Caitlin Clark has been eliminated from the WNBA playoffs, but the anger concerning how she is being marketed and promoted is still a source of contention.
Clark as a victim, rather than the shining star she proved to be during her impressive rookie campaign, is a narrative that her supporters want to continue into this offseason.
The latest beef is with Nike and the WNBA and its sudden commitment to promoting A’ja Wilson as the league’s featured face. In reality, Wilson’s popularity can’t compare with Clark’s, but it seems Nike and the league are trying to make sure that it gives the majority of its promotion to the league MVP, rather than the league’s savior.
When Clark was riding the wave created at Iowa by becoming the NCAA’s all-time college scorer, Nike gave her a reported $28 million deal and promised her own signature shoe.
Of course, there were people who argued that Clark shouldn’t get a shoe before other WNBA players who have failed to capture a new fan base but have been stars in their own right prior to Clark’s arrival.
Wilson supposedly had a shoe coming, but that seemed to get sped up once Black Twitter started raging against the WNBA machine, demanding that Wilson’s shoe (that was apparently in the works) be accelerated and released before Clark’s.
Now it has recently been reported that Clark’s Nike shoe release is being held up, so that the company can focus on Wilson and help to boost her brand.
Upon hearing this, of course, Clark fans didn’t hesitate to throw shade at Nike and the WNBA for what they perceive as more mistreatment of a player that has elevated the league to new heights and singlehandedly brought a new fan base and new potential growth for the league.
Jason Whitlock was besides himself in a recent rant:
“There has been no Nike commercial for Clark as a pro,” he said. “Let that sink in. No Caitlin Clark commercial. She’s had four years of being the biggest star in all of sports, driving all of these television ratings. No Nike commercial.”
Then Whitlock read an excerpt from an article on the subject.
“Nike lucked into the marketing chance of a generation and they’re using that to advertise old products. Why is this happening? Based on conversations with people in the know it indeed has something to do with the WNBA MVP and Nike athlete A’ja Wilson.
But beyond Wilson it’s about the culture of the company that’s more concerned with quelling noise rather than making it as Nike once used to.”
Whitlock blamed the WNBA, Dawn Staley and the “everybody gets a trophy” concept that the WNBA seems to project.
“This is DEI. This is ‘Hey, A’ja will be offended.’ This is Dawn Staley and the rest of the angry Yass Queen feminists saying, “Don’t do that for that white girl, until you make this 6-foot-5 Black woman more popular.”
The Clark cult of course agreed with Whitlock — whose career has found new life since he became a Clark advocate and critic, at times defending her against the people who don’t want to see her succeed or are jealous of her success — with a series of comments on X that express exactly how they feel about this.
Whitlock is once proclaimed that Clark had received worse treatment than Jackie Robinson and that narrative, which is absurd, seems to be growing legs among disgruntled Clark fans.
“Why is the WNBA marketing the playoffs leading with A’ja Wilson or Kelsey Mitchell and not Caitlin Clark? “
Good question.
To be fair, according to a May 14 article by Sporting News, Clark’s shoe is a couple of years away, and that has little to do with the recent narrative that Nike is suppressing Clark’s promotion to boost Wilson up.
“The process is a delicate craft that requires input from Clark and the Nike team, not to mention manufacturing millions of pairs and the marketing campaign,” the article mentioned.
A’ja Wilson won her third MVP and she announced her shoe deal with Nike in May, however the process began in 2023. So the shoe was always expected to be released in spring of 2025 and winning her third MVP did nothing to stop that projected release.
Clark fans may have wanted Nike to release this shoe thai season, but that’s not how business works and it’s not necessarily a knock on Clark. The last thing Clark or Nike needs is to release a dud and then get criticized for the design. .
Under this two-year time frame, Clark’s shoe could hit stores sometime in 2026-27. Remember, Clark and Nike have been partnered through an NIL since 2022, so they have probably been planning and strategizing the release.
Getting A’ja shoe out of the way, while also avoiding some bad press and then allowing Clark to have her own stage next season, now that she has established herself as the real deal in the WNBA is also good business.
The Clark debates rage on.
