Former Fever teammate defends Caitlin Clark after WNBA owner’s TIME cover hot take

One of Caitlin Clark’s former teammates is coming to her defense after Washington Mystics owner Sheila Johnson said the Fever star should not have been singled out as TIME’s Athlete of the Year.

Temi Fagbenle, who was picked by the Golden State Valkyries in the expansion draft earlier this month, posted a series of posts on X on Sunday defending Clark and her accomplishment as the athlete of the year — the first WNBA player to receive the honor.

“Let me make this clear. CC can speak about having white privilege without hating herself. CC can acknowledge THE REALITY of race disparities without pandering to any group. CC can celebrate the GIANTS who have come before her, without diminishing her own HISTORIC accomplishments,” Fagbenle posted in part. “I think most people know this… it’s just a select group trying to twist things. The US’s race issue is so ingrained that I believe a majority of them don’t even think they are twisting anything.”

It came after Johnson told CNN anchor Amanda Davies on Friday the entire league should have been on the cover of TIME, not just the Fever star.

“I feel really bad, because I’ve seen so many players of color that are equally as talented, and they never get the recognition that they should have,” Johnson said. “And I think right now, it is time for that to happen. So last night, you read TIME Magazine, and Caitlin Clark was the athlete of the year. Why couldn’t they have put the whole WNBA on the cover and say ‘The WNBA is the league of the year,’ because of all the talent that we have. Because when you just keep singling out one player, it creates hard feelings.”

Fagbenle, a Black woman from the United Kingdom, was quoted in Clark’s TIME article as well, discussing the racial implications surrounding her former teammate.

“America was founded on segregation and to this day is very much about Black and White,” Fagbenle wrote in a text message to TIME. “In a sport dominated by Black/African-American players, White America has rallied around Caitlin Clark. The support looks mostly amazing, sometimes fanatical and territorial, sometimes racist. It seems that the Great White Hope syndrome is at play again.”

Clark has a large legion of fans, ones that can sell out arenas both home and away, drive economic growth for the league, and sell out merchandise in record time. Some of those fans though, through no fault of Clark, also use her name to push negative agendas and put down some Black players in the league.

As a white woman from West Des Moines, Iowa, in a majority-Black league, Clark has unintentionally become a flashpoint for race discussions surrounding her, her fans and other players, and she aimed to shut those down during her TIME interview.

“I want to say I’ve earned every single thing, but as a white person, there is privilege,” Clark told TIME. “A lot of those players in the league that have been really good have been Black players. This league has kind of been built on them. The more we can appreciate that, highlight that, talk about that, and then continue to have brands and companies invest in those players that have made this league incredible, I think it’s very important. I have to continue to try to change that. The more we can elevate Black women, that’s going to be a beautiful thing.”