Regarding Candace Buckner's June 5 sports column, “Clark debate gets ugly”:
Bill Walton's arrival in the National Basketball Association with the Portland Trail Blazers raised some of the same difficult questions that arose during Caitlin Clark's season: Many said Walton was attracting too much attention, generating too much racial coverage, making too much money and being too weak. Enter power forward Maurice Lucas.
As David Halberstam wrote in his book “The Breaks of the Game,” Lucas “brought a physical sense of defense to Portland, after Walton had been somewhat intimidated by the more physical NBA players during his first two years.” Lucas told Walton he was his friend and that bodies would fly. With Lucas's defense, Walton's game blossomed. Along with Lionel Hollins and others, Lucas and Walton put together a memorable championship season. Clark's teammates were quick to pick her up when she was hit. Maybe they could defend her a little quicker, too.
Steve Selby, Falls Church
The issue isn't the perception that, as the subheading of Buckner's online column put it, “Kaitlin Clark is here to save the WNBA, unless she gets her hands dirty.” The issue is that with the increased exposure Clark has brought to the league, comes increased scrutiny.
“Clark has never said or implied anything like what Buckner has suggested in her comments to the media. She acted professionally, which is more than can be said about the Women's Professional Basketball Association and some of its players. Intentionally committing hard fouls to discipline rookies is irresponsible. If the league dislikes scrutiny, it should have addressed this issue a long time ago.”
Unfortunately, before Clark took over, the WNBA never seemed interested enough to take this issue seriously. Now that the league is receiving critical attention for allowing veteran players' behavior to go unpunished, some are blaming Clark. If the league wants to grow the game, its leaders need to clean up the lack of professionalism on the court. If this lack of professionalism kills the current wave of enthusiasm for the sport, the WNBA has only itself to blame.
In a recent game, Las Vegas Aces star A'ja Wilson was manhandled multiple times while still scoring over 30 points. Maybe we should focus on her and her unique abilities. Or maybe we should focus on one of eight WNBA players who average more points, assists, and rebounds than Caitlin Clark. This attention could be detrimental to Clark's development and will undoubtedly antagonize other players who are averaging more points, assists, and rebounds than Clark and who play for teams with winning records.
Edward Drossman, New York
I've watched Caitlin Clark since she was a freshman, her rushing up the court is reminiscent of Pete Maravich, she shoots 3-pointers like Stephen Curry, she plays with the same passion as Cheryl Miller, and she seasons her game with the fervor of Magic Johnson.
But she's a pro, facing defenses determined to pressure, harass and frustrate her. And they're succeeding: She leads the league in turnovers, and her field-goal percentage and 3-point percentage have plummeted since her college days.
Chennedy Carter took down Clark on an inbounds play by surprise. This was a personal act, not basketball related, and Carter should have been suspended. However, we must remember this was a cowardly act by one player. The Indiana Fever franchise wisely submitted video of what they deemed to be questionable plays to the league for review.
In a recent game between the Chicago Sky and the Connecticut Sun, the Sun's Alyssa Thomas grabbed the Sky's Angel Reese by the neck and threw her to the ground, a play worse than a shoulder check. Where was the anger from Draymond Green, Charles Barkley, Geno Auriemma and others who were concerned about Clark?
Physical, aggressive play is also a big part of basketball. In the late 1980s and 1990s, the Detroit Pistons beat Michael Jordan time and time again. The NBA's answer was to merchandise the Bad Boys.
Mark D. Greenwood, Opelika, Alabama
Candace Buckner's opening line in a lengthy diatribe against the “fervent defenders” of WNBA rookie Kaitlyn Clark set the tone for the rest of the article: She called Chicago Sky guard Chennedy Carter's flagrant foul on Clark a “shoulder check,” something NBA player Draymond Green “probably would have dismissed as a flippant move.”
