Intro  All you have to do is think back to when Diana Terasi announced her retirement.  They put a microphone in front of several people and person after person  after person who played with Diana Terrasi who played against Diana Terrasi  shared stories about how she hurt them in some way. whether it was a punch in the chest or an elbow or if it was  someone who said, “I was so scared of her when I came into the league and and she hit me and and then I oh man, I I  made it.” That’s an issue that’s on the inside  of an individual and of a multitude of individuals. And the league is made up  of individuals. And Caitlyn Clark gets that  Disclaimer 

Welcome to another episode of the Adrien Ross Show, where sports and culture  connect. I’m going to get into the Wall Street Journal opinion piece. People  have sent me the link. People have asked me to give my feedback on it. I read the  article. I have not watched anyone’s opinion of the of the article. I’ve  watched no one’s YouTube videos or anything like that. I did read a response from Jamal Hill, which I will  get into, but totally not under the influence of  anybody else’s thinking. I don’t even know what people are saying out there. And you guys know that’s how I like it.  I like to respond before I check out what anyone else ha has to say if I check it out at all.

Let me just say  what I said in my earlier video and that is if you hear some noise outside, some music, some pounding, someone’s working  outside on my house and I’m not trying to be melodramatic with music in the  background if you happen to hear anything. Although with the topic at hand, you know, it might be appropriate.  I don’t know. I’m not quite sure how this is going to go, how far we’re going to get here and  and what it’s going to look like. I just know that I’m going to give some some thoughts. So, if you’re one of those  people who gets in comments and says things like, “Would you get to the point  already?” or “Your thoughts are all over the place or all that.” Save your comment. I’m my thoughts are  probably going to be all over the place. So, if you find that it is and you can handle it, feel free to exit stage left.  You you don’t have to announce it. You don’t have to complain about it.

But for the rest of you, I hope you hang in for  for the whole video and work with me here as I am in heart  because I’m probably not going to overly edit this at all. It’s it’s just going to be what it is. So, the Wall Street  Journal article, not going to read the whole thing. I imagine you’ve read it, but I am going to pull it up and I’m  going to make some points about it. I’m not going to spend a whole lot of time on it. Actually, it’s really more of a  springboard into what I want to say about what’s going on with this league,  with Caitlyn Clark, with all the drama that comes with the league. So, let me  pull this article up. Interesting title to this opinion piece by Shan McClean.  The Article  It says, “The WNBA and Caitlyn Clark’s civil rights. If the league won’t act to  protect its superstar from a hostile environment, the government should do  so.” This article comes with receipts.

Like I  said, not going to read through the whole article, but it absolutely comes with receipts. In the article, it points  out what Caitlyn Clark has done for the league. In fact, it starts with that Caitlyn Clark has done for the Women’s  National Basketball Association, what Michael Jordan once did for the NBA, made it more valuable, watchable, and  marketable. The article goes on to talk about the intentional hits that Caitlyn  endures, the excessive fouling, the uncalled uh uncalled abuse because the  referees look the other way as we all know. It goes into the race issue. Is it  because she’s white? It points up that points out that Asia Wilson had said  before Caitlyn Clark got in the league good that it boils her blood that people  don’t say she’s getting attention because she’s white. Asia Wilson says  it’s absolutely because she’s white. Going back to the fouls, it points out  that even Rebecca Lobo, this league was started in part with Rebecca Lobo in mind.

She calls the  games and she’s pretty decent at it and she is pretty decent at calling a foul a  foul and she’s been very clear about how Caitlyn Clark has been fouled repeatedly  and the whistle doesn’t blow. We I’m getting getting away from the article for a second, but we even saw where an  official we don’t know what he said, but an official said something to Caitlyn Clark that caused her to explode.  definitely seems like he went over the top in whatever he said, but somehow he felt comfortable to say that to Caitlyn  Clark.

The article talks about professional sports are multi-billion  dollar industries subject to the same civil rights, antirust, and labor laws  as any other. And so it’s asking, well I  should say he, the author is asking for the government to step in to protect the  superstar if the league will not do so. He quotes a case Harris versus Forklift  Systems in 1993. He talks about Sheila Johnson, who is a  co-owner of the Washington Mystics, and her her reaction to Caitlyn Clark being  on Time magazine.

