WNBA co-proprietor Sheila Johnson complained to CNN Friday that Time journal featured Caitlin Clark by myself on its quilt after the outlet named her its 2024 Athlete of the Yr.

The outlet announced this week that the 22-yr-previous rookie level shield for the Indiana Fever used to be probably the most prominent particular person in sports activities. Clark closed out her faculty profession at Iowa and was chosen by means of Indiana as the first decide in the league’s draft.

She closed out her first skilled season because the WNBA’s Rookie of the Yr and introduced new fans to girls’s basketball. Time shared a black and white picture of Clark on social media after naming her Athlete of the 12 months.

Caitlin Clark is TIME's Athlete of the Year https://t.co/WtgLuIIYhb p.c.twitter.com/oGDewhUPcB

— TIME (@TIME) December 10, 2024

Right through an interview with CNN’s Amanda Davies, Johnson – who was once a co-founding father of BET and whose firm co-owns the Washington Mystics – defined she used to be annoyed Clark was once featured by myself on the duvet:

Why couldn’t they have put the complete WNBA on that duvet and mentioned, The WNBA is the League of the 12 months because of all the ability that now we have? As a result of when you just maintain singling out one participant, it creates hard emotions. And so now you’re starting to hear stories of racism inside the WNBA, And I don’t need to hear that. We have now got to operate and become more desirable as a league and admire everyone that’s enjoying and their skills.

Time said of choosing Clark because the year’s most prominent sports activities determine:

The WNBA was once already taking part in certain momentum going into the 2024 season, due to MVPs like A’ja Wilson and Breanna Stewart, and some of Clark’s fellow novices, like Angel Reese and Cameron Brink, brought their very own followings. But Clark took the league—and the sport—to a new degree. Even all through a period when funding across ladies’s sports activities is surging, group valuations are on the rise, and fan passion and engagement are in any respect-time highs, her arrival used to be transformative.

Watch above by the use of CNN.

The publish WNBA Team Owner Not Chuffed Caitlin Clark Bought TIME Cover: ‘Why Couldn’t They Have Put the Whole WNBA’ On There? first regarded on Mediaite.