It is 24 hours before one of the most celebrated global holidays of the year, the birth of Jesus, and WNBA Rookie of the Year Caitlin Clark is named the AP Female Athlete of the Year. A hearty congratulations are in order.
The recent honor is coming after the controversial accolade of Time Magazine’s Athlete of the Year. Washington Mystics owner Sheila Johnson shared that Clark is not the sole contributor to WNBA success.
“Players like Angel Reese and others have significantly contributed to this moment in WNBA history,” Johnson said.
Johnson is not wrong in sharing her opinion; Clark did not get here alone. She is part of a larger machine, and those angered by Johnson’s comments may be the same people who thought Jill Biden was gracious and appropriate in extending the NCAA losing team an invitation to the White House.
In context, Clark’s Iowa Hawkeyes were defeated by Angel Reese’s LSU Tigers for the NCAA championship. In the game leading to the tournament, Clark’s taunting antics were praised. However, when Reese reminded Clark that antics do not win championships, those fans labeled Reese “classless.” A racial divide formed and deepened, and Biden contributed knowingly or unknowingly by downplaying the privileges of a champion.
“I know we’ll have the champions come to the White House; we always do. So, we hope LSU will come,” Biden said. “But, you know, I’m going to tell Joe I think Iowa should come, too, because they played such a good game.”
Although Iowa lost convincingly 102-85 while 10 million people watched, the losing team garnered the most airtime and sympathy, while the champions were left to share the spotlight. Reese instantly became America’s villain, but the culture’s sweetheart and the WNBA is profiting from it all.
Who does Clark’s Indiana Fever play in its 2025 season opener? None other than Reese’s Chicago Sky. Why? Because it is profitable, and the numbers do not lie. People want to see it.
According to ESPN, their network “was home to the most-watched game of the regular season — Indiana Fever at Chicago Sky on June 23 — averaging 2.3 million viewers.”
The WNBA indeed experienced exponential growth in the 2024 season — the viewership, attendance and merchandising. The WNBA reported this season, “delivered its most-watched regular season in 24 years, finished with its highest attendance in 22 years, and set records for digital consumption and merchandise sales in 2024,” with Clark and Reese leading, respectively.
The problem could be abated if the WNBA did not act as a microcosm of America’s racial divide. The WNBA needs help highlighting teams and players of color who contribute.
For example, the high-impact rookies Clark played against, such as Reese, Rickea Jackson, Kamilla Cardoso and Aaliyah Edwards did not disappoint. Yet, their marketing and promotion paled in comparison. Not only did the rookies impact their respective teams and grow their brands, but they looked superhuman against veterans, collectively dismantling the leveling theory once described by Mercury Star Guard Diana Taurasi.
Clark’s fantastic year resembles another Indiana Rookie and Naptown favorite, Tamika Catchings. The league has seen phenomenal players like Clark before and will again. Sheryl Swoopes and Candace Parker are the two I can immediately rush to the forefront, with the latter being the only player to win league MVP and Rookie of the Year in her debut.
Clark’s Indiana Fever is red hot, and they have yet to win. Still, the WNBA reinforces Indiana’s buying power and marketability at every opportunity, placing Clark as the WNBA’s golden ticket, leaving everyone else trying to find where they fit in.
This issue is not wholly Clark’s. Either everyone needs an Angel or the WNBA’s disproportionate focus on what Clark is doing as a white player has to change. A feat which she admitted in her TIME interview with Sean Gregory.
“I want to say I’ve earned every single thing, but as a white person, there is privilege,” Clark said. “A lot of those players in the league that have been really good have been Black players. This league has kind of been built on them. The more we can appreciate that, highlight that, talk about that, and then continue to have brands and companies invest in those players that have made this league incredible, I think it’s very important. I have to continue to try to change that. The more we can elevate Black women, that’s going to be a beautiful thing.”
Clark is deserving of her accolades because she is a big deal, but she is not the problem. Congratulations, Caitlin, on a fantastic year.
With due respect, no other player broke a 54 year-old-record in the NCAA and then a slew as a rookie in the pros. Not Tamika. Not Candace. Not A’ja. Not Sue Bird. Not Lauren Jackson. THAT is why Caitlin is a sensation. It has zero to do with her race. Sheila Jackson’s comments were deeply ignorant. This country is done with the Far Right and the Far Left. This article, like so many others, fails to see there is racial BS on all sides. It’s why we lost the election. Caitlin absolutely has white privilege in America in the original definition of the word, but so many W players seem to expand that definition in order to discredit Clark, and so many live their lives playing victim. See also Dijonai Carrington and the uber video where she calls someone racist when clearly she’s being an asshole and there is zero evidence of racism, except by her; or then A’ja Wilson- who, similar to DC, grew up privileged in the traditional and actual sense of the word talking about Caitlin’s race and Paige Buecker’s (who grew up poor and with divorced parents) “white privilege.” Sixty percent of America is living paycheck to paycheck, so let’s stop telling everyone they need to acknowledge their white privilege when actual privilege is the bigger determinate of success, especially in sports. Let’s not forget Caitlin is the minority in her league, and yes Black women have majority privilege in many respects in the league. From the beginning, Caitlin has acknowledged Black women who built the league; did she mention one white player on Saturday Night Live (not even Sue Bird or Lauren Jackson?). No. Be done with this narrative if you’re not going to be fair.
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