Video clips of the incident, played over and over from every angle, show Carter slamming Clark to the floor while he was not looking before the ball was played — a far cry from the shoulder check commonly understood as a positioning tactic in a moving ball situation. This writer also inexplicably ignored the little celebration by the Sky bench after the foul.
The bulk of the column focused on racist comments made by people Buckner calls “Clark” and that “Clark is the victim.” She drew a comparison to NFL or NHL teammates guarding weaker stars. To extend that analogy, if an NFL lineman commits a major foul, his teammates will likely try to calm him down and separate him from the other players, and coaches will yell at him. There won't be a group hug on the sidelines.
Returning to the “shoulder check” issue, if a player (regardless of race) intentionally shoves another player with enough force to knock him to the floor when the other player is not looking, the risk of serious injury is much greater than if the two players were fighting for position. This type of behavior should be condemned and punished as dangerous and unsportsmanlike conduct. Sports journalists should not treat such behavior as a normal part of rookie induction rituals, nor should they tolerate teammates or coaches who celebrate it.
Regarding Jerry Brewer's June 9 sports column, “The Hottest Fight in Sports”:
I was an athletic kid and found great opportunities in extracurricular sports in the 1970s. My town had mixed swim teams and made a spot on the baseball team for a girl who was better at baseball than softball, so boys and girls could play sports together.
I think it might be time for schools to offer “inclusive leagues” – leagues where everyone is welcome. Even if it's just an intramural league until other schools adopt this program. It seems like a lot of fun and good for people of all genders to interact. It might also ease competitive tensions. Competition can reduce athletic ability for some kids. Participation in single-sex sports would decrease.
Blake Ketchum, Claysburg, Pennsylvania
Jerry Brewer's column, while well written, is dismissive of the girls and women who sacrificed much of their youth to become the best athletes in the sports world, only to have them beaten by former male athletes.
If that were fair, then why can't transgender men win NCAA championships in individual sports? The reason is simple: biologically, men have physical advantages. When a once-talented male athlete transitions, he or she has a distinct biological advantage over a female.
Fairness is the backbone of sports. There seems to be little point in high-end sports if the competition isn't fair. At the lowest level of recreational leagues, it's probably not as big an issue. Still, it seems unfair that girls who are marginal athletes who try hard, regardless of their God-given natural talent, are benched for transgender athletes.
Changing gender is obviously an extremely difficult and emotional decision, but it is a personal decision, and personal decisions have consequences. Those consequences should not negatively impact biological women.
There's a reason steroids are banned in athletics: because they give athletes an advantage. In sports, a competitive advantage through chemical reactions is undesirable.
“The most aggressive people are on message, and culture war politicians are exploiting that tension. This may be the most effective divisive issue in their arsenal,” Brewer wrote in a column about transgender rights.
He's right: both the far right and the far left dominate this issue.
I'm a lifelong Democrat and as liberal as socially possible, but transgender rights don't extend to the playing field or to sports in general. In fact, most of my friends feel the same way I do. The unfairness of someone born male competing against someone born female should be obvious to even the most progressive people.
Regarding Jerry Brewer's June 6 sports column, “The Battle for Jackie Robinson”:
Brewer's column on Jackie Robinson certainly brought back great memories. As a Jewish boy growing up in Toledo in the 1940s, I quickly became a Brooklyn Dodgers fan for two reasons: 1. Jake Pitler, the first base coach from 1947-1957, was Jewish, which I could relate to, and 2. Jackie Robinson broke racial barriers in 1947, which also made a big impression on me as a student.
My parents were very liberal and sensitive to discrimination against blacks and Jews. I was dearly missed by the Yankees and hated them because they beat the Dodgers every year except 1955. I remember my namesake, Hank Greenberg (no relation), enduring anti-Semitism from players and fans and proudly defending Robinson. So Robinson not only captured the hearts of millions of downtrodden African-Americans, but also the hearts of many Jewish boys who suffered anti-Semitism like me. Yes, I think we have a lot in common.
Larry Greenberg, Washington
