LA Times Columnist Slams Iowa Icon Caitlin Clark
Coastal media elites are at it again. This time, an out-of-touch Los Angeles Times columnist is targeting Iowa's biggest sports icon, Caitlin Clark, with a lengthy takedown that relies on personal insults rather than facts.
Plaschke's Personal Attack
LA Times writer Bill Plaschke unleashed a bizarre column Sunday, describing Clark with words like oafish, entitled, spoiled, and coddled. The piece, titled Whiny Caitlin Clark's tired antics needs to end, reads more like a personal vendetta than legitimate sports journalism.
Plaschke admits his criticism is usually reserved for LA sports figures, raising serious questions about why he targeted an Iowa native playing for the Indiana Fever.
A Sudden Diehard Fan
Plaschke claims he is a diehard WNBA fan and season ticket holder. However, a quick search reveals he barely covered the league before Clark arrived in 2024. He wrote a mere handful of articles about the WNBA over the last two decades.
Now that Clark has made the league popular enough for him to write about, he is attacking the very player who put women's basketball on the national map. It is the height of coastal entitlement.
Blatant Double Standards
Clark's competitive fire is well known. She trash talks and challenges referees, just like countless other sports stars. LeBron James and Patrick Mahomes are famous for arguing with officials. Yet, Plaschke has not written lengthy takedowns of them for whining.
Clark has not changed. She was the same competitor at Iowa, and she is the same competitor in Indiana. Plaschke was fine with her before, but now he has a problem. It is a clear double standard.
Fact-Checking the LA Times
Plaschke's column is filled with factual errors. He claims Clark is publicly coddled by the media, ignoring the massive industry dedicated to tearing her down. He says she ranks in the top 10 for free throws attempted to prove she gets favorable calls. In reality, she ranks 17th in free throws attempted per game.
He also claims the Fever gave Clark control of the team. The truth is the franchise hired a coach trying to force her into a system that does not fit her style. That is not control. That is a front office failing to build around its biggest asset.
Ignoring the Real Impact
Plaschke argues Clark's teammates deserve more shine and suggests the Fever were great without her. The facts tell a different story. Kelsey Mitchell did not make the playoffs once before Clark arrived. The Fever won just five games in 2022 and 13 games in 2023.
Clark turned the franchise around overnight. This was not a team of playoff-proven stars being held back. Suggesting otherwise is an egregious misrepresentation of the facts.
Iowa Values vs. Coastal Media
Iowans know hard work, competition, and standing up for yourself. Caitlin Clark embodies all of those traits. She brought millions of new fans to a league that desperately needed them, and she did it by being unapologetically competitive.
The mainstream media loves to build up icons just to tear them down. It is no surprise that an LA columnist does not understand the heartland values that make Clark so popular. Iowans see right through the nonsense, and they will continue to stand with Caitlin Clark.