During Game 5 of the NBA Finals between the Boston Celtics and the Dallas Mavericks, commentator Doris Burke made a joke about Caitlin Clark that didn’t sit well with analyst Jason Whitlock. In the third quarter, Mavericks star PJ Washington shoved Celtics center Kristaps Porziņģis to the floor, prompting play to pause and the referees to intervene to prevent this situation from escalating.
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While the officiating crew assessed the foul, Burke quipped that if Clark had been on the receiving end of a similar foul, the national media would’ve debated it for a week. On the Fearless podcast, Whitlock and journalist Steve Kim voiced their disappointment about the commentator’s jibe at the rookie. The latter claimed that Burke was indulging in an unhealthy discourse targeting Clark, saying,
“I think she’s pandering… Do you think she’d ever make a crack at Angel Reese in that same vein? No, because Twitter would come after her and she’d be like, ‘Oh, you’re one of them.’ But that’s her way of saying, ‘Hey, when’s the cookout? I got the invite, right?’ That’s pandering.”
Whitlock added that Burke would not only refrain from taking a shot at Angel Reese but wouldn’t even quip about an NBA star. He argued that she’d go out of her way to defend a player. He recalled an incident from 2021 where she called out a fan for swiping away Rajon Rondo’s hand, who was pointing a finger gun at him.
“I think she’s pandering… Do you dare think Doris Burke would make that same joke about Angel Reese?” – @SteveKim323 on Doris Burke’s comments on Caitlin Clark after Kristap Porzingas took a hard foul. pic.twitter.com/OsVlGIxAfe
— Jason Whitlock (@WhitlockJason) June 19, 2024
Burke’s joke was seemingly a swipe at the media’s penchant for incessantly discussing hard fouls on Clark, which some misconstrued as a slight at the rookie. However, the joke downplays what can be deemed as players intentionally targeting the Indiana Fever star. Clark has been on the receiving end of three of the nine flagrant fouls committed in the WNBA this season and has taken a few brutal shots jotted down as common fouls.
The discourse has split the fraternity into two sides. One claims that WNBA players are unfairly targeting the Fever star. The other argues that she isn’t treated differently than top picks in previous drafts. Clark has steered clear of the debates, downplaying the fouls and claiming she was focused on playing well. However, the media and fans on social media continue to wage a war of words in her name.
