“Don’t Do That For That White Girl, Until You Make This 6-foot-5 Black Woman More Popular”: Fans Outraged As Nike Accused Of Delaying Caitlin Clark Shoe To Promote MVP A’ja Wilson?

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...