Caitlin ClarkFormer Los Angeles college coach Lisa Bluder thinks it’s time for everyone around the WNBA – including Washington Mystics co-owner Sheila Johnson – to “understand” how Clark’s celebrity boosted women’s basketball.
After a 2024 WNBA Rookie of the Year season with the Indiana fever, Clark was named Time magazine’s Athlete of the Year.a decision that Johnson, the billionaire founder of the BET network, said she did not agree with.
In a interview earlier this week with CNN SportsJohnson said “the structure of how the media plays race” was a factor in Clark’s decision to receive the honor and argued that Time should have instead “put the entire WNBA on that cover, and declared the WNBA to be the League of the Year. “
Talk with USA TODAY’s Sports SeriouslyBluder — who in May retired after 24 seasons coaching the Iowa Hawkeyeswhere Clark played from 2020 to 2024 — disagreed, insisting that Clark’s impact on women’s sports is historic.
“It’s silly to me that anyone would try to take away something so good from your sport right now,” Bluder said. “(Clark) is a person who has really helped athletics, women’s sports in a way that no one has helped women’s sports, maybe since Billie Jean King.”
Johnson, Mystics owner: Constant focus on Clark ‘creates hard feelings’
Johnson’s point is nuanced, and in the same interview, the Mystics co-owner credited Clark for using his interview with Time to calls for more attention to black WNBA players.
“It took the WNBA almost 28 years to get to where we are today,” Johnson said. “It’s just not Caitlin Clark, it’s (Angel) Reese. We have so much talent that hasn’t been recognized, and I don’t think we can just attribute (the rise of the league ) to a single player…
“I feel really bad because I’ve seen so many players of color that are just as talented, and they never got the recognition that they should have gotten. And I think right now it’s time for this to happen.”
Bluder’s position appears to be that a rising tide will lift all boats and that the WNBA as a whole will benefit from Clark’s fame.
“Let’s jump on the bandwagon and help her, let’s make her life a little easier, because she helps all of us,” Bluder said. “Sometimes, you know, we used to say to our team, ‘Listen when, when Caitlin’s light shines on her, it shines on all of us.’ And I think everyone should be more accepting of that.”
Clark defends Time’s honor and recognizes white privilege
As is the case with any athlete who becomes a superstar, Clark’s every word on larger issues can spark a reaction. Some have been unhappy with how often the 22-year-old has used her elevated platform to highlight the issues Johnson spoke about. Speaking with Time magazine, Clark paid tribute to the WNBA’s black players while insisting she deserves the plaudits she’s receiving.
“I mean I’ve won everything, but as a white person, I have privilege,” Clark explained. “A lot of these players in the league that have been really good have been black players. This league has kind of been built on them.
“The more we can appreciate that, highlight it, talk about it, and then continue to have brands and companies invest in the players that have made this league amazing, I think that’s very important. … The more we can elevate black women, it’s going to be a beautiful thing.
This article was originally published on USA TODAY: Lisa Bluder rejects criticism of Caitlin Clark’s Time magazine cover
