The Las Vegas Aces star was one of the first players to address Clark’s rise.

 

ja Wilson has hit out at critics for scrutinizing Caitlin Clark’s rookie season in the WNBA, despite doing so herself just weeks ago.

Clark, 22, won her first professional game on Friday night with the Indiana Fever, helping relieve some of the pressure put on her from the adoring public and her rivals, including Angel Reese.

Indiana Fever guard Cailtin Clark

It has been a difficult transition for the No.1 pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft, going from a record-breaker for the Iowa Hawkeyes to being accused of receiving unfair attention.

Wilson herself brought up race a couple weeks ago when discussing Clark’s new-found fame, suggesting that because she was white, she was getting more attention than a black female player would.

“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. 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,” she told the Associated Press.

“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.”

Wilson now comes to her defense

 

Now, it appears that Wilson, 27, has either had a change of heart or memory lapse after seeming to forget her comments from earlier in May – telling critics to leave Clark alone.

“She’s learning and growing like everyone else. I feel like people don’t give her a chance,” Wilson said.

“We tell our rookies every single day: ‘This is new. You’re coming into a whole other new world and starting over’. So, these questions are only annoying because she’s young. She’s a rookie.

“You keep asking us these questions as if she’s a grown a** woman that’s been in this league for years. No, she’s doing her job. We’re doing ours and at the end of the day, that’s how we grow is when we get better and do things like that.

“I’m just exhausted over the conversation because I know she’s exhausted. I can only imagine.”