On the grounds that race is the critical factor in making Caitlin Clark’s Indiana Fever the WNBA team it should be, sports commentator Jason Whitlock says it is time to put the reins of the team in the hands of a black man.
Whitlock said the team has not changed the way it must to maximize the impact of Clark, and said coach Christie Sides should be replaced.
“The coach is way over her head as well, through no fault of her own,” the former ESPN columnist said in a video posted to social media platform X.
“A white woman trying to coach Caitlin Clark in the WNBA with a predominantly black woman roster -- that's a match made in hell,” he said.
The Indiana Fever need a new coach, and it’s not the coach’s fault. A white woman trying to coach Caitlin Clark in the WNBA with a predominately black team is a match made in hell. They need a black, male coach. pic.twitter.com/ridnKvVPtQ
— Jason Whitlock (@WhitlockJason) June 25, 2024
“It cannot work. It's unsustainable. She can’t … If she tells them properly what to do, you got a few of them women in there, they're gonna revolt and call her racist and just say you're catering everything to Caitlin Clark,” he said.
Disaffected players will "play the race card,” he said.
“I think they gotta have a black male coach,” he said, citing former Warriors coach Mark Jackson as a possibility.
“He can go in there and tell them black [players], 'Hey, look this is the way we're playing,'” Whitlock said.
He said a black male coach such as Jackson could tell the team, ''’We got Caitlin Clark here, this is what we gotta do, call me racist all you want, call me sexist, whatever. Call me an Uncle Tom, I don't care, we're gonna play through Caitlin Clark, we're gonna play a way that makes sense for her.'’'
Others have to go as well, he said.
“They gotta get Kelsey Mitchell off the team,” he said.
“She’s playing a completely different game than everybody else on the court for the Indiana Fever. She can’t adjust,” he said.
Sunday’s game, in which the Fever lost to the Angel Reese-powered Chicago Sky, continued to haunt the team as video circulating on social media showed what appeared to be an unhappy exchange of views between Clark and Sides.
Christie Sides & Caitlin Clark were arguing towards the end of the game. Clark didn’t like the game plan from Sides. This is going to be an issue because Christie Sides went away from the pick & roll, Chicago was having an issue stopping it. Indiana would have won this game
— ⚡️PJ⚡️ (@PJocky82) June 23, 2024
could this be the discussion between cc and sides they were talking about? idk if something else happened after the stream was over. pic.twitter.com/QcEYSpdUpI
— vi ✰ (@ccloveoml) June 23, 2024
In the clip, Clark can be seen gesturing, before Sides responds, prompting more hand-waving from Clark. The exchange came before the closing moments of the game, during which Clark did not attempt shots and instead was passing the ball to her teammates.