He talks about how she was ranked ninth among guards in the  league. He points out that Dick Vital called it pure jealousy. He didn’t mention Charles Barkley, but Charles  Barkley also talked about the pettiness of the these women in the league.  He talked about the Olympic snub. He says here, “Miss Clark’s targeting  may reflect a culture of disparit treatment, and the evidence provides  reasonable cause for a federal probe into potential civil rights violations.”  And he goes on to talk about Deie Hami and the pregnancy discrimination concerning the ACEs.  He he’s, like I said, he he brings the receipts. He talks a about a lot of things that most of us who’ve been  following understand has happened in the league. He says here that the labor  department should review league protocols for workplace safety.

If evidence shows discrimination or retaliation, the civil uh the justice department civil rights division must  act. Okay, so let me go to the last paragraph  because that’s a perfect that’s perfect place to stop. says, “Caitlyn Clark has already done more for women’s basketball  than most athletes do for their sports in a lifetime. She’s brought new fans, sponsors, and unprecedented visibility  to her league and peers. None of that will last if the reward for excellence  is physical targeting and institutional neglect. If the WNBA won’t act,  Washington must.” He identifies himself  as someone who served in the Trump White House, uh, served in the offices of  Senator Ted Cruz of Texas and also Representative Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee. If I So, I just wanted to  My Initial Thoughts  give an overview. I got to say this, I’m not sure  how popular my thoughts are going to be. My initial thoughts, like I said, I’m  not spending a whole lot of time on the article. I’m not picking apart the article. I just wanted to give the overview of the of the article.  I’m a less government is more kind of person.

Less government is best  government. I’m one of those people who would quote uh Ronald Reagan who said,  “In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our  problem. government is the problem. And some of you may be be familiar with that  statement when he said something about the nine most dangerous words you could  ever hear is I’m from the government and I’m here to help. You know, now government obviously has a role, but I’m  not a big government kind of gal, right? Small government, best government.  So, I’m really not I’m not feeling the I get the point that’s being made in the  Wall Street Journal article that what is going on is horrendous. Brought the receipts. We didn’t even get into what  Sophie Cunningham said. I did a video about that. Sophie Cunningham pointed out what was the deal. What the deal was  in the Phoenix Mercury locker room, how they wanted to teach Caitlyn something. They do that with rookies to to a  certain extent, but with Caitlyn it was extra extra. and she’s just like, “This is ridiculous and I’m over this.” And  I’m sure it wasn’t just Phoenix with that mindset because we have eyes, we have ears, we’ve been here, we see.  Okay, so the receipts are there and there’s more than than we see in that article. The answer to me though is not

Government Intervention  the government. The government doesn’t need to get involved in this situation  with Caitlyn Clark. The onus is on the league. This is not something where  people should be showing up at Capitol Hill and having to have a whole conversation about it. This is human  decency. And as this article points out, it’s also business. Why you want to  abuse, denigrate, put your foot upon, cast aspersions on someone who is only  trying to play basketball and uplift your league is a is beyond all of us. or  is it because he points out some things. Is it jealousy? Is it race? Is it as  some other people said because she’s straight? Because there is there are allegations in in this league. Candace  Wiggins was one who says she was treated a certain kind of way because she was straight. But Caitlyn’s not the only white person. She’s not the only person  um who’s straight in the league.

There’s a whole lot going on and it’s hard to  unpack in one video. That’s why I said just just kind of bear bear with me here.  I I don’t I don’t say government, you go fix this. Kathy Engelbert should need  government intervention to clean this up. My  opinion about Kathy Angelbert is that there’s a certain level of intimidation that she deals with with this league.  We saw what the league how the league came after her when she made comments that they didn’t like about rivalries.

