Sue Bird, a WNBA legend, asserts that Caitlin Clark is “being used as a pawn.”

In a recent episode of their “A Touch More” podcast, WNBA legend Sue Bird and retired U.S. women’s soccer star Megan Rapinoe tackled one of the most pressing issues facing the WNBA: racism within the league. The power couple shared their perspectives and engaged in a candid discussion that included Indiana Fever rookie Caitlin Clark, who has not only brought a massive fanbase with her to the WNBA but has also played a significant role in growing the game’s popularity.

The Indiana Fever guard recently led her team to the WNBA playoffs, where they fell to the Connecticut Sun in the first round. After the Game 2 loss, Connecticut star Alyssa Thomas addressed the media, revealing that she had been subjected to racial comments from members of the Fever fanbase. “It’s a lot of nonsense,” Thomas said. “I think in my 11-year career, I’ve never experienced the racial comments from the Indiana Fever fanbase… It’s unacceptable, honestly. There’s no place for it. We’ve been professional throughout the whole entire thing, but I’ve never been called the things that I’ve been called on social media.”

 

Bird retired from the WNBA in 2022 after being drafted by the Seattle Storm with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2002 draft. She finished her career as a four-time WNBA champion, thirteen-time All-Star and five-time All-WNBA First Team member.

She suggests that Clark is unfairly being positioned as a symbol or “pawn” in the conversation, with some people mistakenly associating her with the introduction of racism to the league. “Racism has been impacting the WNBA well before this year,” Bird said. “This is not a new thing. In that way, I do think Caitlin is being used as a pawn. Caitlin didn’t bring racism to the WNBA; this has been happening, and that, I think, is what’s such a shock for all of us: that other people are surprised by this. We’ve been trying to tell you.”

Bird then responded to these comments, explaining that she had no other choice but to combat the issues while she was in the league from 2002-22. “For so long as a player, I would almost joke – I’d be like, ‘I would have loved to had shut up and dribble.’ In so many ways, I would have loved to have been valued as a basketball player, I would have been loved to have been spoken about just for my play,” Bird added. “I think everybody in the league can say that, but nobody ever let us do that. So what happened? We started to build a backbone. A little bit of an identity. We understood that in order to push our league forward, we were gonna have to combat these things.” Sue and Megan discussing the racist language/behavior at games and online and if the responsibility is on players to call