Nancy Armour’s USA Today article about Caitlin Clark’s “flopping” has sparked controversy. Armour suggested that Clark’s arguments with referees have threatened the WNBA and could have broader implications against Black players.
Armour compared it to the 1955 Emmett Till case in which a white woman named Carolyn Bryant alleged that Till, a 14-year-old African American, whistled at her. That incident led to Bryant’s husband and his half-brother, J.W. Milam, abducting Till and eventually killing him.
On Thursday, former NFL player Emmanuel Acho called out Armour for making such a comparison.
“You cannot use Emmett Till and Caitlin Clark, thus Carolyn Bryant and Caitlin Clark, in the same sentence,” Acho said on the Speakeasy Podcast. “Two completely different individuals. Carolyn Bryant uttered an egregious lie, so much so that a black man, a 14-year-old boy, was brutally lynched, beaten, murdered…
“Caitlin Clark is committing sins of omission,” Acho continued. “Carolyn Bryant committed a sin of admission, which was a false admission. Completely different things. If Caitlin Clark has done anything wrong, it’s that she has not used her voice enough.
“What Carolyn Bryant did, which led to the lynching of Emmett Till, was – she used her voice to tell a lie. I will not ever in my life draw an equivalency between Caitlin Clark and Carolyn Bryant and what her [Bryant’s] actions did, which led to the brutal lynching of Emmett Till, and what Caitlin Clark is doing, which is leading to some aggressive tweets at WNBA players, Emmanuel Acho and others.”
Rival players have accused some of Clark’s fans of racially abusing them online over on-court incidents. On July 1, Acho said he was among those threatened by a person claiming to be a Clark fan for saying that the WNBA doesn’t need the Indiana Fever superstar anymore.
Dave Portnoy lashes out at Nancy Armour for her column on Caitlin Clark
Barstool Sports President Dave Portnoy slammed Nancy Armour’s article on Caitlin Clark. Portnoy specifically pointed to the paragraph where she said Clark arguing for calls could threaten the WNBA and civil rights.
“Congrats to USA Today’s Nancy Armour! She has written the dumbest paragraph not only of my lifetime but in the history of sports,” Portnoy wrote on X. “This is an article that says @CaitlinClark22 arguing calls has become dangerous for the @wnba and civil rights. Nancy Armour should be out in a straight jacket and locked up. We can’t have these types of smooth brains roaming freely in society.”
“In my recent column, I made an inartful comparison with the murder of Emmett Till,” she wrote on Instagram. “I intended to connect the issues the WNBA is currently facing with its All-Star Game being hosted in Till’s hometown of Chicago. I obviously did not provide enough context for that.”
“However, this point stands: There is a history in this country of perceived threats to white women being weaponized against African-Americans, and the danger that poses to Black players in the league. Players have been abused online and have reported receiving death threats. That has to be taken more seriously.”
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