We saw what happened to Christine Brennan when she asked a question as a journalist of DJ Jane Carrington. There  are consequences and repercussions in this league. So Kathy Ingleberg to me is  not up to the job of standing up where she needs to stand up. That’s not the end of the story though. Adam Silver.  Adam St. Adam Silver could put an end to what we’re seeing in this league just  like that. He can clean this thing up. Why are we talking about government having to step in? Why are we even at  this point? Adam Silver, who is bankrolling the WNBA, should understand  from a business perspective, if not a humane perspective, that this thing is  out of control, and should be commissioner enough, if  not man enough to to do something about it as commissioner of the WNBA, of the NBA,  and Kathy Ingerber as the commissioner of the WNBA.

And I’ve heard people say a lot that if if David Stern was still  alive, he would he would have he would have stepped in and uh he would put an end to a lot of this stuff. We’ll never  know about that. We just know that this is where we are. So this is where I got to get to who I really am. You hear me  talk about get to your bag. You heard the expression because I’ve been writing  and and and speaking and before I started covering basketball  I podcast even before I was on YouTube and then covering other stuff even before I started covering sports on  YouTube and obviously always writing and speaking and so now I’ve got to step into to get back to who I am and why I’m  in this space. Apparently, I have said repeated times that sports are a  microcosm of society. This is a game. Absolutely. But there’s more to it than  that. This issue that we’re dealing with, that we’re having conversations about, that people are writing articles  saying government needs to get get into, that we’re saying that the WNBA leadership needs to do something about.

This is not a basketball problem. This is a spiritual problem and it  manifests itself in this league just as it manifests itself in other areas of  our lives including government. Now having said that I may have lost some of  you right there. But I know for a fact there are some of you because we’ve communicated whether you’ve left  comments, whether you sent me emails, whether you’re in our in our member, part of the members of the channel and  we talk about some of this, you understand that this is more than basketball. This is a spiritual issue  and there is a rot in the core of the WNBA.  And I’m not trying to put down the players as individuals, but I’m telling you that this thing goes deep. Now, some  people say things like, “Well, it’s always been like that in the WNBA.” Not  so. Earlier in the days of the WNBA, there wasn’t what we see right now in  the DNA. I don’t know when it changed because Caitlyn brought me back, but in  the early days of the WNBA, it wasn’t there. Sophie Cunningham again pointed  out that Caitlyn Clark was a target and she said rookies to a certain extent  always get a certain something something but this was more some of that stuff  just needs to stop. Even the stuff that they have all agreed was okay. I mean  like if you want to say to the rookie, hey, you got to buy lunch today because you’re the rookie or you’ve got to set  up the cones today because you’re a rookie.

That’s one thing. But when you start targeting someone, when you start  going after them, knocking them down, scratching, clawing, denigrating,  saying, you know, apologize for who you are and your white privilege. And when you start doing all that and then  physically and mentally abusing someone, you’ve crossed the line. And whether  it’s whether it’s race, which plays a factor, whether it’s where you came from  because you’re from Iowa, which I’ve tried to explain before, some people don’t get it, but it there’s a  difference between a Caitlyn Clark who who went to Iowa and a Briana Stewart who went to Yukon. In the minds of  people, there’s a spiritual problem that is at  work. And until you get that taken care of in this league, as deeply entrenched as it  is, there’s always going to be a problem. And when there is a fear that  keeps people from people from standing up, there will be a problem. And you  will always have people who say, “I want nothing to do with your league.” They are not interested in who’s in the  league. They’re not interested in how well you say they play.

