Caitlin Clark, renowned for her basketball skills and humble nature, never expected that a simple act of kindness would change someone’s life forever. One unusually cold November evening in Iowa City, after a rigorous practice session, Caitlin was driving home along quieter back roads, avoiding the hustle and bustle of the main streets.
As she navigated the suburban streets, her headlights illuminated a figure on the roadside. A woman stood next to her car, its hood propped open, steam rising like an SOS signal. The woman waved hesitantly, clearly in distress. Most cars sped past without slowing down, but Caitlin couldn’t ignore the situation. Her parents had always instilled in her the importance of helping others, and this moment felt no different.
Caitlin pulled over and rolled down her window. “Need some help?” she asked. The woman, visibly cold and frustrated, nodded. “Yes, please. My car just broke down, and I can’t call for roadside assistance because of the poor cell service here.”
“I’m no mechanic, but let me take a look,” Caitlin offered, stepping out of her car. After a few minutes of fiddling with the engine, it became clear that the problem was beyond her ability to fix. Without hesitation, Caitlin said, “Let me give you a ride home. We can figure out the car later.”
The woman hesitated, unsure of trusting a stranger, but Caitlin’s warm demeanor eased her doubts. Grabbing her groceries, the woman climbed into Caitlin’s car. As they drove, they engaged in a heartwarming conversation. The woman, Elena, shared stories about her 7-year-old son, Max, who was obsessed with basketball and idolized Caitlin.
Caitlin smiled but chose not to reveal her identity. Instead, she offered some general basketball tips, making Elena smile for the first time that evening. When they arrived at Elena’s home, she thanked Caitlin profusely and offered to repay her, but Caitlin waved it off. “Just take care of your son,” she said, handing Elena a card with her number. “Let me know what happens with your car.”
The next morning, Elena received a call from a tow service. To her surprise, Caitlin had arranged for her car to be towed, repaired, and the cost covered entirely. A note was left with the repair receipt that simply read, “Pay it forward when you can.” For Elena, this act of kindness was a lifeline, lifting a tremendous burden from her shoulders.
Three years later, Elena was invited to share her story at a charity event hosted by the University of Iowa’s basketball team, aimed at supporting single parents. As she recounted the cold November night when a kind stranger had helped her, she felt a surge of gratitude.
In the audience, Caitlin sat in the front row, her heart swelling with recognition. After the event, she approached Elena, revealing her identity. “I’m Caitlin Clark,” she said, and the pieces fell into place for Elena. The stranger who had helped her was none other than the basketball star her son idolized.
Their reunion sparked a beautiful friendship. Caitlin sent Elena and Max tickets to an Iowa Hawkeyes game, where Max had the chance to shoot hoops with his hero. Inspired by Caitlin’s kindness, Elena began volunteering with local organizations supporting single mothers, sharing her story to inspire others.
As their lives intertwined, both women became advocates for kindness, proving that even the smallest acts can create ripples of change. Caitlin’s simple decision to help a stranded woman had not only transformed Elena’s life but had also inspired a movement of compassion and community.
Caitlin Clark and the politics of ‘pretty privilege’
It’s time to stop talking about privilege and appreciate the diversity of gifts
Indiana Fever’s Caitlin Clark speaks during a WNBA news conference, Wednesday, April 17, 2024, in Indianapolis. Darron Cummings, Associated Press
In addition to being a phenomenal basketball player, Caitlin Clark is, by most standards, an objectively attractive woman. This is not why she’s been featured on the cover of many magazines; those honors owe to her athletic ability and the global attention she has brought to women’s basketball.
Sure, Sports Illustrated or ESPN Magazine might sell a few extra magazines when the person on the cover is, as they say, “easy to look at.” But athletes are primarily given acclaim for other gifts.
This distinction has been lost in the national conversation about “privilege,” which seeks to knock people down, instead of celebrating them.
And this is what happened recently to Clark, when the former Iowa standout’s popularity was attributed, in part, to “pretty privilege” and “white privilege” by Sunny Hostin on the talk show “The View.”
While applauding Clark’s ability to draw new fans to women’s basketball, Hostin then undercut her own praise by saying, “There is a thing called pretty privilege, there is a thing called white privilege, there is a thing called tall privilege, and we have to acknowledge that.” As Fox News reported, she went on to say that Clark’s popularity was also aided by her being heterosexual.
The audience, which had clapped for Hostin’s first remarks about Clark, did not applaud those comments, and other hosts pushed back, including Whoopi Goldberg, who said, “To have her reduced that way bothered me a lot because this is her record. Unless you can show me who’s got a better record than this, this is why she’s getting the attention she’s getting, because she’s a damn good player and doesn’t matter whether she’s straight or gay, ain’t nobody crying when she’s making those balls.”
Co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin also noted that Clark was simply “so fun to watch.”
While it’s encouraging to see someone like Goldberg, known for her liberal views, to challenge the language of privilege, the societal effects of such language were on display in the recent cheap shot leveled by Chennedy Carter against Clark, which was later deemed by the WNBA a “Flagrant 1″ foul.
The foul, which occurred during the third quarter of the Indiana-Chicago game June 1, was widely decried.
In her first public comments about the incident, Clark spoke with grace and class to Christine Brennan of USA Today, saying, “Sometimes it stinks how much the conversation is outside of basketball and not the product on the floor and the amazing players that are on the floor and how good they are for their teams and how great this season has been for women’s basketball.”
She also noted that she doesn’t pay much attention to social media, which might be another reason — besides “tall privilege” and years of unrelenting focus and practice — that she’s so good at her sport. There are many reasons people succeed that don’t involve undeserved advantage, which is what talk of privilege implies.
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There are, of course, personal rivalries and spats in all professional endeavors, not just in the intensity of sports competition, and it was reported that Clark and Carter had exchanged heated words prior to the foul. Carter’s foul was likely a combination of court rage and a momentary lapse of impulse control, which we see in the greatest of athletes, including Tom Brady.
Still, it’s naive to think that larger public conversations about “privilege” don’t settle into personal interactions like some toxic particulate matter. They foment resentment. Caitlin Clark hate might arise from the muck of any primordial sin, from jealousy to wrath to pride, and is surely as difficult to eradicate as any other unsavory aspect of human nature. But we don’t have to feed it with careless and inflammatory language.
In another time, we might have simply called Clark “gifted” — instead of “privileged” — which is another way of noting the ways Clark stands out without all the toxicity. In his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul wrote about the Holy Spirit distributing gifts of the Spirit to believers, including wisdom, healing, prophecy and the working of miracles. For the “privilege” of these gifts, many of these disciples were martyred, but that is not the point. The point is, that language matters, and it is a much different thing to remark on someone’s gifts than to denigrate their privilege.
Caitlin Clark, like her teammate Aliyah Boston, is beautiful and tall, and a really good basketball player. Both women are exceptionally gifted. How great for them — how great for basketball. How great for all of us who have the privilege to watch them.
