Skip Bayless admitted he felt “guilty” about praising Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark because he didn’t want to look like a “red state guy.”
On Thursday’s episode of The Skip Bayless Show, Bayless detailed his upbringing and way it has influenced how he covers the topic of race in sports. When he first saw Clark play, he said, he was blown away.
“So, here came this White girl from Iowa,” Bayless said, “and I started watching the WNBA much more closely than I ever had; and I started to think deep down in my psyche, ‘Wait a second, she’s really good.’ But I’ll be the first to admit I felt guilty saying so on TV or on social media. I did not want to look like this red state white guy cheering for this red state White girl.”
Since Clark’s rise to stardom, the discourse surrounding her evolved into toxic conversations about race and sexuality — especially when she’s compared to Chicago Sky star Angel Reese. Because of this, Bayless continued, it was as if Clark had become a “right-wing symbol” through no fault of her own.
“Our country feels split enough racially already,” he said. “I didn’t want to pour gasoline on that fire. Maybe I was wrong about this, but Caitlin Clark started to feel like, to me, some sort of new right-wing symbol. ‘White woman dominating the game dominated by black men and women for years and years.’ I could almost hear some people thinking, ‘White power baby!’”
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