Former First Lady of the United States, Michelle Obama, gave her take on all of the noise surrounding young WNBA stars Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese. She appeared on the All the Smoke podcast and contributed to a discussion on the league’s growing popularity and the impact it’s having on the league’s young stars.
“I think the tough thing is the social media element to it. But that’s true across the board. I mean, we’ve talked about this on our show; it just takes a normal occurrence. These young kids today, what they have to go through, what they have to be able to withstand, because social media is such a huge part of the world,” Obama said, according to FOX Sports.
“There’s the hate. But now the hate is in your room, on your phone, with you all the time. And you can’t, for whatever reason, tell these kids to turn it off, because they’re making their living that way. I mean, now they are expected to stay engaged.
“So, I think that makes it feel even worse. But I think, as you point out, that’s happening in sports across gender. It’s just harder not to withstand other people’s horrible, horrible opinions.”
The rivalry between Clark and Reese was renewed at the start of this season, when Clark was called for a flagrant foul on Reese in a game where Clark’s Indiana Fever defeated Reese’s Chicago Sky by a final score of 93-58.
After the game, the WNBA launched an investigation into alleged “racist” comments directed at Reese from a Fever fan. The two haven’t faced each other since, as both have been sidelined with injuries throughout the season.
Hopefully, fans realize there’s no place for hate in sports, which are meant to bring us together.
About Qwame Skinner
Qwame Skinner has loved both writing and sports his entire life. In addition to his sports coverage at Comeback Media, Qwame writes novels, and his debut; The First Casualty, an adult fantasy, is out now.