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For two athletes who seemingly have no relationship and have never faced off in a big game, there sure is a lot of history between WNBA superstars A’ja Wilson and Caitlin Clark.
This is largely because Wilson, a four-time league MVP and three-time champion, has continued to weigh in on Clark and her public persona from afar. And also because, for whatever reason, Time magazine continues to cover women closely as it ventures further into sports reporting, particularly women’s sports.
Back when Clark entered the league, Wilson made multiple comments that appeared to be directed toward the Indiana Fever sensation. They centered on Clark’s perceived marketability as a young white rookie compared with her own and that of other Black longtime WNBA stars.
“I think a lot of people may say it’s not about Black and white, but to me, it is,” Wilson told the Associated Press as Clark was set to make her pro debut. “It doesn’t matter what we all do as Black women; we’re still going to be swept underneath the rug.”
Later, when Clark announced a signature shoe deal with Nike that seemed to cut ahead of Wilson’s, the Las Vegas Aces star posted a bible verse about being patient when others find success.
When it came time for Clark to be honored by Time as its Athlete of the Year for 2024, she used the platform to address her stature within the league more directly than ever before. Clark ultimately set off a firestorm across conservative media when she paid tribute to the generations of largely Black stars who paved the way for her in the WNBA. In response, Wilson offered effusive praise of Clark and her thoughtful remarks when she was also honored by Time as one of its Women of the Year for 2024.
Cut to today, and Wilson is again in the magazine, this time as Athlete of the Year herself. And she once again appeared to reference Clark and her looming presence over the WNBA, responding to questions about the idea that Clark took the league mainstream with typical Wilson frankness.
“It wasn’t a hit at me, because I’m going to do me regardless,” Wilson told Time. “I’m going to win this MVP, I’ll win a gold medal, y’all can’t shake my résumé. It was more so, let’s not lose the recipe. Let’s not lose the history. It was erased for a minute. And I don’t like that. Because we have tons of women that have been through the grimiest of grimy things to get the league where it is today.”
Coming off a season in which Wilson put up potentially her best season, winning another MVP and taking the Aces from .500 around the All-Star break to another title, she also flexed the league’s ability to draw attention with Clark sidelined due to persistent muscle injuries.
“Sometimes you need a proof in the pudding,” Wilson told Time.
To be generous to Wilson, she did not directly reference Clark in either answer. Perhaps the writer inserted context about Clark into the story, making Wilson’s comments appear to be about the former Iowa Hawkeye when they were not.
Wilson also covered numerous other topics from her prolific 2025, including her legendary trajectory in the WNBA and her newly official relationship to NBA star Bam Adebayo.
Still, the many chapters of this saga are impossible to ignore. Either Wilson and Clark are being pitted against one another because of how the Nike rollout went in 2024, or one of them is perpetuating the narrative. As with everything related to Clark, the distinction between her own views and those of her mob-like fan army is often missed. But given that she and Wilson do not appear to have a personal relationship, one would hope they can ultimately come together to keep pushing women’s basketball forward.
