Entertainment
WNBA’s #1 Pick Apologizes For Her ‘White Privilege’ In Post-Draft Interview
Paige Bueckers, a UConn Huskies product who was recently selected as the first overall pick in the WNBA Draft, claimed that black athletes suffer from lack of positive media coverage and opportunities while affirming her “white privilege” in a post-draft interview with Time magazine.
Bueckers, then 19, generated national headlines in the middle of her college career when she expressed similar sentiments at the 2021 ESPY Awards.
“With the light that I have now as a white woman who leads a black-led sport and celebrated here, I want to shed a light on black women. They don’t get the media coverage that they deserve. They’ve given so much to the sport, the community and society as a whole and their value is undeniable,” the basketball star said at the time.
“In the WNBA last season, the postseason awards, 80% of the winners were Black, but they got half the amount of coverage as the White athletes. So I think it’s time for a change.”
She went on to blame sports media for the supposed disparity, even though ESPN’s coverage has long leaned overwhelmingly to the left. “Sports media holds the key to storylines. Sports media and sponsors tell us who was valuable, and you have told the world that I mattered today, and everyone who voted, thank you. But I think we should use this power together to also celebrate black women.”
Bueckers concluded her ESPYs speech with an endorsement of a number of BLM-related social causes at the time, including the Breonna Taylor case in Louisville, Kentucky.
“So to Maria Taylor, Robin Roberts, Maya Moore, Odicci Alexander. To all the incredible Black women in my life and on my teams. To Breonna Taylor and all the lives lost, and to those names who are not yet learned, but I hope to share, I stand behind you and I continue to follow you, follow your lead and fight for you guys so I just want to say thank you for everything.”
In a new profile with Time magazine published on Monday, the Dallas Wings rookie credited her “white privilege” for the opportunities she has received. “It’s still an issue, every single day,” she said of her ESPY Awards speech. “There’s not ever equal coverage.”
“There’s white privilege every single day that I see,” Bueckers said in terms of endorsement opportunities. “I feel like I’ve worked extremely hard, blessed by God. But I do think there’s more opportunities for me. I feel like even just marketability, people tend to favor white people, white males, white women. I think it should be equal opportunity. I feel like there is privilege to what I have, and to what all white people have. I recognize that. I want to counteract that with the way I go about my business.”
Buecker’s comments echoed those made by WNBA superstar Caitlin Clark in her own Time magazine profile last year, which followed a year of racially motivated attacks in the media and on the court. “I want to say I’ve earned every single thing, but as a white person, there is privilege,” Clark said.
“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.”
