Fast forward to 2024, and Caitlin Clark’s achievements have continued to earn her accolades. Most recently, Clark was named Athlete of the Year, a prestigious honor that recognized her incredible individual performances and her continued excellence throughout the 2023-2024 season.
This recognition was seen as a crowning achievement for Clark, solidifying her place as one of the brightest stars in women’s basketball. However, Reese’s response to the announcement was less than celebratory. On social media, she expressed her frustration by stating, “White girls got the special treatment.”
The comment was immediately met with both support and backlash, with fans of both players weighing in on the ongoing debate. Reese’s supporters echoed her sentiments, arguing that Black women athletes—especially those with bold personalities—often receive less media praise and more scrutiny compared to their white counterparts. Others, however, felt that Reese’s comments were divisive and unnecessary, with some even accusing her of downplaying Clark’s hard-earned success.
In her TIME Athlete of the Year interview, Caitlin Clark acknowledged how her popularity has benefitted from white privilege.© Photo by Michael Hickey/NBAE via Getty Images
You cannot live without rain. That’s just the way it is. Black women are rain. We have watered this ground. There’s Nothing Greater on Earth Than Black Women.— Nikki Giovanni
Those words by the famous poet Nikki Giovanni, who passed away on Monday at the age of 81, illustrate long standing truths about the status of Black women in society and culture. Black women are the ones who work tirelessly to ensure the world thrives, and do so with little to no credit. Not to mention their understandable frustration of being called upon to save the world time and time again, with little support.
Those same dynamics can explain what goes on in the world of women’s basketball and, particularly, the WNBA, which is majority Black women.
For the 27 years since the league’s inception, primarily Black players have had to scrape and claw for legitimacy amongst a male-dominated sporting landscape. It’s been a continuous cycle of one step forward, two steps back, as the league and its players routinely are subjected to some of the most vicious forms of racism and sexism by those seeking to delegitimize their athleticism, if not their humanity.
Leave it to Caitlin Clark, one of the most transcendent players in history to use her enormous platform to acknowledge these realities and demand change.
The Indiana Fever Rookie of the Year was named TIME Magazine’s Athlete of the Year in commemoration for her efforts in unleashing a cultural revolution in women’s basketball, as the sport saw record viewership and packed houses. During her interview, Clark took care to center Black players, who always have been the league’s foundation, and advocated for greater attention to be given to them. She candidly said:
I want to say I’ve earned everything, but as a white person, there is privilege. A lot of the players who have made this league what it is are Black women. The more we appreciate, highlight, and talk about that, the better. Brands and companies need to continue investing in those players who have made this league extraordinary. Elevating Black women is a beautiful thing, and I have to keep working to help change that.
Based on the reaction of some, it’s as if Clark said, “God damn America.”
Right-wing media personality Megyn Kelly, who has admitted that she is not a sports fan, took to X/Twitter to express her discontent, posting:
Look at this. [Clark]’s on the knee all but apologizing for being white and getting attention. The self-flagellation. The ‘oh [please] pay attention to the black players who are REALY (sic) the ones you want to celebrate.’ Condescending. Fake. Transparent. Sad.
Fellow conservative media figure Jason Whitlock, who previously claimed to be a huge Clark fan, symbolically took down an image of her in his studio during his Wednesday episode of Fearless With Jason Whitlock on the conservative network The Blaze. He then compared Clark’s comments to a stripper breaking his heart.
Those reactions pale in comparison to the vitriol on social media, with some saying the league will flounder because they will no longer watch, others suggesting Clark has alienated her fans and more continuing to degrade the talent of WNBA players.
First and foremost, Clark will be just fine and continue to cement her status as a premier player for years to come. Second, these people have shown their true colors when it comes to their “fandom.” It was never about enjoying Clark’s game. It was a way to legitimize their racism, sexism and homophobia under the guise of fandom.
To be clear, the overwhelming majority of Caitlin Clark fans are true fans who appreciate her talent and what she has done for the game. That is distinct from the cesspool of trolls who have decided to latch onto her as a vehicle for their genuine disgust towards Black women, queer women and women who don’t fit into a model of what constitutes acceptable femininity. They were hoping Clark would be their prominent culture warrior.
If they were actual fans, they would have the maturity to appreciate Clark and the other players in the league. They wouldn’t engage in racist attacks against Angel Reese after the 2023 NCAA championship game for a gesture Clark previously had used before, and which Clark herself didn’t interpret as a personal slight. They wouldn’t send out racist death threats to Reese and other Black players. They wouldn’t accuse Chennedy Carter or DiJonai Carrington of assault when all they did was commit flagrant fouls, which tends to happen in the game of basketball.
Clark herself has previously given credit to Black players, such as Maya Moore, Lisa Leslie, Sheryl Swoopes, Dawn Staley and Cynthia Cooper, for paving the way. She understands the history of the game well enough to know if it weren’t for these players—past and present—the opportunity to make a living playing the game she loves wouldn’t exist. As Clark’s star continues to soar, she knows it shouldn’t come at the expense of others who also have put in the work and deserve a share of the spotlight.
In turn, she will continue to add to her legacy.
As for the trolls, get a life.
