{"id":338445,"date":"2025-12-11T06:25:11","date_gmt":"2025-12-11T06:25:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/338445\/"},"modified":"2025-12-11T06:25:11","modified_gmt":"2025-12-11T06:25:11","slug":"aja-wilson-urges-fans-to-remember-wnba-history-amid-caitlin-clark-hype","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/338445\/","title":{"rendered":"A’ja Wilson Urges Fans To Remember WNBA History Amid Caitlin Clark Hype"},"content":{"rendered":"

Four-time WNBA MVP A\u2019ja Wilson<\/a> was never cheering against Caitlin Clark<\/a>. She has, however, taken issue with the false and racially divisive narrative that followed the Indiana Fever superstar to the pros in 2024.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt wasn\u2019t a hit at me, because I\u2019m going to do me regardless,\u201d Wilson, 29, told Time<\/a> in a story published Tuesday, December 9. \u201cI\u2019m going to win this MVP, I\u2019ll win a gold medal, y\u2019all can\u2019t shake my resume.\u201d<\/p>\n

To Wilson, who Time named its 2025 Athlete of the Year, it was more about fans forgetting the women who paved the way for her and Clark, 23, to have the spotlight.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was more so, let\u2019s not lose the recipe,\u201d she continued. \u201cLet\u2019s not lose the history. It was erased for a minute. And I don\u2019t like that. Because we have tons of women that have been through the grimiest of grimy things to get the league where it is today.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\"Feature
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\t\t\t
\n Related: South Carolina Coach Dawn Staley Sends a Message to Caitlin Clark Fans<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tThe WNBA was steadily trending up in popularity before Caitlin Clark entered the league, but since she debuted in 2024 with the Indiana Fever, that growth has gone into overdrive. Clark\u2019s rabid fanbase is at the center of the WNBA\u2019s rise, and one of the pioneers of women\u2019s basketball had a message for them. \u201cI [\u2026]\t\t<\/p>\n

Clark took the WNBA by storm in 2024, winning Rookie of the Year and bringing her massive collegiate fanbase to the league with her. Fans and media new to the league began falsely crediting Clark for being the sole person responsible for the WNBA\u2019s rise \u2014 one that began way before Clark was even a student at the University of Iowa.<\/p>\n

Her fan-fueled rivalry with the Chicago Sky\u2019s Angel Reese<\/a>, who is Black, also added an ugly racial component to the discussion. Players have been subjected to racist taunts on social media and at games over the past two seasons, leading the league to launch its No Space For Hate campaign in 2025.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately for Clark and the Fever, the young phenom missed most of the 2025 season<\/a> due to injury. But despite the most popular player in the WNBA staying on the sidelines, ratings were still up compared to 2024.<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes you need a proof in the pudding,\u201d Wilson said. \u201cThe biggest thing for us, and why I was so happy, is that we continue to rise to the occasion. This was just a matter of time for us to really bloom and blossom. Because we have been invested in each other and our craft for a very long time. It was just like, \u2018They\u2019re going to pay attention.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\"A'ja
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\n Related: A\u2019ja Wilson Says the WNBA Will Continue to ‘Break the Glass Ceiling’<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tLove the Las Vegas Aces or hate them, there\u2019s never been a question that their star A\u2019ja Wilson understands the moment. Wilson, 27, is a two-time WNBA MVP, two-time WNBA champion and a five-time All-Star. As one of the faces of a league burgeoning in popularity, she\u2019s also vocal about continuing to grow it. \u201cI [\u2026]\t\t<\/p>\n

With the WNBA\u2019s constant rise over the past half-decade, no doubt supercharged by Clark, Reese and 2025 Rookie of the Year Paige Bueckers, the players are now at a standoff with the league as their collective bargaining agreement is set to expire on January 9, 2026.<\/p>\n

WNBA players are going to get major raises, but so far, reports indicate the league and Players Association are still far apart in negotiations. If that doesn\u2019t change, a lockout could hit the WNBA and stifle its growing momentum.<\/p>\n

\t\tThank You!<\/p>\n

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\u201cAll of us are going to be at the table and we\u2019re not moving until we get exactly what we want,\u201d said Wilson, one of the Aces\u2019 player representatives for the WNBPA.<\/p>\n

Wilson is one of many players to have called out the WNBA for trying to lowball them. A common lament from the players has been that the league wants them to be happy with what they have, rather than to fight for what they deserve.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re in a league where they\u2019re like, \u2018Oh, be happy you got private planes,\u2019\u201d she said. \u201cNo. That was just scratching the surface.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Four-time WNBA MVP A\u2019ja Wilson was never cheering against Caitlin Clark. She has, however, taken issue with the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":338446,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[629],"tags":[49,48,75,82,630],"class_list":{"0":"post-338445","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wnba","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-entertainment","11":"tag-sports","12":"tag-wnba"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/338445","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=338445"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/338445\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/338446"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=338445"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=338445"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=338445"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}