Basketball fans are outraged after a clip surfaced showing WNBA Most Valuable Player A’Ja Wilson discussing the privilege of white players.
Specifically, Wilson was referencing Las Vegas Aces teammate Kelsey Plum, whom she is seen talking with in the clip, and University of Connecticut star Paige Bueckers.
‘Us, as black women, Paige reminds me a lot of you,’ Wilson told Plum while the two WNBA champions watched an NCAA Final Four matchup between Bueckers’ Huskies and Caitlin Clark’s Iowa Hawkeyes. ‘Like, you say, ”It’s not really about me.” She knows. And she knows how her privilege has gotten her to that point.’
At one point Plum is heard saying ‘thank you’ to Wilson.
‘And also, [Bueckers is] good at basketball, obviously,’ Wilson continued. ‘She understands her privilege. It’s like what pushes her over the top in a sense. It reminds me a lot of you. And I mean, that’s a compliment
Wilson (near left) was seen talking with Plum (far left) about UConn’s Buckers (right)
The conversation took place as Plum (left) and Wilson (right) watched a Final Four game
Wilson, a three-time MVP and two-time WNBA champion, is now facing criticism over the comments, which some see as being discriminatory.
‘That is a horrible take,’ wrote one fan on X.
‘Geez what an ego,’ another wrote, adding: ‘a racist ego.’
Several commenters pointed out that Wilson, a 28-year-old South Carolina native, actually attended private school.
‘Yet she went to a private school that had a yearly 25k tuition,’ one person wrote. ‘That’s privilege.’
Wilson’s high school, Heathwood Hall, charges more than $20,000 a year for high school student tuition. It’s unclear how much of that Wilson’s family was charged or if she received any form of financial aid.
Buckers, on the other hand, attended a public high school in Minnesota before going to Connecticut, where she was won all three Player of the Year honors in 2021.
But not everyone was upset with Wilson. Some think her comments have been taken out of context in the clip.
‘Y’all are misinterpreting this bad,’ one fan wrote on social media. ‘A’ja has said time and time again how hard of a worker [Plum] is. She would never diminish that.
‘She was praising her and Paige for being aware of their privilege and using it to speak out about the clear bias their peers face.’
