame. Isaac Yankem, anybody? Jemele Hill is the Isaac Yankem of sports commentary.
She views everything through a prism of race. As such, her commentary is neither interesting nor creative. Just like Glenn Jacobs had to always say something about nasty teeth, everything Jemele says has to have a racial angle to it.
As such, Hill was featured in an interview with Uproxx this past weekend. And wouldnât you know it? She thinks coverage of the biggest star in womenâs college basketball gets favorable coverage because sheâs white.
Shocking, said nobody.
Now, Hill does give Clark a modicum of credit. Then immediately squashes it by saying interest in the womenâs game was on the uptick before the Iowa star came along.
âIt did not just start with Caitlin Clark, but theyâre treating it like it did,â Hill says. âAnd so itâs already creating a false narrative that is doing the public a disservice.â
RELATED: USA Today Column: Future Of Womenâs College Basketball âNeeds To Be Blackâ
Jemele Hill: White Women Get Twice The Coverage Black Women Do
Naturally, Jemele Hill couldnât just stop there.
And here she goes:
âA study I cited recently for a piece I wrote in The Atlantic [found that] when you compare [the coverage] of, say, someone like Bueckers, Sabrina Ionescu, or Caitlin Clark to Aâja Wilson, who has dominated basketball at every single level. Sheâs probably the best player in the world right now. And Iâm not trying to act like she gets no coverage, but the coverage that sometimes non-white women get, or specifically Black women get, is not even close. Itâs two-to-one.â
â Jemele Hill
There is no doubt AâJa Wilson is an incredibly well-rounded player. Sheâs gone on to become a two-time WNBA champion and a WNBA Finals MVP.
But in every sport, sometimes people who do more offensively tend to get the spotlight. Anybody remember those âChicks dig the long ballâ ads for MLB?
Maybe, Jemele. Maybe Caitlin Clark gets more coverage because sheâs averaged 28.4 points per game for her college career (31.7 this year). That, compared to Wilson who averaged 17.3 during her career at South Carolina.
Oh, and then thereâs the whole matter of Clark setting an NCAA Division I scoring record. A minor thing, we know, but it tends to get the attention of fans. Tends to get ratings.
RELATED: WNBA Legend Sheryl Swoopes Says âBlack People Canât Be Racistâ
Jemele Hill then cited Aliyah Boston as evidence that Caitlin Clark gets more coverage while the black player does not. Boston, who also played for South California, averaged 16.8 points during her best season (2021-22) and 14.1 for her career.
âCaitlin Clark seems to be a great personality, but it is not like Caitlin Clark is walking around saying crazy stuff,â Hill states.
âTheyâre just covering her excellence, and thatâs good enough,â she continued. âWhereas it feels like for black athletes to get the same amount of coverage or even fair coverage, there has to be something extra [beyond basketball].â
Hillâs inane commentary follows a USA Today column last month that couldnât wait to push Clark out the door because âwomenâs basketball needs faces of (the) future to be black.â
Hill and USA Today tend to gloss over the past. They pretend the insanely positive coverage of black players has never been there.
Cheryl Miller was one of the biggest stars on the planet even outside of basketball. Maya Moore, Sheryl Swoopes, and Candace Parker didnât take a backseat to anybody.
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