They want nothing to do with the rot. The WNBA  has zero interest, including players, including the media, and maybe there are  Physicality  players who feel the way we feel and haven’t spoken up. But when I look at the players and listen to the players,  when I listen to the media, when I listen to the commentators during the game, this league prides itself on the  very thing that is coming against Caitlyn Clark. I was listening the other day to a game and the commentator was  calling the game and I’m telling you within the span of a few seconds I think  I counted the word physicality five or six times. This league prides  itself on physicality. This league will tell you that if you  have a problem with somebody being grabbed, being thrown down, being  elbowed, being denigrated, and the problem is your problem because we are  the people of physicality. That’s who we are. And they’ll also tell you that their priority is activism.  That’s another issue in the league. So, the issue is what the issue is. But I  got to say this before I get to Jamal Hill’s comments about this because she’s a problem as well.  Before this season started, I released a video and I called it the survival guide  for the 2025 season, something like that. And one of the things I talked  about was that be very careful because  there’s going to be something there where you’re going to find that you’re going to have fan against fan where  we’re going to pit player against player and it is playing out exactly as I said  it would be because the enemy is not who you want the enemy to be. The  players saw Caitlyn Clark as the enemy. Many of the fans see other players as  the enemy. See the coach as the enemy. And that’s what the enemy does. That’s why if you have any understanding  spiritually at all, you understand when the scripture says we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against  powers, against principalities, against rulers of darkness in this world, the in  the heavenlies. There’s a battle that goes on. And again, I know that’s over the head of some people and you don’t want to hear, but I’m not I didn’t come  into this space just because of basketball. I was brought into this space for another reason. This is why  it’s where sports and culture connect. And it really is deeper than that. It really is a spiritual situation.

And so  Spiritual Situation  what happens is that what the enemy does is he gets you to look over here.  This over here is the problem. this person is the enemy while over here all  kinds of nastiness and darkness and stuff are going on. But you’re over here  pointing at one another, pointing at other teammates,  embracing all kinds of concepts and ideas that aren’t based in reality, but  you’re so blinded by it that that’s all you see. That’s the deception that takes  place. And yes, that’s going on. And I intended to start my book in the offseason last offseason, which I never  I never got to do, but I I got to write the book because it’s playing out. And so for those of you who don’t get it, I  you don’t you don’t get it. No shade on you. But some of you do get it. And and  that’s why I said you have to be extremely careful of what is actually  going on.

While you’re looking over here, while you’re pointing to this person and that person and and and just  totally trying to come against their name, they’re in the same boat that  you’re in. They’re they’re part of the systems victims, if you will. Not that they’re  playing the victim, but Caitlyn Clark is here for basketball. But I declare her  purpose in this is so much more. Her coming on the scene,  her coming on the scene shed a light on the best of us, the best that’s within  us and the worst that’s within us. Kayn Clark has become the scapegoat for other  people’s racism. And I mean black to black, black to  white, white to black, all of it. She has become a scapegoat for people’s uh  racism, for people’s classism, for for people’s  sexism, and they’ve attached it to her and want her to carry the weight of all  of that.

This that she’s become the scapegoat for you’re supposed to be the  one who brings me the joy and if you don’t play that way, then I don’t have the joy that I’m supposed to have. and  all of that upon this this 20 these 23 year old shoulders. Meanwhile, while  we’re fighting and scratching and clawing and accusing and totally deceived in so many ways over here, the  darkness prevails because that is the plan of the enemy. It always is divide  and conquer. divide and again pointed this out before the season even started  because I could see it coming because I know how the enemy works and I know how  he uses sports and if you don’t believe me all you got to do is get on X if you dare and look at comments and look at  The WNBA  how people come after people and what they say about people and what they accuse people of and what they are totally totally consumed with.  So you can write your article. You can want government to intervene and hey if  government feels like this needs to be uh this should be an intervention then then then fine. That’s not the answer.

That’s not going to solve the problem. Now the WNBA could step up and do something. But the WNBA itself is part  of the problem because it’s entrenched within the WNBA that this is what it’s supposed to look like. that if you don’t  line up to this, this is the norm. So, Caitlyn Clark is not what what’s  happening to her is just is just normal. And notice that he said that this the  superstar, they’re allowing the superstar to be abused. This league doesn’t even see her as a  superstar. They’re resisting that. Sophie Cunningham done told you about that in her first episode. They don’t  even see her as that superstar. They’re put off by that.  But there’s so much more under the surface and it has gone on in this  league. All you have to do is think back to when Diana Terasi announced her  retirement. They put a microphone in front of several people and person after  person after person who played with Diana Terrasi, who played against Diana  Terrasi, shared stories about how she hurt them in some way. whether it was a  punch in the chest or an elbow or if it was someone who said, “I was so scared of her when I came into the league and  and she hit me and and then I oh man, I I made it.”  That’s an issue that’s on the inside of an individual and of a multitude of  individuals. And the league is made up of individuals  and Caitlyn Clark gets that multiplied and I’m and this league  changes people. That’s why we pray for people.

