CNN
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Sheila Johnson, billionaire co-owner of WNBA franchise Washington Mystics, has criticized Time for his or her awarding of “Athlete of the Year” to Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark.
On Tuesday, the outlet bestowed the honour on the 22-year-old after her stellar 12 months, wherein she broke a number of school, WNBA and broadcast information.
However, in an interview with CNN Sport’s Amanda Davies, the co-founder of Black Entertainment Television (BET) steered that the media ought to do a greater job of selling all of the leagues’ gamers, relatively than specializing in Clark’s exploits.
Johnson questioned why the publication “couldn’t have put the entire WNBA on that cowl,” given the expertise the league possesses.
“When you simply maintain singling out one participant, it creates laborious emotions,” added Johnson, co-owner of three Washington sports activities franchises – the NHL’s Capitals, the NBA’s Wizards and the WNBA’s Mystics.
“This 12 months, one thing clicked with the WNBA and it’s due to the draft of gamers that got here in. It’s not simply Caitlin Clark, it’s (Angel) Reese (as properly). We have a lot expertise on the market.”
In her debut season with the Indiana Fever, Clark took residence the Rookie of the Year award and was named to the All-WNBA first staff – the primary rookie to take action since 2008.
Her maiden season has additionally coincided with an unprecedented enhance in protection of the league, with viewership numbers persistently damaged.
The league’s total attendance elevated by 48% year-on-year to its highest stage in over 20 years, Time mentioned. This phenomenon has been coined “The Caitlin Clark impact.”
A facet impact of Clark’s success has been a rise in industrial offers, which Johnson says might create ailing will amongst Clark’s counterparts.
Notably, Clark reportedly agreed to an eight-year cope with Nike price $28 million that features a signature shoe. This has prompted criticism from some quarters that her race has partly contributed to her industrial success, given different Black stars haven’t acquired offers on the identical stage.
“They wish to get the identical type of recognition. It all began with the entire Nike sponsorship that Caitlin bought,” Johnson, America’s first Black girl billionaire, mentioned.
“There are different gamers saying, ‘What about us?’”
Throughout her school and WNBA profession, Clark has been pitted on an on-court rivalry with fellow star Reese. While the rivalry has helped develop the sport, it has additionally triggered discourse about race within the US.
In September, WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert in contrast their rivalry to that of Earvin ‘Magic’ Johnson and Larry Bird’s within the late Nineteen Seventies and Nineteen Eighties. That was an period which got here to outline the NBA for a interval, however the narrative was one that always delineated alongside racial strains, by pitting a Black man and White man towards one another.
Asked whether or not such comparisons might be drawn between Clark and Reese, and whether or not it was a very good factor for the league, Johnson mentioned: “I believe the media has bought to be very, very cautious to not make this a race challenge, and that’s what’s actually essential.”
“I’m involved concerning the infighting and the racial innuendos occurring as a result of that’s going to show advertisers away from us.”
Clark is conscious of the preferential remedy she might have acquired due to her race. In her Time interview, she acknowledged: “I need to say I’ve earned each single factor, however as a White individual, there’s privilege.”
“A whole lot of these gamers within the league which have been actually good have been Black gamers. This league has type of been constructed on them. The extra we will recognize that, spotlight that, speak about that, after which proceed to have manufacturers and corporations spend money on these gamers which have made this league unimaginable, I believe it’s essential.
“I’ve to proceed to attempt to change that. The extra we will elevate Black ladies, that’s going to be a good looking factor.”
Johnson mentioned Clark mustn’t have felt the necessity to strategy the subject, however “I applaud her for saying it.”
“We have set to work collectively as a result of the WNBA is at an inflexion level the place we’re actually beginning to go up, and I don’t need to lose that momentum,” Johnson added.
