"Caitlin just happened to be born white" - Stephen A. Smith stands by Caitlin Clark amid controversy over 'white privilege' remarks

Like many other journalists, Stephen A. Smith had a strong reaction to Caitlin Clark acknowledging her white privilege. The young star was named TIME's 2024 Athlete of the Year after a terrific year, taking the Iowa Hawkeyes to another championship game and then helping the Indiana Fever return to the WNBA playoffs for the first time since 2016.

During Sunday's edition of his Stephen A. Smith Show, the ESPN analyst went in on the people who constantly attacked Clark, including Sheryl Swoopes. The veteran analyst listed off all the things that came after Caitlin's arrival and how she started a positive trend for the league.

"When she came into the WNBA, for 22-plus years, they have been flying commercial, they were begging for charter flights. She arrives there and two weeks later, they got charted flights. She automatically and instantaneously improved the conditions. Attendance is still lagging and WNBA is still losing money compared to what you would hope it would earn, but clearly, things are on an upward trending trajectory, it's improving, and she has everything to do with it.

Smith didn't stop there and kept naming all the reasons that prove Caitlin Clark's positive impact on the league, but folks still tried to bring her down.

"Games on ABC/ESPN, TV ratings, she's directly responsible. And people were resenting her for it like she was the cause of the problems that they had for the lack of recognition. No, she just happened to be born white. That's it. Caitlin Clark hasn't spoken against anybody, she hasn't assisted in denying anybody else the privileges they deserve. If anything, she's trying to provide assistance; she's trying to be the rising tides that lift the boasts," he added.

Caitlin Clark's comments on "white privilege" got her in trouble

While Stephen A. Smith praised Caitlin Clark for not being confrontational about the narrative of taking recognition away from the players who came before her, others weren't that receptive to her words. For instance, Jason Whitlock called her out and claimed she 'bent the knee' after highlighting the impact that black women made on the W.

"Caitlin Clark bends the knee. Kissing the rear of black women is a rite of passage in the WNBA," Whitlock tweeted on Tuesday.

The rest of the week was more of the same from Whitlock, but some were ready to defend Clark, including Stephen A. Smith.