Dan Patrick Rips Mystics Owner's Comments About Caitlin Clark Being Named TIME's Athlete Of The Year

There has been a lot of talk about Caitlin Clark being named TIME's Athlete of the Year, despite most people going, "Yeah, I mean she was a pretty big deal this year," there have been some wild takes against the decision.

Perhaps, the most notable one came from Washington Mystics co-owner Sheila Johnson — whose team played a game against Clark and the Indiana Fever that set a WNBA attendance record — who was upset that the entire WNBA wasn't on the cover.

"We have so much talent out there that has been unrecognized, and I don't think we can pin it on just one player," Johnson told CNN, before suggesting that players of color who are as talented as Clark aren't treated fairly.

It was a wild take, and now sportscaster Dan Patrick has given his thoughts on it.

First, Patrick addressed the most obvious flaw in Johnson's argument: that it was for "Athlete of the Year," meaning it's an honor intended for one person.

"So, I don't know who (Johnson) is but (she was saying) felt like if you are going to celebrate the WNBA, why not celebrate it with everyone in the WNBA or some of the bigger stars and Caitlin Clark?" Patrick said. "But if you're Time's Person of the Year, it's not the People of the Year. It was a Person of the Year."

Yeah, it wasn't an honor for the WNBA and Clark was getting all the credit. It was an honor for her exclusively because of the positive impact she had on the league,

"Can't we just acknowledge that Caitlin Clark changed the WNBA? That's it. It's okay," Patrick said.

It's bizarre that you have to tell those invested in a league that has struggled for over a quarter of a century that overwhelming success — even if it's largely thanks to one person — is a good thing.

It's also not like there isn't a playbook for how this works. We've seen similar situations unfold with pretty much every sport.

"This is a unique moment, Caitlin Clark did for the WNBA what Wayne Gretzky did for the NHL when he went to the LA Kings," he said. "It's okay. Take a victory lap!"

He mentioned something that for some reason some in WNBA circles can't get through their heads: applauding Caitlin Clark doesn't mean you're diminishing the accomplishments of those that came before her.

"You're not diminishing what the founding fathers of the WNBA did," Patrick said. "You're not."