70% of WNBA players are black - only 3 have sneaker deals - All are white

Shad Khan? Kim Pegula?

"But, if true that the only players with their own shoes in the WNBA are white, that is racist"

.Maybe the shoe companies are savvy businesspeople. Look at Britney Griner - she is tatted up and down her body. Are parents with girls really going to want for their daughters to emulate Griner? And all the other ladies with tatoos all over their bodies. People just don't want that.

The owners being white have nothing to do with black wnba players not getting signature shoes.

It's this. The underlying narrative of this piece is racial discrimination - yawn. 10/10 for (un)originality.

Like what is the outcome from this article the writer wants? For Nike, adidas, Jordan et al to feel guilty about this and start finding seats at the table for black female basketball players even though there is no profitable business case to do so?

Like you said, if Angel Reese could promote a brand and sell product like Caitlin Clark most likely can and will, she would be getting a deal. Maybe though, whereas sports media outlets love glorifying and pampering to the behavior of someone like Reese under this "it's just her being authentic" narrative, sports brands realize that in the real world of consumer influence this is actually a negative.

Caitlin Clark has a wholesome image. Smiling, cheerful and approachable. You have too many WNBA players out after the "gangsta" image tatted all over their body listening to crazy gangsta rap. Middle America doesn't want that.

Here's an interesting fact for all those suggesting racism. Ice T, the creator and primary owner of the Big3 basketball league offered Caitlin Clark 5 million to play in his league. Is he a racist for not offering a black woman that type of money? He could have offered Reese, Cardoso, Wilson, Gray etc... but he chose Clark.

And both Reese and her teammate Flau'jae are in commercials and print ads as it is, so it's not as if they're being ignored. A shoe deal could follow if Reese turns into a top 5 star in the pros. But to the related point about Clark, it's just a fact that she drives most of the excitement around women's basketball these past few years. Reese, Flau'jae, Cardoso, etc. are partly shining on their own, for sure, but some of their worth is the reflected glow of Clark. That's not due to racism and it's been the opposite in other contexts, other men's golfers and other women's tennis players get extra attention when Tiger or Serena are around. There's always going to be one major star around whom the attention circulates, and race of the player has nothing to do with it.

This thread makes it about 237 women’s basketball threads to 3 men’s basketball threads this year.

I get why people might downvote this - but it's actually right.

What is the biggest opportunity for growth in womens basketball in America? It's white middle America, it just is. Clark was born in Iowa, went to school there and is now playing in the pros in Indiana. That's what shoe brands are looking at for their biggest investments - the biggest potential returns.

It's not racism it's the free market (shrugs shoulders).

what silly out of touch nonsense. gangsta rap? are you stuck in 1995? news flash: millions of white teens LOVE rap. its ubiquitous in youth culture. why Caitlin Clark herself was on cloud nine when rapper Travis Scott showed up at one of her games and she asked if she could get pictures with him after the game.

Lilly white Taylor McCabe nearly hurt herself sprinting out to get next to him in the pic. 😂 And it wasnt just the kids. He got a full on ovation by the "wholesome middle american" fans of Iowa...

so get with the times grampa. kids dont make shoe choices based on the music athletes listen to.

Half of WNBA teams are making profit, and most of them are independently owned. (No relationships to NBA franchise.) Indiana Fever (an NBA affiliate) will certainly become the 7th teams to make profit this year.

Do the white teens enjoy rap when it talks about killing bi$tches and whores?

Hard core Rap is as nasty as it gets. No white players are going to listen to that crap.

Jews are overwhelmingly White (Yes I know there are exceptions like Sammy Davis Jr.) wether they want to be or not, Just as Elizabeth Warren is White even though most of her Adult Life she claimed to be 100% Indian when in Reality she was only 1/1024 Indian, In Fact most people were shocked when it was discovered Elizabeth Warren was more White than she was Indian. Jews deny they are White, X. Ibram Kendi says 35% Of Whites claimed to be something other than White on their College Applications, The Reason was The Whites did that is to see if they could get in to The Schools on their Merit and NOT because of the White Priviledge that gives them enormous advantages to get into Schools and Jobs, That shows great Character to not take advantage of something that gives you an advantage.

Jews don't deny they are white. Your hero Hitler (you've stated before how you admire him) denied they were white.

Yes, if there's one place where black people are definitely discriminated against, it's basketball.

NFL and NBA are at least 70% black in terms of labor (i.e., the players).

Black majority ownership in those 2 leagues is 0%. Ditto MLB and NHL.

Just an odd coincidence? Correlation but no causation?