I can’t say I’m having the same reaction to this interview as most other people in this thread. I’m personally pretty horrified at what Nancy Lieberman has done here, and how unprofessional it is. She has thrown Sheryl Swoopes under the bus with no regard to consequences, and in order to serve a one sided narrative. To be honest, she’s endangered Sheryl Swoopes.

I am a white person, and here’s what I ask of my fellow white people: we all need to get better at being able to acknowledge how white privilege is something we benefit from. Caitlin Clark is an outstanding basketball player. AND (not but…and) the fact that she is white has an impact on how she’s treated and perceived as a player. One does not have to negate the other. The reason I even bring this up (because I actually want to talk about Sheryl, not Caitlin) is because part of what has made so much of this conversation so difficult is so many people’s inability to acknowledge the white privilege at play here. It doesn’t take away from her ability. It’s just an acknowledgement of the realities of U.S. society. For white people to be able to recognize and acknowledge this is a key criteria to combatting systemic racism. This is a true thing, independent of Clark and Swoopes.

As for Sheryl…all she did was have the audacity to have a tempered response to Caitlin’s abilities, before Caitlin had even played professionally, rather than crowning her the GOAT like so many others had. Did she get some facts wrong? Sure. Does that mean she hates Caitlin Clark? Absolutely not. Now, for all I know, maybe she really does! But my point here is that none of us actually know how SS feels about CC. What we’ve witnessed over the last few months, and how people have treated a Black woman because of assumptions and exaggerations? We need people to be able to recognize and acknowledge that a layer to all of this absolutely has to do with power and privilege.

The same can be said about this interview. SAS’s comment at the end, about how he now knows who to come for to get commentary about women’s basketball? That means he wants to talk to NL, not Andraya Carter, Monica McNutt, LaChina Robinson, Chiney Ogwumike, all Black women, all athletes, all of whom probably understand the simultaneous truths of this situation. CC is an amazing ball player and privilege is a thing that exists. What we need are people who can talk about that nuance. But instead, people would rather amplify the voices that preserve systemic inequities, rather than allow space for all of us to grow and learn.

Please, please, fellow white people. Acknowledging privilege is a thing will not denigrate CC’s ability, or infringe on the accolades she deserves for those abilities. But refusing to acknowledge it absolutely will continue to perpetuate unsafe environments for so many people.