Expect Cooper Flagg To Face Same Racial Backlash As Caitlin Clark | Bobby Burack

On Saturday night, before Duke's improbable last-minute collapse, I predicted that Cooper Flagg would be a pariah in the NBA. "The current players will not be kind to a player who is that white and that good," my post on X reads.

The post was met with immediate backlash, with a near-even split between users claiming anti-white racism doesn't exist and that the NBA is not as petty as the WNBA. 

We will ignore the first group. Anyone denying the existence of anti-white racism, especially in sports, is either ignorant or a believer in critical race theory (the idea that black people cannot be racist). So, for now, let's address the argument that the NBA won't be as hostile toward Flagg as the WNBA is toward Caitlin Clark.

Critics of mine noted that Flagg wouldn't be the first white star in the NBA, referencing players like Nikola Jokic, Luka Doncic, and Dirk Nowitzki. Well, sure. But Clark wasn't the first star with white skin in the WNBA either.

What separated Clark from the white women before her is star power. Not all stars have star power. Jokic and Doncic, like Kelsey Plum, are great players, but they are not mainstream attractions.

See, the race bullies in the WNBA weren't jealous of Clark because they thought she was better than them on the court (though she is). They rejected her because she was more famous, inked better shoe deals, and appeared in more commercials than them. They were jealous of her star power.

Like Clark, Flagg projects to be a transcendent star at the next level. Comparisons to Jokic, Doncic, or Nowitzki fall apart when you consider the latter three were not born in America. American sports fans are drawn to American-born athletes. They always have been. Jokic has been the best player in the NBA for at least five seasons and isn't even among the five biggest attractions in the league. 

As Michael Wilbon noted in an interview with OutKick, Bronny James is discussed more on ESPN than Jokic.

DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA - MARCH 03: Cooper Flagg #2 of the Duke Blue Devils high-fives the Cameron Crazies after the game against the Wake Forest Demon Deacons at Cameron Indoor Stadium on March 03, 2025 in Durham, North Carolina. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images)

Now, enter Cooper Flagg. He was born in Maine and plays for the evil emperor known as Duke. Unlike Jokic, he has hops and dunks the ball with authority. He is one of the most hyped draft prospects in 20 years.

All things considered, Flagg has a chance to be the best American-born white basketball player since Larry Bird.

And Bird, like Clark, was despised by his black opponents. 

"Larry Bird is a very, very good basketball player," Dennis Rodman said at the height of the Pistons-Celtics rivalry. "But if he was black, he’d be just another guy."

Isiah Thomas agreed. "I think Larry is a very, very good basketball player. He’s an exceptional talent. But I have to agree with Rodman. If he were black, he’d be just another good guy."

That is how certain black players view accomplished white hoopers: good, when graded on the white man can't jump curve. Naturally, believers of that stereotype despise it when said white players are more famous than them.

Further, we reject the hypothesis that male basketball players are more racially tolerant than females.

Durant called actor Michael Rapaport "a pale pasty cum guzzling bitch" during a feud in 2021. Montrezl Harrell mocked Luka Doncic by calling him a "bitch ass white boy" on the court. Current and former players flock to Gilbert Arenas' podcast and spew racial nonsense weekly. 

LeBron James even accused owners of sports teams, who turn young black men into instant millionaires, of having a similar "mentality" to -- wait for it -- slave masters.

NBA players are just as petty and racially confused as WNBA players.

IOWA CITY, IA - FEBRUARY 2: Caitlin Clark #22 of the Indiana Fever speaks during the Caitlin Clark #22 Jersey Retirement  Ceremony after the game between the USC Trojans and Iowa Hawkeyes on February 2, 2025 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City, Iowa.  NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2025 NBAE (Photo by Jasey Michelle Bradwell/NBAE via Getty Images)

Then there is the media.

If Flagg is a recurring topic on the daily talk shows, does anyone honestly think that Kendrick Perkins, Stephen A. Smith, Monica McNutt, Shannon Sharpe, David Dennis, Joy Taylor, Nick Wright, and Ryan Clark won't fixate on his white skin? 

Of course, not. Those commentators are already chopping at the bit in hopes of recreating the same racial hysteria around Flagg as they did Clark.

Anti-white-ism in sports isn't exclusive to the WNBA. Heck, the media has tried to create a race war around Josh Allen in the NFL. 

In reality, sports and sports media are hodgepodges of intellectual lightweights, wannabe victims, and anti-white racists. Race-baiting and racism are reflexive to them.

So, no, I won't backtrack from my post on Saturday night. If Cooper Flagg is the phenomenon he is supposed to be in the NBA, he will be the subject of fierce racial backlash.

Current and former players will blame his stardom on great white hope-ism. ESPN commentators will demand he apologize for his supposed white privilege. He will lead the league in flagrant fouls taken.

The only question is whether he will cower in fear or embrace his inevitable villain status.