On Caitlin Clark, the burden of leadership and the infighting among the WNBA's labor that has allowed owners to escape blame on player safety concerns.
On Caitlin Clark, the burden of leadership and the infighting among the WNBA's labor that has allowed owners to escape blame on player safety concerns.
After another night of discourse driven by racism, trolls and general misogyny, the Fever rookie has a chance to make action speak louder than words heading into the offseason.
Your final paragraphs about labor made me think about the way players talked about Alex Morgan upon her retirement -- notably, that soccer players needed Morgan's money/face/image much more than they needed her voice in her early career, when the question was "will women's soccer in the US survive." Her big moments of allyship and advocacy started in 2016, after she'd won an olympics and a world cup and had a lot less to worry about in terms of her own legacy, and the question for women's soccer became "how can it thrive?" and Morgan was able to throw her whole self into advocating for that question and advocating on behalf of the labor of these players. Caitlin is coming into the WNBA at a very different moment -- and helping the league thrive is a different question and takes a different type of leadership than helping it survive. Hope she figures out her way there (and honestly, she should call Morgan for advice on using your stardom to benefit your teammates).
Her teammates have spoken to how she shares everything with them and were overall very complimentary of her and their experiences in their exit interviews - I think this article is spot on that she knows how to be a good teammate, it may just need to now extend to the rest of the league
" Being an economic tide raiser is one thing but a true legacy as a trailblazer is forged in how you use your power to make things better for who comes next."
Doesn't raising the economic tide make things better for all who come next? Mo' money, mo' freedom.
Aces have a giant dude watching over the team during warmups and timeouts. Pretty sure he's private security and a new addition this year. Something the league could do for all the teams.
Your final paragraphs about labor made me think about the way players talked about Alex Morgan upon her retirement -- notably, that soccer players needed Morgan's money/face/image much more than they needed her voice in her early career, when the question was "will women's soccer in the US survive." Her big moments of allyship and advocacy started in 2016, after she'd won an olympics and a world cup and had a lot less to worry about in terms of her own legacy, and the question for women's soccer became "how can it thrive?" and Morgan was able to throw her whole self into advocating for that question and advocating on behalf of the labor of these players. Caitlin is coming into the WNBA at a very different moment -- and helping the league thrive is a different question and takes a different type of leadership than helping it survive. Hope she figures out her way there (and honestly, she should call Morgan for advice on using your stardom to benefit your teammates).
Her teammates have spoken to how she shares everything with them and were overall very complimentary of her and their experiences in their exit interviews - I think this article is spot on that she knows how to be a good teammate, it may just need to now extend to the rest of the league
" Being an economic tide raiser is one thing but a true legacy as a trailblazer is forged in how you use your power to make things better for who comes next."
Doesn't raising the economic tide make things better for all who come next? Mo' money, mo' freedom.
No.
Aces have a giant dude watching over the team during warmups and timeouts. Pretty sure he's private security and a new addition this year. Something the league could do for all the teams.