Billionaire team owner shoots down Caitlin Clark’s impact on WNBA popularity

Washington Mystics owner Sheila Johnson suggests WNBA growth is not just due to Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark.

Billionaire team owner shoots down Caitlin Clark’s impact on WNBA popularity

Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark has led the WNBA in popularity and growth

Starting from college, Caitlin Clark has faced scrutiny about her fame and marketability that many other women’s basketball players did not have. Coming into the WNBA, those questions continued as her popularity soared to new heights.

Along with her own rise in fame, the WNBA also benefitted from it. The league was having an unprecedented increase in sales and fans thronged arenas to catch a glimpse of the superstar. That helped television ratings and social media impressions to jump.

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During this time, Caitlin Clark went on to win the WNBA Rookie of the Year award while also making it to the All-WNBA First team. The combination of everything resulted in her winning the Time Magazine’s Athlete of the Year award. When Washington Mystics owner Sheila Johnson was asked about this win on CNN Sports, she replied.

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This year, something clicked with the WNBA and it’s because of the draft and the players that came in. It’s not just Caitlin Clark, it’s Reese. We have so much talent out there that has been unrecognized, and I don’t think we can pin it on just one player.

Sheila Johnson to CNN Sports

The first billionaire black woman went on to add,

We read Time Magazine where Caitlin Clark was named Athlete of the year. Why couldn’t they have put the whole WNBA on that cover and said, ‘The WNBA is the league of the year’, because if all the talent that we have.

Sheila Johnson to CNN Sports

The co-owner of the Washington Mystics suggested that it was not right to single out one individual. She believes Caitlin Clark alone was not responsible for the growth of the league. Ironically, Clark helped Johnson’s team set a new single game attendance record this past season.

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Caitlin Clark

Sheila Johnson feels the Caitlin Clark attention is creating a rift

The 75-year-old was not done with her suggestion that the WNBA and the media should not focus on one person. She feels for the WNBA to grow as a whole, the focus has to shift from a one-person formula to one that is all inclusive. Otherwise, she feels, it creates divide.

When you just keep singling out one player, it creates hard feelings and now you’re starting to hear stories of racism within the WNBA, and I don’t want to hear that.

Sheila Johnson to CNN Sports

By this she was referring to what ESPN analyst Monica McNutt suggested during the season. Caitlin Clark’s attention and multi-million-dollar deals could give rise to jealousy. Johnson believes other players in the league might want that but could be angry that they are not getting it.

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WNBA superstar Caitlin Clark and Jemele Hill

This is what led Charles Barkley and LeBron James to call out the other women players for showing petty jealousy. Barkley particularly mentioned that women should feel happy that Clark is bringing all this attention. Instead, their jealousy could make the situation worse.