But as she’s set to take part in her first regular-season WNBA game, whether she likes it or not, discussions about her race and transition to playing pro ball have popped up.
She has not said anything to fuel any tensions between Black and White players. However, deals that she has already signed have led to conversations about double-standards in women’s pro basketball – even before her WNBA career has officially started.
‘I think it’s a huge thing. I think a lot of people may say it’s not about Black and white, but to me, it is,’ Las Vegas Aces star A’ja Wilson said when asked in an interview with the Associated Press about the race element in Clark’s popularity and before she recently signed two major endorsement deals.
‘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.
They don’t see it as marketable, so it doesn’t matter how hard I work. It doesn’t matter what we all do as Black women, we’re still going to be swept underneath the rug. That’s why it boils my blood when people say it’s not about race because it is.’
Sports can be elevated by a heated rivalry, particularly when race is involved.
Clark’s rise has come with an on-court bravado that made her must-watch TV as she led the Hawkeyes to back-to-back NCAA championship game appearances.
At Iowa, Clark’s on-court rival in the NCAA Tournament was former LSU star Angel Reese. Then she took on women’s juggernaut South Carolina and coach Dawn Staley.
The matchups sparked moments that took the sporting world by storm beyond women’s college basketball, capturing a whole new audience.
But the matchups also led to ongoing discussions about how race plays a factor in the treatment afforded to Clark, a white woman from ‘America’s Heartland,’ as compared to Black counterparts like Reese.
Clark has said she and Reese are just pieces of a larger movement.
‘I would say me and Angel have always been great competitors,’ Clark said prior to Iowa’s Elite Eight matchup with Reese and LSU in March.
