Sheryl Swoopes Remains Mum About Caitlin Clark’s Remarks Acknowledging Her White Privilege

Sheryl Swoopes chose not to comment when asked about Caitlin Clark's recent admission of benefiting from white privilege.

Sheryl Swoopes played it cool when asked about Caitlin Clark’s recent comments acknowledging her white privilege in professional sports.

During her Wednesday appearance on NBA alum Gilbert Arenas’ podcast, Swoopes refrained from repeating her past critiques of Clark when asked about the WNBA rookie’s recent acknowledgment of her white privilege after being named Time’s Athlete of the Year—the first WNBA player to receive the honor.

Swoopes remained silent, raising an eyebrow and nodding subtly before the conversation shifted to another topic. One X/Twitter user who reposted the clip accused Swoopes of being “racist.”

A few things to note of this video with Sheryl Swoopes:

1. All the men on this podcast talk about Caitlin Clark’s overall impact to the game of basketball & acknowledge she was deserving.

Why do so many women hate when another woman is successful?

2. Sheryl Swoopes is racist. pic.twitter.com/h1ZC12Ey1R
— Jordan Stocks (@StockTalks21) December 12, 2024

Swoopes has not hesitated to publicly criticize Clark, most recently suggesting in September that the WNBA rookie wasn’t “dominating” the league despite the extensive attention she had garnered. However, Swoopes congratulated Clark on receiving the prestigious title from Time and expressed her concern about the criteria used to select the WNBA rookie for the honor.

“I don’t think I’m surprised. I’m curious to know who the other candidates were,” she said.

“But the fact that that’s the very first WNBA player ever to win Time Magazine Athlete of the Year is pretty special.”

Swoopes continued. “My question is — like the criteria — is it based off her performance on the court, which, yeah, she had a great year. Or is it more about the impact that she had on the game this season? I think it’s great, not just for her. I think it’s great for the league, right? Like everybody talked about the recognition she brought to the W this season, and, so, for her to be Time Magazine Athlete of the Year, I think it’s really great for the league.”

Her comments came in response to Clark’s Time profile, where she admitted to benefiting from white privilege as a professional athlete.

“I want to say I’ve earned every single thing, but as a White person, there is privilege,” Clark said in the interview.

“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.”

Caitlin has always understood her privilege yall just never asked her about it and assumed the absolute worst about her but I digress pic.twitter.com/BFFsNEeOEo
— Tera (@Tera_ekezie) December 10, 2024

Clark’s remarks have sparked debate among sports fans, with some praising her acknowledgment of privilege, defending her from critics, and others who question whether she feels compelled to address her privilege as a white athlete in a sport predominantly made up of Black players.