Joy Taylor may not be on FS1 anymore, but she still has takes on the current debate around Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark.
Taylor is no stranger to controversy herself, and since her FS1 exit, she has taken to her social media pages to share more unfiltered thoughts on the sports world. She weighed in on the most recent kerfuffle surrounding Clark after two rough plays in a game last week against the Phoenix Mercury. After leaving the game with a back injury after a reckless closeout, Clark is expected to return to the lineup this weekend.
But the injury and another incident where she got a fist to the throat have reignited culture war debates around the league and whether or not the WNBA owes it to their biggest needle mover to protect her to keep her on the court.
In a video posted to her Instagram page, Joy Taylor found that notion to be insulting. Not just to Clark, but to other WNBA players as well.
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“It’s so dismissive of who she is as a talent. It’s so demeaning to the league and to the women who play in the WNBA. It’s so ridiculous all around. You would never talk about a male player like this. You would never have the audacity to fix your lips to say that a college player was better than the best player in a professional league before ever setting foot in that league. You would never say that. You would never say that a male rookie player should have special rules and be protected by the league,” Taylor said.
Taylor then said that the hope or expectation that Clark should be protected by the league made a mockery of competition and would turn Indiana Fever games into exhibition contests.
“Listen to what the f*ck you’re saying. We’re talking about a professional sports league. And you say this and I’m the crazy one. And the people that say that’s silly are the crazy ones. We’re talking about real competition, a real league, with real professional players who get paid money to play this sport, and you think that the league and the other players should treat her differently and protect her in a contact sport where size and physicality are beneficial. And you think that makes sense?”
“Say all of this about a male player publicly on this internet. Say it. How would that be competition? Every game she plays is an exhibition now. We’re just watching her run around and chuck it from half court because that entertains you? Because they’re not competing anymore. She has special rules. The f*ck are you talking about? She is an elite competitor, an unbelievable player, and she’s not as physically strong as some of the other women in the league. Please stop saying this dumb sh*t.”
Any Caitlin Clark debate can make people say some wild and crazy things. But surely there’s nobody in their right mind who wants the WNBA to make special rules for the Indiana Fever star that she would only benefit from. It’s ironic that you have Joy Taylor making these comments calling out Clark supporters who want her to have special treatment while, at the same time, Fever coach Stephanie White says she is getting unfavorable treatment from officials. So which is it?
What is going unsaid is that, now that we are in year three of the Caitlin Clark culture wars, the blame lies squarely at the feet of the WNBA for failing to present a clear, coherent message about what they are doing to fix it. If the league had leadership willing to stand up and say very loudly and plainly that they will protect all their players and that Clark will be treated just like everybody else, much of this conversation would go away. Instead, the league has let it fester out of control for far too long, and we keep going round and round in circles with no end in sight.
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