‘100% About Race’: Indiana Fever Star Caitlin Clark’s Deal Causes Beef For Aces’ A’Ja Wilson

In an interview with Tania Ganguli of the New York Times, Wilson claimed that she believes racism is a significant factor as to why she’s viewed as “not marketable” and why it took so long for her to receive her shoe brand.

“It’s 100 percent about race,” Wilson said. “And it’s one of those things where we can sit there and say that all the time, but there’s going to always be someone that’s like, ‘Well, no you’re just making it about race.’”

Nike has not disclosed what their deal is with Wilson. Nike delayed the announcement of their deal with Wilson until after the news of their deal with Clark became public.

Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark’s deal caused issues

After Clark’s deal was announced, Wilson said she struggled with hearing and seeing chatter about how much more marketable and charismatic Clark was compared to her.

“It was very hard for me to navigate, only because in the back of my mind I’m like, ‘Yes, I know a shoe’s coming, but I really have nothing to share,’” Wilson said. “And to constantly be in those conversations and constantly having my name dragged through the mud and having my résumé dragged through the mud is really hard.”

The Clark phenomenon isn’t going away. There is plenty of excitement around the sport of women’s basketball due to the popularity of young players like Clark, Angel Reese, Paige Bueckers, Hailey Van Lith, and JuJu Watkins.

It’s going to be hard for older generations of WNBA players to watch as jersey sales skyrocket for young stars.

For Wilson, Clark’s popularity is easy to dismiss as race. Given that Breanna Stewart and Sabrina Ionescu have shoes already, Wilson has a point.