Michelle Obama Notes 'Tough Thing' About Hate Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese Face
If you're a women's basketball fan, you're well aware of the long-standing friction between Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark and Chicago Sky forward Angel Reese.
This friction stemmed from when Reese taunted Clark in the final moments of the 2023 NCAA national championship game and has continued throughout their respective WNBA careers. This rivalry has created many intriguing moments on the court, including when Reese went after Clark moments after Clark got a flagrant foul on her during the May 17 game between Indiana and Chicago.
However, this rivalry isn't contained to the court or what happens during games. Given that these two are arguably the biggest superstars in women's basketball and have massive fan bases, both are subject to a lot of criticism, condescension, and blatant hatred from "fans" on social media.
Michelle Obama Speaks About "Hate" WNBA Stars Are Subject To
Former First Lady Michelle Obama and her brother Craig Robinson (who was a former college basketball coach at Oregon State University) were guests on an August 14 episode of the All the Smoke with Matt Barnes & Stephen Jackson show. The rivalry between Clark and Reese was a topic of discussion at one point, and Obama shared a strong stance.
After Robinson noted that the hate women's basketball players face on social media is part of society today, Michelle Obama added, "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.
"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," Obama added.
"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."
Michelle Obama is certainly correct in saying that constant access to social media is a necessity for many kids, and is something that this generation must, unfortunately, learn to reckon with and adapt to as the internet continues to dominate lives.
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Grant Young covers Women’s Basketball, the New York Yankees, and the New York Mets for Sports Illustrated’s ‘On SI’ sites. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco (USF), where he also graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing and played on USF’s Division I baseball team for five years. However, he now prefers Angel Reese to Angels in the Outfield.
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