Clark, the highest-scoring Division 1 female player, was the first draft pick of the Indiana Fever. She signed a four-year deal with the team for a salary of $338,000. She also landed a much more lucrative deal with Nike for $28 million.
Most would think getting the mega-popular Clark to play in the WNBA would be a slam dunk, but Las Vegas Aces forward A’ja Wilson did not see it that way. Wilson, who is black, told The Associated Press that Clark’s skin color is an underlying issue that she can’t ignore.
“I think a lot of people may say it’s not about black and white, but to me, it is,” Wilson said. “It really is because you can be top notch at what you are as a black woman, but yet maybe that’s something that people don’t want to see.”
Wilson went on to suggest the WNBA doesn’t see black players like her as “marketable” compared to Clark, so it doesn’t matter how hard she works.
“It doesn’t matter what we all do as black women,” Wilson continued, “we’re still going to be swept underneath the rug.”
Sonia Morris, of Project 21, tells AFN the complaints about race and racism are sour grapes from a jealous player. She likens the issue to Colin Kaepernick, the former 49ers quarterback, and his claims of racism when the league no longer wanted him.
“Here you are, you're at the top of the game, you're offered opportunities that less than 1% of athletes are offered, and you're citing all of these insufficiencies,” Morris says of Wilson.
The real issue for the WNBA, Morris adds, is money.
“And that's what any business is about,” she says. “So, at the end of the day, it really is about the bottom line.”
