Caitlin Clark’s TIME Magazine Athlete of The Year award came not only with congratulatory messages and warm vibes but also with a lot of backlash. In particular, Washington Mystics co-owner downplayed the award in an interview, saying that the WNBA should have been awarded “league of the year” instead, as awards like what Clark received only lead to hard feelings and spark racism.
However, there are still those who come to Clark’s defense, despite her controversial statements. One of those is sports analyst and commentator Skip Bayless, who slams Johnson’s take on the issue and points out how Caitlin Clark is still deserving of the Athlete of The Year award.
“I’m pretty sure if WNBA MVP A’Ja Wilson had made the cover of TIME as Athlete of the Year, Johnson wouldn’t have had any problem with that, just not the white girl,” Skip said, talking about Caitlin Clark. “Well, that skinny white girl was the best thing that ever happened to the WNBA.”
“Sheila Johnson and every WNBA star should thank God every morning and every night for Caitlin Clark,” he added.

Skip also called Sheila Johnson’s remarks “flat-out racist,” highlighting that Caitlin Clark deserved the recognition and the award.
“She deserved TIME’s Athlete of The Year because she earned it,” Skip continued. “But apparently Sheila Johnson believes the WNBA ultimately belongs only to black stars, that in the end it’s a black sport and that the face of the league cannot be white. To me that’s flat-out racist. To me, the one who is deepening the division vision of racism that could tear this league apart is Sheila Johnson.”
Has Caitlin Clark Gone “Full Woke”?
With Caitlin Clark’s recent controversial comment about “white privilege,” discussions of her going “full woke” have risen in numbers, and TV personality and commentator Megyn Kelly agrees that Clark has indeed “bent the knee” to the “woke agenda.”

However, Kelly thinks that one fact that Clark has not realized is that doing such would not benefit her in any way, and would only result in backlash—like what she is getting now.
“Caitlin Clark is 22 and hasn’t yet learned the lesson that bending the knee to the woke mob does not produce better results in one’s life,” Kelly said in one of her recent videos. “it doesn’t. Nothing good will come from it. You will alienate your fan base that does not want to see you buy into their narratives about race or white privilege in the WNBA and you will gain absolutely no grace or quarter from your critics who are not persuadable.”
Caitlin Clark has not broken her silence on the backlash to her TIME magazine interview.

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