I’m telling you you guys, it’s so much more than basketball. That’s why  even among the members, we’ve got a list that we’re that we pray about because there’s so much more that’s going on.  People enter the league and they get changed.  It’s a battle. I’m telling you, it’s a spiritual battle. And we  are pawns. And so far, I hate to say it, but it’s true.  It’s working. So, some people  don’t understand me and where I’m coming from, and this isn’t about me. I’m just going to speak the truth. And he that  has an ear, let him hear. Some people don’t understand me why I take such a strong stance sometimes on  what I’m going to allow, what I’m not going to allow. Because I got to steward it well.

Because I know how the enemy works. Drops a seed and totally blows it all  up. And instead of going this way, all of a sudden you’re this way. All of a  sudden, it’s a whole spirit of attack. It’s a whole spirit of accusation. It’s a whole spirit of deception. And that no  matter what is seen that’s to the contrary, when that deception enters,  it’s always turned right back around. That’s the plan of the enemy and it’s  been working. So, I do take a hard stand on some things. I don’t let just anything go in  the live streams. And there are people who would like me to do that, but there are people who constantly thank me that  I don’t because I will not be a pawn in the hand of the enemy. We’re going to  watch. We’re going to enjoy. We’re going to stand up. We’re going to speak out, but we’re not going to be pawns. We  pitted against one another, accusatory of one another when the problem is over  here and there’s a rot at the very core. All the other stuff is superfluous  things to get your mind, especially those of you who are people of faith and  spiritual in nature, to get your mind off of the real battle and the real  enemy and it’s in the system  and it’s a spiritual bro. So, like I said, some people will get  this. absolutely get it. Others won’t. It came out the way it came out. I just  know what I know and I refuse to partake in what I know  is the plan of the enemy. Got to write this book. I know I do.  I’m going to go now to what Jamal Hill posted about this  article.

Jamal Hill posted this screenshot of  Jamal Hill  this article and this is what she said. She said, “Yes, we’ve reached this stage  of the Caitlyn Clark ridiculousness where the Wall Street Journal ran a column from a former Trump adviser who  believes the federal government should step in to prevent Caitlyn Clark from being harassed at work. And by harassed,  they mean defense.” She starts off by lying. The new wave in this country is  elevating white grievances so that white folks truly believe they are the real victims of racism. I do not blame  Caitlyn Clark for this. She just wants to ball. I blame the people who are clutching their pearls at competition  and can’t stop their sexist mindset of how women are supposed to compete.  They are purposely making black women out to be the villains in Caitlyn Clark’s story. That’s why all these  pundits keep running with the narrative that these women need to be grateful. They’re using Cece to get off all these  takes of how they really feel about black women. They want black women to be humbled and to be reminded of their  place. As soon as someone says they need to be thanking her, I can hear your dog  whistle loud and clear. Caitlyn Clark is a phenomenal player who does not need  y’all laying down these white supremacist capes for her to exist. No  great player is given anything. You have to take it. She knows that and will rise  to the challenge. Sports has worked this way since the beginning of time.

Now,  why did I say she’s lying? Well, first of all, I want to I want to point out what she does. She starts off  by mentioning President Trump and that the writer isn’t the advisor.  Truth is truth no matter who’s speaking it. But she knows that there’s a large percentage of people who have a problem  when his name is mentioned. So by throwing that name out, she seeks to disregard what he’s saying. That’s  number one. Very obvious. You know, I know how that goes. goes on  to say that when they talk about or he talks about Caitlyn being harassed, when  we talk about Caitlyn Clark being harassed, that we mean we don’t want people to play defense on her. That’s a  lie. We don’t have a problem with defense. We have a problem with abuse.  We all know who’ve watched this game for years and years that no one has been  defended as Caitlyn Clark has.

