The Indiana Fever need a new ‘black, male coach’, Jason Whitlock has claimed, with the right-wing commentator claiming current coach Christie Sides is ‘in over her head’ with managing Caitlin Clark.
Sides, who Clark appeared to be feuding with this weekend, is a white woman and Whitlock believes she is not qualified to manage the Fever’s predominantly black roster.
“The coach is in over her head too, through no fault of her own,” Whitlock said on his “Fearless’ podcast. “A white woman trying to coach Caitlin Clark in the WNBA, with a roster of predominantly black women, that’s a match made in hell.
‘It can’t work. It is sustainable. If she properly tells them what to do, if there are some of those women in there, they will riot and call her racist and say you’re taking everything on Caitlin Clark. They’re going to play the race card on it. I think they should have a black male coach.”
Whitlock then suggested that the Fever hire former Warriors coach Mark Jackson because he believes he can talk to the team’s black players more effectively than Sides.
Indiana Fever head coach Christie Sides is ‘in the head,’ claims Jason Whitlock
Whitlock even called for former Warriors head coach Mark Jackson to be considered
Caitlin Clark is seen during her team’s 88-87 loss to the Chicago Sky on Sunday night
“He can go in and tell them black [players]“Look, this is the way we play,” Whitlock said.
”We have Caitlin Clark here, this is what we have to do: call me racist all you want, call me sexist, whatever. Call me an Uncle Tom, I don’t care, we’re going to play through Caitlin Clark, we’re going to play in a way that makes sense to her.”
Of course, Clark’s race has been an ongoing point of contention over which she had no control.
Former NFL QB Robert Griffin III claimed she and rival Angel Reese were being used in a “race war,” while Stephen A. Smith claimed some black WNBA players “resent” Clark.
“There are girls – young ladies – in the WNBA who are jealous of Caitlin Clark,” he said on First Take. “She’s a white girl who came into the league.”
He added: “You’d think people would be smart enough to recognize and appreciate that about Caitlin Clark – piggyback on that to their advantage and praise and support her for it as they compete against her on the court .’
Caitlin Clark appeared to have a disagreement with Indiana Fever coach Christie Sides (right) in their loss to the Chicago Sky on Sunday night
Whitlock also targeted Clark’s teammate Kelsey Mitchell, who is the leading scorer (just above Clark) on the 7-11 team.
He said the Fever had to cut Mitchell from the team because she “plays a completely different game than everyone else on the field.”
Following the Fever’s loss to the Chicago Sky on Sunday, several clips flooded social media showing Clark’s teammates dropping simple passes and missing layups.
And some angry fans even called Clark’s teammates the “worst ever” after the game.