Caitlin Clark’s season is over, but the mob’s anger has nothing to do with her health. Caitlin Clark

cAitlin Clark’s season is over. Indiana Hot Confirmed Thursday night Many people suspect that when the 2024 rookie of the year announced on social media that she won’t return from a groin injury this year, limiting her to 13 games.

“I had hoped to share a better update, but I wouldn’t be back to the season,” she wrote. “Shortdown isn’t a big enough word…it’s incredibly frustrating, but even in bad situations, there’s good. The way fans continue to show up…has brought me a lot of joy and perspective.”

It’s a statement full of grace, perspective and attention to the team. However, for the mob that has been closely linked to Clark, this is not enough. Their anger is instantaneous, not because Clark lacks for the rest of the year, but because they lose the ability to use her as a weapon for endless cultural wars.

Some of her so-called fan predictions on X that the WNBA would “get faded into obscurity without Clark” or “other players can’t wait to hurt her”, ignoring the fact that: The league’s ratings remain strong and w It’s been a tough physical allianceeven before Clark arrived.

The reality is that Clark’s absence is the only wise result. Athletes are programmed to want to survive the pain. From the middle school gym to the NBA locker room, the slogans on the wall say the same thing: Pain is weakness that leaves the body; What won’t kill you will make you stronger. Of course, Clark wants to come back, like Tyrese Haliburton wants to play For the Pacers in the NBA Finals, it was like Robert Griffin III wanted to play for Washington in the NFL playoffs. That’s what the competitors do.

But that’s why medical professionals exist. Their job is to refuse, draw a line, and protect players from their own harm. They failed again and again – Halliburton worsens his injury By getting up in June is the latest example – countless celebrities’ careers have been shortened as the team doctors are under short-term pressure. Clark’s return in July brought about the same despair: a big game against New York, an All-Star Weekend, national television. She didn’t look right either before she collapsed again.

At least the fever seems to have learned a lesson. Even thinking they’ve made it to the playoffs, they’re unlikely to overturn Minnesota’s Juggernaut Lynx. Risk of the long-term health of a franchise player is deformed. For anyone who really cares about Clark, closing her should be a relief. Better than the entire career.

But the rioters Turned her into a political totem Don’t care about her health or her wishes. Clark asked repeatedly Not used to promote racism, complaints, and white Saccharism narratives. Those pleas have been unheard of. For her most toxic followers, she is not a player, but a symbol: “Great White Hope”, a jealous black opponent whose attacked girl. As she watched, the narratives lost fuel. No fouls will swell to morality, and there is no on-field moment to distort evidence of persecution.

The most important thing about this is to make them angry. It’s not that Clark is not there. Not that feverish playoff hopes are getting dim. But their favorite weapon has disappeared, at least until next season.

For the rest of us, the conclusion is clear. Clark’s season is over, it’s a loss WNBA. But this decision protects her future and strips her name from the ugliest corner of the words. This is far beyond the doomed playoffs.