Some of it tough defense, some of it abuse.  That’s the part we have a problem with. And the fact that she doesn’t see that  again is the fact that she’s blinded by her own agenda and the rot of the WNBA  that prides itself on some kind of physicality and then excuses itself for  extra physicality for Caitlyn Clark. Even when you have someone like Gino Oryma, whom we heard say that she  basically deserves it because she dare talk back on the basketball court, which  is also part of the game, right? But they excuse it. And when they excuse it,  they justify it, which means they give the stamp of approval on it.  So she goes on to say that this is all about elevating white grievances. So again, this is how the spiritual matter  works, deception. So now they play people like Jamal Hill and others, they play on the emotions of  people.

They use the terms like white supremacy because they know that gets a  rise out of people. So you have determined what gets a rise out of people. That’s her dog whistle that she  tries to make our dog whistle. we want to blame  white people. And then they go, “Yeah, we don’t blame Caitlyn Clark.” You know, they always throw that out. We don’t blame Caitlyn Clark,  but white people, the nerve of white people to feel like that that they’re the real victims of racism really. So  again, I guess here we’re supposed to pretend we don’t see what we see and know what we know. They’re they’re  purposely making black women out to be victims of Katen Clark’s story. Another lie. JCS Sheldon’s not black. I think  she went for Caitlyn’s eyes. Marina Mabberry not black.  She pushes Caitlyn Clark down. I don’t care what color you are. Wrong is wrong.  But this is what they do. If you say something to someone who happens to be black and you check them for what they  do and they twist it and say you’re only going after them because they’re black.  It’s a rot.

Then we come back to Caitlyn Clark being a phenomenal player. She doesn’t need  y’all laying down these white supremacist capes. What? What does this have to do with white supremacy?  Now, have I seen racist comments from white people to black people in this  league? I absolutely have. Have I seen racist comments from black people to  other black people? I have. And have I seen racist comments  from black people to white people? I absolutely have. Trying to get us to  look over here and change the conversation for what it is, which is in  the DNA of this league, there’s a problem. And the league is made up of  people. So within the DNA of people, there’s a problem. And part of it we see  in Jamal Hill so often because she can’t see past the color of a person’s skin,  which is part of the problem in this whole situation. But the Caitlyn Clark situation is not just about race or  color because there’s only one race, the human race. It’s not just about color.  It’s a whole lot of things. And it gets, like I said, to a spiritual problem  where there’s insecurity, where there’s jealousy, and where there’s a mindset that you somehow prove yourself  by taking down someone else. Sophie Cunningham did something when she said,  “There was more with Caitlyn. There’s extra with Caitlyn, and it’s still there.”

Conclusion  So, just to reiterate, I’m not  into thinking the government needs to do something here. The league needs to do something. But until the league deals  with the culture of the league that has been allowed to fester and grow,  they’re not going to have what it takes to make the changes.  They’re not. And until we open our eyes and see what’s going on, it’ll be a  continual situation where the rot is not just in the WNBA.  The rot is in the people who are even covering the WNBA. The rot is in the people who  are doing what the enemy planned all along, which was to turn you against one  another, against people who are not the enemy, but who are also themselves  targets of the enemy. And it’ll be absolute complete chaos. But I got to  say this, that’s exactly the way some people want it to be. And that too is a  spiritual problem. So I’m all over the place, I’m sure. Just wanted to give my  thoughts. It’s not about the government stepping in. It’s a spiritual problem.  And you know what? It’s going to take a spiritual solution. And I got to say, I’m probably like, I don’t know, you  probably had to follow me every which way. And uh it is what it is. But I got to call it what I what I what I call it.  My only motivation is truth. Back in what was it 2008, I had a blog and the  name of the blog was motivation truth because that’s my only motivation. I  don’t have anything else to say. If you don’t hit the thumbs up, I’m fine. If you don’t hit the subscribe button, I’m  fine. I’m going to speak the truth because I believe that’s why I’m here.  I’ll catch you next time, God willing. God bless you abundantly.  You got it.