Caitlin Clark’s Time magazine cover was something Washington Mystics owner Sheila Johnson did not seem to appreciate after a record-breaking WNBA season.
Well, Clark’s brother, Colin, appeared to send a jab back Johnson’s way.
Colin Clark re-shared an old video from Front Office Sports on Sept. 19, which showed a record 20,711 fans in attendance at Capital One Arena in Washington for the Mystics’ game against his sister’s Indiana Fever.
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Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark, #22, rushes up the court Friday, July 12, 2024 during the game at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. (Grace Hollars/IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)
It is the largest crowd to date in WNBA history, and the Mystics actually moved the game from its usual Entertainment and Sports Arena to the Capital One Arena to appease more fans in the 20,536-seat arena.
The WNBA saw its most-watched regular season in 24 years, while also seeing record attendance with a rookie class that was headlined by Clark, Angel Reese and others.
WNBA OWNER QUESTIONS WHY CAITLIN CLARK WAS NAMED TIME ATHLETE OF THE YEAR, SUGGESTS IT WILL CAUSE RACISM
However, Clark’s presence as the No. 1 overall pick out of Iowa, where she already had a massive following as she became the all-time leading scorer in NCAA history, helped the WNBA’s viewership, social media engagement and more explode.
“I’ve been able to captivate so many people that have never watched women’s sports, let alone women’s basketball, and turn them into fans,” Clark told Time in her interview with the magazine for her Athlete of the Year cover.
Caitlin Clark, #22 of the Indiana Fever, argues a call with a referee during the second half of a game against the Washington Mystics at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on June 19, 2024 in Indianapolis (Emilee Chinn/Getty Images)
However, Johnson took exception with Time, believing the WNBA as a whole should have been highlighted instead of just Clark.
“Why couldn’t they have put the WNBA on that cover and say, ‘The WNBA is the league of the year,’ because of all the talent that we have,” Johnson said in her interview with CNN Sport this past Friday.
“When you single out one player, it creates hard feelings, so now you’re starting to hear stories of racism within the WNBA, and I don’t want to hear that.”
Johnson serves as vice chair of Monumental Sports & Entertainment, which also owns the Washington Wizards and Washington Capitals.
Former Iowa Hawkeye and current Indiana Fever WNBA star Caitlin Clark looks on while being honored during the game between the Iowa Hawkeyes and the Northwestern Wildcats at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City, Iowa, on Oct. 26, 2024. (Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images)
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“It has taken the WNBA almost 28 to get to the point where we are now, and this year something clicked with the WNBA, and it’s because of the draft of the players that came in, it’s not just Caitlin Clark, it’s Reese,” Johnson said. “We have so much talent out there that’s so unrecognized, and I don’t think we can just pin it on one player.”
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