Caitlin Clark has been accused of being ‘fake’ for ‘all-but apologizing’ for her race after the WNBA star admitted she has benefited from white ‘privilege’.

The basketball superstar was named TIME Athlete of the Year for 2024 after her record-breaking rookie season with the Indiana Fever.

Clark has become one of the biggest stars in women’s sports but, after winning the award, she said the WNBA has ‘been built on’ black players and that ‘as a white person, there is privilege’.

Her comments have drawn criticism in some quarters, notably from commentator and podcaster Megyn Kelly who bemoaned Clark’s ‘self-flagellation’.

‘She’s on the knee all but apologizing for being white and getting attention. The self-flagellation,’ Kelly wrote on social media.

‘The “oh pls pay attention to the black players who are REALY the ones you want to celebrate.” Condescending. Fake. Transparent. Sad.’

Caitlin Clark has been named TIME Athlete of the Year after her record-breaking WNBA season

Clark found herself at the center of a race storm during her first season in the WNBA amid accusations that she was the victim of jealousy and bullying.

In one moment that captured the attention across the nation, the Fever star was shoved to the ground by Chicago Sky’s Chennedy Carter.

Some figures, meanwhile, have also claimed that black players are not given the recognition they deserve.

‘It doesn’t matter how hard I work,’ said A’ja Wilson, of the Las Vegas Aces, in May.

‘It doesn’t matter what we all do as black women, we’re still going to be swept underneath the rug.’

Clark said this week that ‘the more we can elevate Black women that’s going to be a beautiful thing’.

‘I want to say I’ve earned every single thing, but as a white person, there is privilege,’ she stressed.

‘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.’