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WNBA star A’ja Wilson has been quick to push back on the reasons the league has gained in popularity over the past two years and the narrative that Caitlin Clark is the biggest driver.
The Indiana Fever star has certainly helped expand the WNBA’s popularity since entering the league in 2024.
The Fever’s regular season game against the Chicago Sky in May drew an average of 2.7 million viewers for the most watched regular season game in history. There is no doubt that Clark has played a big part in these numbers.
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Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark during the Commissioner’s Cup final at Target Center on July 1, 2025. (Jesse Johnson/Imagn Images)
In an interview with Time magazine after being named the outlet’s player of the year, Wilson said she believed the history of the WNBA was “erased for a minute” amid Clark’s rise.
“It wasn’t a hit for me because I’m going to do it regardless,” Wilson said. “I’m going to win this MVP. I’m going to win a gold medal. You guys can’t shake my resume. It was more, so let’s not lose the recipe. Let’s not lose the story. It was erased for a moment. And I don’t like that. Because we have tons of women who have been through the ugliest things where it is today.”
The Las Vegas Aces center has made her thoughts on Clark clear.
In a 2024 interview with The Associated Press, Wilson agreed that there was a racial element to the sharpshooter’s popularity.
“I think it’s a huge thing. I think a lot of people might say it’s not about black and white, but to me it is,” Wilson said. “It really is because you can be at the top of what you are as a black woman, yet maybe that’s something people don’t want to see.
Las Vegas Aces center A’ja Wilson shoots a free throw in the first half of Game 4 of the 2025 WNBA Finals at the Mortgage Matchup Center on Oct. 10, 2025. (Joe Camporeale/Imagn Images)
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“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 still get swept under the rug. That’s why it boils my blood when people say it’s not about race, because it is.”
She then brought up the issue of a racial double standard in a separate interview with Time earlier this year. She talked about Clark talking about the supposed “privilege” she enjoys.
“I know that [Clark] got a lot of backlash from it because obviously we live in a world where they don’t want that and it’s exhausting,” Wilson said in February. “But imagine dealing with that and then having to go out and play every single night where they have to constantly worry, ‘How are they going to downgrade my resume now? What more do I have to do to show how elite and how seriously I take my job?’ But I also do it with love and passion and fun.
Las Vegas Aces center A’Ja Wilson celebrates during the 2025 WNBA Championship Parade at Toshiba Plaza on Oct. 17, 2025. (Stephen R. Sylvanie/Imagn Images)
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“A lot of people don’t want to see me at the top and that’s fine, but I want to be there because I worked hard to get there.”
