WNBA owner goes on bizarre rant about Caitlin Clark after she won TIME Athlete of the Year
Washington Mystics owner Sheila Johnson went on a strange rant about Caitlin Clark during a recent interview, claiming her TIME award shouldn’t have gone solely to the Rookie of the Year competition.
Clark was named TIME Magazine’s Athlete of the Year on Tuesday, with one of the more publicized statements she made about race-related honors in her rise to fame.
“I want to say I’ve earned everything, but as a white person I have privileges,” Clark said TIME. “A lot of the players in the league who have been really good have been black players. This league is kind of built on them. The more we can appreciate that, highlight that, talk about that and then brands and companies can continue to invest in the players that have made this league incredible, I think it’s really important.”
Johnson believes that continuing to rule Clark out will harm the league in the long run.
“It’s taken the WNBA almost 28 years to get to the point where we are today,” Johnson said. CNN. “And this year something clicked with the WNBA and that’s because of the draft and the players coming in. It’s not just Caitlin Clark, it’s [Angel] Reese.”
“We have so much talent that isn’t being recognized and I don’t think we can link that to just one player.”
Caitlin Clark was honored earlier this week with TIME’s 2024 Athlete of the Year award
Washington Mystics owner Sheila Johnson has questioned the publication that selected Clark
According to Johnson, it’s the media’s fault for how popular Clark is.
“It’s just the structure of the way media portrays race. “I feel really bad because I’ve seen so many players of color who are equally talented and never got the recognition they should get, and I think now is the time for that to happen,” she added.
“You read TIME Magazine and Caitlin Clark was named athlete of the year, why couldn’t they have put the entire WNBA on that cover? And said, ‘The WNBA is the league of the year, because what if all the talent we have?’
“If you keep singling out one player, it’s going to bring up hard feelings and now you’re hearing stories about racism in the WNBA, and I don’t want to hear that. We need to operate and become stronger as a league, and respect everyone who plays and their talents.”
Johnson was asked about Clark’s direct comments about race playing a role in her success.
“She shouldn’t have said that, but I applaud her for saying it.”
No top league award has ever been presented, as Clark was honored with the sixth edition of Athlete of the Year and was the first WNBA player to receive the award.