He's attacking the woman for making the league he loves so dearly finally popular
In the long and recurring story of sports media and its discontents, a Los Angeles Times columnist turned his pen against Caitlin Clark in June 2026, calling her entitled and oafish in a piece that claimed the authority of a devoted fan. But authority, like fandom, must be earned — and a closer examination of the record reveals a column built on thin credentials, selective memory, and factual errors that quietly undo its own argument. What emerges is less a critique of an athlete than a mirror held up to the critic himself.
- A prominent sportswriter declared himself a diehard WNBA fan while his own archive shows he barely covered the league before Caitlin Clark made it impossible to ignore.
- The column condemns Clark for complaining to referees — a behavior she has displayed her entire career — while offering no similar scrutiny to LeBron James or Patrick Mahomes, who do the same at the highest level.
- Key factual claims collapse on contact: Clark ranks 17th in free throws attempted, not top ten, and her teammates Mitchell and Boston never reached the playoffs until she arrived.
- The question of why a columnist who covers Los Angeles sports figures trained his sights on an Indiana player born and raised in Iowa goes conspicuously unanswered.
- The column's closing assertion — that A'ja Wilson, not Clark, is the WNBA's true star — lands as an argument already lost, sustained only by insistence rather than evidence.
Bill Plaschke's June column in the Los Angeles Times arrived with considerable force, calling Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark oafish, entitled, spoiled, and coddled. He framed his critique from the position of a diehard WNBA fan and season ticket holder. The problem is that his own archive tells a different story — a handful of WNBA pieces over two decades, most of them written only after Clark transformed the league's visibility in 2024. For someone claiming deep affection for women's basketball, the record suggests something closer to indifference until Clark made it impossible to look away.
The substance of his complaint — that Clark's behavior toward referees and coaches represents a troubling new development — ignores that she has always competed this way. She trash-talked at Iowa, challenged officials there, and does the same in Indiana. What changed is not Clark. What changed is Plaschke's willingness to write about her. Meanwhile, he has not written comparable columns about LeBron James or Patrick Mahomes, both legendary in their complaints to officials. The double standard sits in the piece unexamined.
His factual claims fare no better. Clark ranks 17th in free throws attempted per game, not in the top ten as he asserts. His suggestion that Kelsey Mitchell and Aliyah Boston are being suppressed by Clark's presence overlooks that Mitchell had been with the Fever since 2018 without a playoff appearance, and Boston was drafted onto a team that finished 13-27. Clark did not hold back a winning roster — she rebuilt a losing one.
Perhaps the most telling detail is geographic. Plaschke is a Los Angeles columnist who, by his own admission, typically reserves criticism for local figures. Caitlin Clark is from Iowa and plays in Indiana. Why she warranted a full takedown from him remains unanswered, and that silence gives the piece a personal quality his other work does not carry. His final claim — that A'ja Wilson is the league's true star — reads less like an argument and more like a concession. The column set out to diminish Clark. Instead, it quietly confirms everything she has built.
Bill Plaschke's Los Angeles Times column attacking Caitlin Clark arrived on a Sunday in June with the weight of a man finally unburdening himself. The piece was titled "Whiny Caitlin Clark's tired antics needs to end," and it called the Indiana Fever star oafish, entitled, spoiled, and coddled. It was a lengthy takedown from someone claiming to be a diehard WNBA fan and season ticket holder. The problem, upon inspection, is that almost nothing in the column holds up.
Plaschke's opening gambit—that he is a devoted league follower—crumbles under basic scrutiny. A search of his archive reveals he wrote almost nothing about the WNBA before Clark's arrival in 2024. Two pieces on Brittney Griner's Russian captivity in 2022. A mention of the Los Angeles Sparks once every few years. A column on Lisa Leslie in 2006, another on Nneka Ogwumike in 2016, one on Candace Parker in 2021. Since Clark entered the league, he has written seven WNBA columns. Before her, five. For a man paid handsomely to cover sports and claiming deep affection for the league, the record suggests something closer to indifference until Clark made the WNBA impossible to ignore.
The substance of his complaint—that Clark whines, complains to referees, challenges her coaches—is presented as a recent corruption of character. But this is who she has always been. She trash-talked opponents at Iowa. She complained to officials there. She challenged coaches there. She does the same in Indiana. The behavior is not new. What is new is Plaschke's willingness to write about it. He was fine with her before. Now he has a problem. The column reads like a man discovering something he had chosen not to see.
