Megyn Kelly launched an attack against Caitlin Clark after the WNBA star spoke about how white privilege seeps into women’s basketball during a published interview in Time magazine this week.
The former Fox News personality took to X, formerly Twitter, to make inflammatory remarks about Clark’s comments. In the interview, Clark said she recognized her privilege as a white person in the league and that it was important to uplift black players. The publication named the Indiana Fever player its 2024 Athlete of the Year on Tuesday.
“Look at this. She’s on her knees apologizing for being white and getting attention,” Kelly said. written the. “Self-flagellation. The “oh please pay attention to the black players who are REALLY the ones you want to celebrate”. Condescending. Fake. Transparent. Sad.”
But Clark never apologized for being white. She acknowledged that black players in the WNBA – who constitute the majority of players in the league – have not received the same level of attention from the general public, opportunities or the coverage it has.
When reports were released in the spring As Clark was close to an eight-figure deal with Nike, many wondered why the league’s most valuable player, A’ja Wilson, who is black, I didn’t get a signatureshoe offer. (Wilson announced shoe deal with Nike the following month.)
People also called watch out for Clark’s growth list of sponsorship agreements and that of the recruit perceived marketability in a predominantly black league.
But the Fever star doesn’t seem bothered by Kelly’s criticism. She told sports presenter Maria Taylor in an interview Wednesday that she blocks out the “noise” and is “comfortable in my own skin” when asked to respond to Kelly’s remarks.
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In the Time interview, Clark celebrated her own talents, accomplishments and influence in women’s basketball, as well as the accolades and opportunities that followed. But she also acknowledged that two things may be true: She is an exceptional basketball player and talented black players who built the league. should get more recognition than them.
“I mean I’ve won everything, but as a white person I have privilege,” Clark said. “A lot of players in the league who have been very good have been black players. This league was kind of built on them.
“The more we can appreciate that, highlight it, talk about it, and then continue to make sure that brands and companies invest in the players that have made this league amazing, I think that’s very important,” he said. she added. “I have to keep trying to change that.”
“The more we can uplift black women, that will be a beautiful thing,” Clark said in the interview.
Clark has undeniably had a huge effect on women’s basketball. She became the All-time leading scorer in NCAA Division 1 basketball while she played college basketball with the Iowa Hawkeyes. And when the South Carolina women’s basketball team beat Iowa in the NCAA women’s championship game in April, South Carolina coach Dawn Staley. Credited Clark for “lifting” women’s basketball.
Clark, who was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft, is also often credited with playing a significant role in the WNBA’s recent record attendance and television ratings – nicknamed the “Caitlin Clark effect.”
But Black players have largely built and grown the league since the WNBA’s first game in 1997, with many groundbreaking moments since. In 2002, Lisa Leslie became first WNBA player to dunk in a game. In 2008, Candace Parker was the first player to obtain MVP and Rookie of the year in the same season. In 2017, Rebekkah Brunson set a WNBA record by winning five titles.
WNBA players have also been leaders in LBGTQ rights advocacy and provoke protests against racial injustice to professional sport. In 2014, the WNBA became the first professional sports league to launch an official Pride campaign.
Ajhanai “AJ” Keatonassistant professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst who studies racial and sexual marginalization, told the New Pittsburgh Courier in September, she believed the increased media coverage around Clark was related to racial and gender politics.
“I believe race is a political throughline,” she said. “But I think it’s also a gender issue, and I think we can’t ignore the way that race and gender politics play a role in all of this. Caitlin Clark is a white woman, right? To be a white woman from the Midwest, to be heterosexual, to mean something to white America, right?
People also pointed out the fact that WNBA male players have been excluded from certain sponsorship opportunities.
Victoria Jacksonsports historian and associate clinical professor at Arizona State University, explained to the Associated Press in May, it’s important to analyze why Clark has been called a “generational talent.”
“Whenever we make these arguments, I immediately ask myself: What other generational talents have we had? And I think too often, athletes who might be classified in that category and who are Black women have not received that kind of enthusiastic attention,” Jackson said. “And especially the kind of mainstream, crossover saturation that Caitlin Clark had.”
“There are overlapping and intersecting reasons for this. But I think we can’t not think about it if the goal here is to have fair treatment for athletes in this sport,” Jackson said.
Clark herself acknowledged the impact black WNBA players had in the league.
During her appearance on “Saturday Night Live” in April, she took a moment to honor five WNBA black greats: Sheryl Swoopes, Cynthia Cooper, Lisa Leslie, Dawn Staley and Maya Moore, who she called a “hero of basketball.”
And in recent years, black WNBA players, such as Wilson, Chicago Sky player Angel Reese and Phoenix Mercury player Brittney Griner, have also made notable contributions to popularizing the sport.
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In September, Connecticut Sun player Alyssa Thomas and coach Stephanie White denounced the unprecedented number of racist and homophobic comments they said players have faced since the WNBA’s viewership increased last season.
Thomas, who is black, said the attacks came primarily from the Fever fan base.
“I think in my 11-year career I have never experienced racist comments like those from Indiana Fever fans,” she said, adding that “basketball is going in a good direction, but we don’t want fans who are going to degrade us and call us racial things.
Reese, who was often opposed to Clark And villain in stories about their sporting rivalryhas similarly, he denounced racist vitriol over the last few years. She wrote in an article on in September, she was told to “hold the tears” and “stop playing the victim” whenever she spoke about the attacks. The WNBA issued a statement at the time, he said the league “will not tolerate racist, derogatory or threatening comments.”
Clark has also previously condemned racist comments from WNBA fans. At a press conference in September, she called the situation “definitely upsetting.”
“They’re not fans; They’re trolls,” she said.
