As we all know by now, a wave of new onlookers are paying more attention to women’s basketball because of the hype created around the 2024 WNBA rookie class. Of course, Caitlin Clark is a marquee portion of said class.
But while she has brought with her a legion of new eyes onto the sport, not all of the attention has been for the better.
Clark did her best to let everyone know where she stood on this when she did her Time Magazine interview when the publication named her its 2024 Athlete of the Year. She, among other things, admitted that she benefits from white privilege, reiterated how Black legends of the WNBA influenced her to pick up a basketball herself and that more needs to be done to uplift Black players.
Unfortunately, many of these bad actors decided to ignore Clark’s own words and continue flying their racist freak flags.
Recently, DiJonai Carrington, who is playing with Mist BC at the Unrivaled League in Miami, wore a shirt that was in reference to a 2016 tour of the rapper YG.
DiJonai Carrington did not miss an opportunity to send a pointed message to President Donald Trump 👀
— The Mirror US (@themirror.com) 2025-01-26T20:01:45.635Z
And because she wore this fit at the Unrivaled tunnel prior to one of Mist BC’s games, that sent the right-wing media echo chamber into a tizzy.
One moment that can be found on many of these so-called websites was when they brought up when Carrington accidentally poked Clark in the eye in Game 1 of last season’s first-round playoff series between the Indiana Fever and Connecticut Sun. This was something that even Clark herself said was not malicious in any way and described it as only a basketball play, but that did not prevent these bad actors in once again further the fraudulent movie plot that is the WNBA’s Black player base vs. Clark.
Once again, we see exactly what this “rise in popularity” for the WNBA was based in last season – a bunch of mere onlookers who used Clark as a conduit to humble Black players such as Carrington. So many of these malcontents who only began following the W because Clark fits their hegemonically-induced image of what a women’s basketball player should look like are remaining uncomfortable with the reality of the WNBA’s Black and LGBTQIA+ base.
The idea of a Carrington, an Angel Reese, a Chennedy Carter or – even a teammate of Clark’s such as Aliyah Boston or NaLyssa Smith being Black and comfortable in their own skin is like kryptonite for these malcontents. That is what eats at their core every day – that star players such as Carrington are comfortable in their own skins and do not need the approval of individuals who were not real fans pre-Clark and are still not real fans during the Clark era.
That is ultimately the main point here – and we see the real reasons why many of these individuals were not following the W prior to Clark. The Carringtons of the world are the key reason why many of these malcontents have begged for Clark to leave the WNBA so they no longer have to “cover” a league they never gave two you-know-whats about in the first place (and still do not).
If Carrington has a fit in her wardrobe blasting one of their faves – and that is a reason why these new “fans” are ready to no longer watch the W (including Clark), then were they really fans in the first place? We know where Sophie Cunningham stands with her politics, but diehard WNBA fans are not ready to jettison the W solely because Cunningham has hinted at right-of-center.
As for Clark, we understand that legions upon legions of girls across the nation are now wanting to pick up a basketball because of how she has captivated the nation. That is a beautiful thing as the more girls we have participating in sports the better. But – as Clark clearly pointed out when she spoke to Time – a major element in that is understanding that media and marketers believe (falsely) that a midwestern white woman is more marketable to mainstream (white) audiences than Black women from places south of the Mason-Dixon line such as Reese or A’ja Wilson.
Never mind that Reese participated in the Met Gala. Never mind that Wilson was recently at Paris Fashion Week (plus was named USA Basketball’s 5-on-5 Women’s Athlete of the Year and is about to have her No. 22 retired at South Carolina’s Colonial Life Arena).
So – to Carrington, keep being you – on and off the WNBA and Unrivaled courts. And – to Clark, keep being you as well.
I want to say I’ve earned every single thing, but as a white person, there is privilege.
–Caitlin Clark, Indiana Fever (Time Magazine)
A lot of those players in the league that have been really good have been Black players. This league has 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.
–Caitlin Clark, Indiana Fever (Time Magazine)
