Time Magazine has faced criticism for its oversight of Caitlin Clark over the past year. This week, Colin Cowherd publicly condemned the publication for excluding the Indiana Fever star from its annual “100 Most Influential People” list. On The Herd Wednesday afternoon, Time released its 2024 list, featuring prominent sports figures but notably absent Clark, prompting Cowherd to label it “the dumbest thing I’ve ever seen.”
“Caitlin Clark to the WNBA and they set all-time ratings records. If Caitlin Clark’s not in this, the list is nonsense,” Cowherd stated. “Who did the list? TIME magazine? And there’s no Caitlin Clark? That’s idiotic. That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever seen.”
“If Caitlin Clark’s not in this, the list is nonsense” @ColinCowherd reacts to @CaitlinClark22 being left off the Time Magazine Most 100 Influential People list pic.twitter.com/mhcDYbBvqa
— Herd w/Colin Cowherd (@TheHerd) April 16, 2025
Time’s list includes several sports figures like Jalen Hurts, Serena Williams, Léon Marchand, Simone Biles, and Joe Rogan, alongside Unrivaled League cofounders Breanna Stewart and Napheesa Collier. While Stewart and Collier faced off in the 2024 WNBA Finals and launched Unrivaled, their inclusion over Clark has fueled an ongoing debate that Cowherd has championed since Clark’s draft. Cowherd and other sports media personalities argue that Clark deserves greater recognition for her role in elevating the WNBA, insisting that any marketing opportunity she is excluded from is a significant oversight.
“The WNBA was being subsidized by the NBA. They were going to small arenas, they flew on commercial flights,” Cowherd added. “Time magazine, if you don’t have Caitlin Clark…that’s a dumb media rank. Don’t know what they’re doing.” It’s surprising that Time omitted Clark, especially given that she was named its 2024 Athlete of the Year and the WNBA has been central to the magazine’s sports coverage.
Perhaps Cowherd is right; an accurate representation of the most influential sports figures of 2024 should indeed feature Caitlin Clark. However, it’s essential to recognize that neither Clark nor the league is reliant on such publicity.
