WNBA owner Sheila Johnson made some comments about Caitlin Clark during a recent interview.
Johnson, who owns the Washington Mystics, was interviewed by CNN. In her interview, Johnson was critical of TIME magazine for naming Clark the “Athlete of the Year.”
In Johnson’s eyes, the entire WNBA deserves widespread recognition, not just Clark. Johnson wishes the league as a whole were recognized instead of Clark individually.
“I want to be very diplomatic about this. It’s just the structure of the way the media plays out race, if I’m being very honest. I feel really bad, because I’ve seen so many players of color that are equally as talented, and they never get the recognition that they should have. And I think right now it is time for that to happen,” Johnson said.
“So last night, you read TIME Magazine, and Caitlin Clark was named ‘Athlete of the Year.’ Why couldn’t they have put the whole WNBA on the cover and say ‘the WNBA is the league of the year,’ because of all the talent that we have? Because when you just keep singling out one player, it creates hard feelings, and so now you’re starting to hear stories of racism within the WNBA, and I don’t want to hear that. We have got to operate and become stronger as a league and respect everybody that’s playing and their talents.
“It has taken the WNBA almost 28 years to get to the point where we are now. And this year, something clicked with the WNBA and it’s because of the draft that the players that came in. It’s just not Caitlin Clark, it’s Reese, there’s so much talent out there that has been unrecognized. And I don’t think we can pin it on just one player.”
Clark is the reason things “clicked” this year. Clark is driving the popularity. She’s the player who sells out games whether it’s at home or on the road. The Mystics should know better than anyone just how much of a draw Clark is. The team had 20 home games and hosted the Fever twice. Despite only making up 10 percent of their home games, games against the Fever produced 31 percent of the Mystics’ home attendance. That’s the Clark Effect.
