Caitlin Clark rival does not hold back on Clark’s ‘white privilege’

Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark is the biggest and fastest rising star in North American sports these days. As a consequence of her enormous celebrity, every word Clark says to the press gets overanalyzed and dissected.

After winning TIME Magazine’s Athlete of the Year award, Clark spoke to the magazine about the privilege she’s been afforded as a white woman.

“I want to say I’ve earned every single thing, but as a white person, there is privilege,” she said. “A lot of those 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 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.”

Many even think that because Clark is white, some of her fans use her as a way to tear down the black athletes in the WNBA. USC Trojans star Juju Watkisn, touted by many as the “next” Caitlin Clark was candid about how she felt about the problematic fans in question.

“So many new fans being in the sport sometimes can be, not necessarily challenging, but can just kind of give you a headache a bit,” Watkins said, according to FOX News. “Not a lot of people know what they’re talking about sometimes. But it’s great for the sport. The fact that people are watching is enough in itself.

“We would like it to be positive, but it’s not always going to be like that, so as long as we continue to raise the numbers and viewership goes up, I think that’s all we can ask for.”

Watkins isn’t worried about her “haters.”

“I love supporters and I also love haters. I think that’s just a part of the game. There’s so many sides to it. So it’s the nature of the game and there’s always going to be negative and positive aspects of it.”

It’ll be interesting to see how the rivalry between Watkins and Clark evolves when Watkins reaches the professional level.