Caitlin Clark’s ‘elevate black women’ claim draws nonchalant reaction from Sheryl Swoopes

Sheryl Swoopes lobbied for Black WNBA athletes, both past and present, to get the recognition Caitlin Clark is receiving currently.

Caitlin Clark’s ‘elevate black women’ claim draws nonchalant reaction from Sheryl Swoopes

Caitlin Clark and WNBA legend Sheryl Swoopes

When Caitlin Clark was about to come into the league, Sheryl Swoopes was one of the early skeptics who thought she might not find it easy in the WNBA. Fast forward to now and she has dispelled all those doubts and ended up becoming an All-WNBA selection.

While she was playing through her first season, the popularity Caitlin Clark was enjoying did not sit well with many current and former players. To them, it seemed the ones who built the foundations of the league did not get the recognition they deserved.

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That led to some race-oriented discussions that centered around the notion that the Indiana Fever superstar was enjoying her success due to the color of her skin and her s**ual orientation. Clark’s exploits netted her Time magazine’s Athlete of the Year award. In her interview with the magazine, she finally spoke about her supposed ‘white privilege.’

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I want to say I’ve earned every single thing, but as a white person, there is privilege. 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 elevate Black women, that’s going to be a beautiful thing.

Caitlin Clark told Time magazine

This response from Clark sent WNBA fans into a frenzy as not only did she address the elephant in the room, but she also gave ammunition for others to hit at her. Most notable among them was Megyn Kelly, who felt the Indiana Fever star was bowing down to woke culture.

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Sheryl Swoopes reacts to Caitlin Clark’s response

But Caitlin Clark has stated that she is good at blocking out the noise from such people. She called such racist fans ‘trolls’ and suggested there was no place in the league for them. She also questioned if they were fans of her game and the WNBA.

But her addressing the need to celebrate Black WNBA athletes came to the notice of many fans who previously felt she did not do enough for the league’s other players. In Gil’s Arena’s latest episode, Sheryl Swoopes came to know about Clark’s Time magazine interview response.

Despite being a strong advocate of Black athletes past and present, she just kept quiet. Sheryl Swoopes is often regarded as someone who does not like Clark getting all the attention.

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But her non-response to this could suggest she preferred not to add any discourse to what Clark said. Knowing it could tilt either way, her silence suggested she did not want to be a part of this debate.