Bob Costas Offers Bold Angel Reese-Caitlin Clark WNBA Take

The Caitlin Clark-WNBA debate raged in the sports world and on social media this week, and it also reached all the way to the desks at CNN.

Bob Costas and Cari Champion on Monday were guests on CNN’s “Newsnight” with Abby Phillip to discuss Chennedy Carter’s hard foul on Clark in the Chicago Sky-Indiana Fever matchup Saturday.

It was a wide-ranging discussion that included reactions to Stephen A. Smith and Monica McNutt’s dustup on ESPN’s “First Take” and Angel Reese’s response to the Clark narratives.

Carter’s foul on Clark was later ruled a flagrant one, but Reese also got her “welcome to the WNBA” moment when Alyssa Thomas gave her a hard foul that was ruled a flagrant two, which resulted in the Connecticut Sun star’s ejection. Costas made an astute point on why that incident did not blow up like the Carter-Clark incident did.

“The reason why that doesn’t spark as much conversation isn’t just that Caitlin Clark is a bigger star than Alyssa Thomas, it’s because it’s a Black and Black incident,” Costas said on CNN, per Phillip. “You don’t have that dynamic that people can comment on but also exaggerate and make the entire story.”

Champion thanked Costas for highlighting the racial undertones that seeped into the Clark debate. The CNN correspondents also highlighted how Clark’s reception from WNBA veterans isn’t unique in the history of sports but agreed Carter’s hard foul might gone too far, thus agreeing it should have been a flagrant one.

The fact this topic was discussed on CNN showed the popularity and interest Clark, Reese and the rest of this year’s rookie class brought to the WNBA.