Social media posts declare rising US basketball star Caitlin Clark has declined multi-million greenback offers with Nike and LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers because of their “woke” values. That is false; Clark signed with Nike as a collegiate participant, and the allegations come from a satirical web site.
“Caitlin Clark Turns Down Huge $400 Million Supply Endorsement Supply from Nike, ‘I Do not Like That Kaepernick Clow,'” says a June 24, 2024 Fb put up.
One other June 23 put up says: “Breaking: Caitlin Clark turns down $550 million endorsement cope with LeBron James, calling him a ‘woke creep.'”
Screenshots of Fb posts taken June 27, 2024
The claims unfold elsewhere on Fb and different web sites.
Most of the posts invoke former Nationwide Soccer League quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who began a pattern of athletes kneeling throughout the nationwide anthem to protest police brutality in opposition to Black People.
The participant’s 2018 advert marketing campaign resulted in a boycott in opposition to Nike and is one motive the corporate was accused of adopting “woke” ideology, a tradition battle chorus that always performs out in controversies over social points. AFP beforehand debunked posts suggesting basketball legend Michael Jordan departed from the model over ideological variations.
Claims suggesting Clark, the Girls’s Nationwide Basketball Affiliation’s primary general draft choose, turned down a multi-million greenback deal are equally false.
Clark signed a cope with Nike in 2022 (archived right here). It expired on the finish of her record-breaking 2023-2024 school basketball season on the College of Iowa.
The Athletic and The Wall Avenue Journal reported in April 2024 that Clark was anticipated to signal a brand new deal price greater than $20 million with the model that would come with a signature shoe (archived right here and right here).
AFP contacted representatives for Clark and Nike for remark, however responses weren’t forthcoming.
‘Nothing is actual’
Key phrase searches discovered the headlines shared on-line stem from satirical web sites.
Each tales had been printed by Esspots.com, which describes its content material as “fictitious” and says it “makes a speciality of satire, parody, and humor” (archived right here).
“Earlier than you proceed to learn our content material, we wish to emphasize that nothing on this web site is actual,” the web site says.
The declare about James stems from a June 20 Fb put up that can be labeled as satire. Nevertheless, the allegation unfold in different posts with out such disclaimers.
Clark has obtained unprecedented consideration for her rookie season with the Indiana Fever and up to date omission from the USA Basketball Girls’s Nationwide Group’s Olympic roster, making her the focus of a bigger debate about racism and misogyny.
“It is disappointing. Everyone in our world deserves the identical quantity of respect … Folks shouldn’t be utilizing my title to push these agendas,” she told The Athletic on June 13 (archived right here).
AFP beforehand debunked claims that Clark will play for the Canadian nationwide basketball group on the 2024 Olympics.
