Former USWNT star Megan Rapinoe made no bones about how she views USA Today reporter Christine Brennan after her highly scrutinized line of questioning towards Connecticut Sun player DiJonai Carrington following an incident in which the player struck Caitlin Clark in the eye during last week’s playoff series with the Indiana Fever.
On her A Touch More podcast that she co-hosts with her partner and former WNBA star Sue Bird, Rapinoe repeatedly called the premise that WNBA players are targeting Caitlin Clark “disingenuous” during a conversation about Brennan’s questioning of Carrington’s intentions.
“I think it’s so disingenuous for Christine Brennan and other media members to say, ‘I’m just asking a question.’ But really what’s happening is your natural instinct to protect and narrate white players, versus go after and narrate Black players, that to me is really the issue,” she said.
Interestingly, Rapinoe found Brennan’s questions “shocking” given her several decades covering women’s sports, including her own career and that of Bird. However, that didn’t stop her from going in on the reporter.
Rapinoe also attacked the premise of Brennan’s questioning, suggesting it was predicated on a belief that Carrington was, in fact, intentionally targeting Clark.
The duo of Rapinoe and Bird offer a lot of cache as two of the most successful women’s athletes of their generation, and both concurred that the most ridiculous part of this entire ordeal is that the players themselves, including Clark, have repeatedly dismissed the idea that the Fever superstar is being unfairly targeted. “The fact that the players continue to dispel it…what else do you want?” Bird questioned.
It seems that so long as Clark remains a mainstay in the WNBA, a culture war will follow, no matter how much the superstar tries to diffuse the drama.
About Drew Lerner
Drew Lerner is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and an aspiring cable subscriber. He previously covered sports media for Sports Media Watch. Future beat writer for the Oasis reunion tour.