While the rise of the WNBA has been, overall, a major and positive story for basketball, it has also dragged into the spotlight the issue of race, especially as Caitlin Clark, who is white, has dominated headlines in the past year, overshadowing other talented Black players. Clark has spoken about wanting to shine a light on the league as a whole, but still remains viewed by many as having gotten a jumpstart to her career because of her race.
This year’s No. 1 pick, Paige Bueckers, is also white, and in remarks made to Time magazine, echoed the sentiments of Clark.
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“It’s still an issue, every single day. There’s not ever equal coverage,” she said in the interview. “There’s white privilege every single day that I see. I feel like I’ve worked extremely hard, blessed by God. But I do think there’s more opportunities for me. I feel like even just marketability, people tend to favor white people, white males, white women.
“I think it should be equal opportunity. I feel like there is privilege to what I have, and to what all white people have. I recognize that, I want to counteract that with the way I go about my business.”
Of course, whenever comments like that hit social media, they can become a free-for-all for responses of support, counterpoints and sometimes outright ignorance.
Paige Bueckers on the orange carpet before the 2025 WNBA Draft at The Shed at Hudson Yards. Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images
One Wings fan account wrote, “Using your platform for the greater good is why I am so proud that Paige Bueckers is a Dallas Wing. You can be good at what you do, but if you aren’t a good person, none of it matters. #WNBA“
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One commenter wrote, “Part of the reason why she is loved by most. Love u Paige. Best PG in the W.”
Another said: “Paige Bueckers, you deserve all the good things in life and so much more….”
But, of course, there is backlash as there often is when someone makes a thoughtful and self-aware comment on race.
It was noted that Black NBA players are covered and the issue of race seems to mostly fall on the WNBA: “You can make an argument that womens basketball is uncovered… but top black male athletes have zero issue. We still live in a world where Michael Jordan exists right?
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And again, there is the whining from comments and “anti-woke” rhetoric like: “Thank you for your virtue signal. We are all amused by your sanctimonious belief that being woke is morality.”
And: “white basketball players always overcompensating.”
Clark got similar backlash last year–prominent conservative commentator Megyn Kelly blasted Clark as “fake”–and Bueckers is getting the same treatment. Still, she will move on and prep for her WNBA debut, which will come on May 16 vs. Minnesota.