When Plaschke condemns Clark for complaining to officials, he does not mention that LeBron James is one of the biggest complainers in NBA history, or that Patrick Mahomes constantly begs referees for penalty flags. He found no reason to write lengthy columns admonishing either of them. He did, however, recently criticize Lakers guard Austin Reaves for complaining too much to referees. Both Reaves and Clark are white athletes. Plaschke does not acknowledge the pattern. The double standard sits in the column like an unexamined thing.
His factual claims deteriorate further under pressure. He says Clark ranks in the top ten in free throws attempted. She ranks seventeenth per game, nineteenth in total attempts, despite being third in usage rate. He says the media has coddled her. An entire cottage industry exists to tear her down and call her fans racist. He claims the Fever have given her control of the team. They hired a coach misaligned with her style and are forcing her to play a different game—the one she played at Iowa, the one that brought millions of new fans to women's basketball. He argues that Kelsey Mitchell and Aliyah Boston are being held back by Clark's presence. Mitchell has been with the Fever since 2018 and never made the playoffs until Clark arrived. Boston was drafted in 2023 to a team that finished 13-27. This was not a roster of proven stars being suppressed. It was a losing team that Clark transformed.
Toward the end, Plaschke insists he has written similar columns about men—Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, other local legends. But he works for the Los Angeles Times and has been a sports columnist there since 1996. He mostly covers L.A. figures. Bryant was a Laker. James played for the Lakers. So why is Caitlin Clark, born in Iowa, educated at the University of Iowa, now playing for Indiana, receiving a full column from a columnist who admits his criticism is usually reserved for local sports figures? The question hangs unanswered. It is why the piece feels personal in a way his previous critiques do not.
Finally, Plaschke claims that A'ja Wilson, not Clark, is the WNBA's most marketable and popular superstar. Wilson has been in the league since 2018. The vast majority of sports fans had no idea who she was until Clark arrived and made the WNBA visible. The claim is so detached from reality that it reads as a kind of surrender—an admission that the argument itself has failed, and only assertion remains. Plaschke ends by saying he has seen enough of Clark. Clark, meanwhile, has brought millions of new fans to women's basketball. The column's final irony is that it proves the opposite of what it intends.
Citas Notables
For a diehard fan who also is paid handsomely to write about sports, he didn't spend a ton of time writing about his beloved WNBA.— Analysis of Plaschke's WNBA coverage history
This was not a team of playoff-proven stars that is now being held back by Clark. That argument is perhaps the most egregious in a column filled with egregious arguments.— Rebuttal to Plaschke's claim about the Fever's roster
La Conversación del Hearth Otra perspectiva de la historia
Why does a columnist who barely wrote about the WNBA suddenly care so much about Caitlin Clark's behavior?
That's the question the column doesn't answer. He claims to be a diehard fan, but the record shows he ignored the league for years. It feels less like genuine fandom and more like he's discovered a controversy he can ride.
Is Clark actually behaving worse than other stars, or is Plaschke just noticing it now?
She's behaving exactly as she always has. She complained to refs at Iowa. She challenges coaches. She trash-talks. None of that is new. What's new is that Plaschke is writing about it—and only about her, not about LeBron James or Patrick Mahomes, who do the same things.
What about his claim that the media has coddled her?
It's backwards. There's an entire industry built around tearing Clark down. Plaschke is joining it, not observing it. The media hasn't coddled her. They've been waiting for a reason to turn on her.
Does the Fever actually give Clark control of the team?
No. They hired a coach whose system doesn't match her style and are trying to force her to play differently. The team was 5-31 before she arrived. Now they're competitive. That's not control—that's transformation.
Why does Plaschke compare her to A'ja Wilson as the more marketable star?
Because he's run out of real arguments. Wilson has been in the league since 2018 and nobody knew who she was until Clark made the WNBA visible. The claim is so disconnected from reality that it reveals the whole column is personal, not analytical.
What's the real issue here?
A columnist who ignored the WNBA for decades suddenly has a problem with the one player who made it worth paying attention to. He's not critiquing her behavior—he's resenting her success.