Quibbling over capitalization
Early picks on Boston/Dallas, Caitlin Clark’s struggles in the WNBA
The Rundown
Caitlin Clark
NBA Finals
Welcome back, everyone. The NBA Finals are finally set to resume this week, but we begin today with the WNBA and the treatment and discourse surrounding Caitlin Clark.
Caitlin Clark is a great basketball player. She enamored the nation for two years at Iowa, where she was the best player in College Basketball. She was a cultural phenomenon at Iowa — she was a face of College Basketball, men’s and women’s these past 2 years.
The two biggest questions surrounding Caitlin Clark’s future in the WNBA were if her greatness would translate and if she would elevate the WNBA, which for 28 years has had next to no public interest.
She has brought interest from the NCAA to the WNBA, much to the benefit of the league. But the truth of the matter is that she’s on a clown show of a team and she’s a rookie playing against seasoned veterans.
She is getting deliberately hit out there on the court. These are dirty plays. They are dropping her with screens, hitting her with elbows and knocking her down. Opposing players are hammering her.
Two things can simultaneously be true. One, her teammates and her coach should be fighting for her, literally fighting for her, and they’re not. Her teammates can’t let that happen.
And two, I know there is rookie treatment that veterans give, it happens in every league. I know there must be a grudging respect, or perhaps only a fair grudge, against Caitlin Clark and the boom she is bringing to the league — where players want to embarrass her and demonstrate how not-great she is.
And she’s not great. She is not as good, as skilled, as athletic, and strong as the grown women she is playing against. She’s not. Not yet.
So I get why the other players may feel this way about her. But when she is getting hammered for no apparent reason during a game, to the applause of the opposing bench, that’s just dirty.
Of course, it has to do with race and culture. We have a predominantly black league that has been filled with plenty of great basketball players for years, and never received any interest or respect from the public. All of a sudden, the public cares in a way that only benefits the league because a young white woman from Iowa, now playing in Indiana, entered the league — she has brought waves of people into the tent because she is great and she is unique, in this case, because she is white.
How can there not be resentment in that situation from players, particularly non-white players who have proven how great they are — who laid the groundwork for this league without any prior recognition? How can it not be viewed as a slap in the face?
But at the same time, I don’t know how you can make the argument that the treatment Clark is getting is the “status quo” for rookie treatment. Now, of course, let’s not make her into a martyr, or Jackie Robinson. I wouldn’t even compare it to Larry Bird when he entered the NBA. That would be lazy. They are incomparable.
But it would be silly to dismiss this as a non-story and to not pretend that Caitlin Clark is the biggest, most recognizable star in women’s basketball currently — of course, we are going to talk about this in the media.
Should the league step in? No. That would just create more resentment. Caitlin Clark knows she has a target on her back, but this current treatment is not right — anyone can see that. This season’s story can not become the hazing of Caitlin Clark. But it’s on her teammates to stand up for her, fight for her. Where are her teammates in this? They need to have her back, or else, why is she there?
Boston or Dallas: Who ya got?
Alright, the NBA Finals.
Why hasn’t this series started yet? Dallas finished their series last Thursday. Boston hasn’t played since May 27th. Why this series did not start on Sunday afternoon is beyond me.
The NBA has brought the momentum of the playoffs to a halt. We have to spend seven days without playoff basketball. The NBA has voluntarily pushed the Finals out of fans' minds by doing this — letting it percolate, wringing our hands together, vomiting and burbling out drivel — most of it stupid because we have seven days to fill.
I thought we were trying to kill load management? Why do professional athletes, who are trained to play an 82-game season, need a whole week off for a series in which they get 2-days of rest between every game? They’re ready to go! And I’m ready to go!
Anyways, Boston/Dallas. Boston is favored in the series. Any early Finals thoughts — do we have a leaning?
Boston deserves to be favored because Boston has been the best team the entire season. They won 64 games this year, the most in the regular season — 18 more than Dallas. They had the best offense in the league and the second best defense in the league. They have been a title contender for the past couple years — after knocking on the door for the last 3-5 seasons.
We’ve talked about how Dallas got here. It is amazing how they have completely transformed in these last few months after the trades they made earlier this season to acquire their current personnel. This Dallas team is a lot better than their record suggests — we’ve seen it so far in these playoffs.
And while Boston might be a better team, a deeper team, Dallas has the better duo. Dallas has Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving who have both been terrific. Tatum and Brown are great in their own right, but I don’t believe they are as reliable as Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving. And Luka Doncic is the best player in the series by a lot — I think he might be the best player in the world. I also think Dallas has the better coach in Jason Kidd. I think Kidd is less rigid in his philosophy than Joe Mazzulla, who’s going to live and die by the three-ball.
So while Boston is the superior team in nearly any way you look at it, coaching, and more importantly, having the best player, are the greatest equalizers in basketball — Dallas has both of those things.
Here’s the trouble with this series — how do we judge Boston? Boston breezed through the postseason. They barely played what you could call a postseason. They were skipping past daisies while the Western Conference was the Fury Road. We have not seen Boston pushed or tested in any real way because they haven’t played anyone.
They played the Heat without Jimmy Butler. They played Cleveland, who lost Donovan Mitchell and Jarrett Allen. They played Indiana without Tyrese Haliburton. They haven’t played a single team that has had their star player healthy in this run.
This Boston team has never particularly inspired faith. We’ve seen them fail before. We didn’t even get the chance to have those doubts assuaged this go-around because they played against nobody. Even more alarming, they struggled against Indiana without Haliburton in games they could have and, frankly, should have lost.
I want to see Boston truly tested. Luka and Kyrie will test them. We will get to see what material Boston is really made of when Dallas stresses them. And given the circumstances surrounding Boston this season, they have to win this series. This core just had its best season. They have played the weakest postseason schedule I can remember. They have had plenty of rest. Windows don’t stay open forever, and they’re not going to ever have a better shot than this. If Boston doesn’t win this series, they’re never winning the Finals with this core.
I am not wavering in my pick. I have had this paralyzing fear that Boston is winning the title this year — Boston in 6. My editor, with great consternation and much hand-wringing, is inclined to agree with that assessment.
It’s disgusting really. Honestly, I’d rather have a handgun in my mouth than have to pick between Boston and Luka Doncic, with his incessant whining.
That’s all we have time for today. We will try to do better next time.
College Basketball and College Football deserve to be capitalized!