Kelsey Plum has walked back her comments on Caitlin Clark at the WNBA All-Star game, suggesting that she had not meant to say what she did amid the player pay situation
Kelsey Plum has claimed that she “made a bad joke” when stating that Caitlin Clark and her All-Star team were not involved in the planning of their t-shirt protest against player pay in the WNBA.
All-Star players donned t-shirts that read Pay Us What You Owe Us after meetings with the league in the hope of seeing salaries increase amid the exponential growth of the WNBA.
While speaking on wearing the t-shirts at the All-Star game, Plum said: “It was a very powerful moment. As players, we didn’t know that that was going to happen. It was a genuine surprise. The t-shirt, just united front, was determined this morning that we had a meeting for. Not to tattletale: Zero members of Team Clark were very present for that.”
Plum was criticized for those words, taking a shot at Clark, despite her also wearing the t-shirt.
Now, though, Plum has suggested that she had attempted to make a joke, admitting it was a bad one.
She said: “I made a bad joke – I shouldve known it was a way more serious moment than a typical All-Star game. I was making a joke that theyre hungover even though we were team hangover. Obviously were all on the same page, all unified.”
Sabrina Ionescu, who was a member of Team Clark, was on the podium alongside Plum and appeared to be unimpressed with her words at the time.
The New York Liberty superstar sarcastically replied: “That really needed to be mentioned.”
Plum has since suggested that she should have clarified what she meant by those words, after players had been out drinking the night before, holding a meeting the following morning, which many did not attend.
The Los Angeles Sparks guard has been heavily criticized for her words, with many noting that Clark is the one who has brought more eyes to the sport and enhanced the players’ argument to see their pay be increased.
The talks between the WNBPA and the league are expected to continue with players unhappy, as player president and Seattle Storm forward Nneka Ogwumike offered insight into the meeting before the decision to wear the t-shirts.
She said: “This was a very historical way for players to show up, and they understood how big the moment was.
“We were hoping perhaps more would be yielded given the engagement. I don’t anticipate us having another meeting with that many players involved.”
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