ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith isn’t afraid to speak his mind when he’s passionately defending his stance on a particular topic or coming for someone that he vehemently disagrees with.
His latest target happens to be six-time All-Star and four-time WNBA champion Sheryl Swoopes, who Smith all but accused of being one of the top offenders when it comes to spreading hate toward Indiana Fever rookie Catlin Clark.
In a recent episode of his “Stephen A. Smith Show,” Smith put Swoopes on blast as he ripped into her for omitting Clark in recent comments about the Fever’s rise in the WNBA standings.
“Respectfully, Sheryl Swoopes, do you have any idea how that makes you look?” Smith said. “You have any idea how that serves to stain any kind of critique of Caitlin Clark because it gives fodder to those who believe she’s being hated on and ostracized to some degree. Do you realize, Sheryl Swoopes, that you’re insane to do that? … There is no way in hell that you just accidentally left Caitlin Clark’s name out of that soliloquy that you dropped about the Indiana Fever. Stop it.”
Smith is one of many media pundits including Pat McAfee, Skip Bayless and Robert Griffin III who have taken exception with how Clark has been portrayed in the media during her rookie year.
Smith also implied that by name-dropping Lexie Hull, Kelsey Mitchell and Aliyah Boston but leaving out Clark when recently discussing reasons for Indiana’s recent run of success on her “Queens of the Court” podcast, was a bad look for Swoopes, who he implied was only creating more trouble.
“All Sheryl Swoopes did was validate all the speculation that there’s folks hating on Caitlin Clark, that’s all she did,” Smith said. “Because to know basketball like Sheryl Swoopes does, to be as accomplished as she is, to be the Hall of Famer that she is — all accolades that are well-deserved, and I’m certainly not attacking Sheryl Swoopes the person because I think she’s a wonderful person.
“…I’m only addressing a point. How do you talk about the Indiana Fever and mention a multitude of players, and not one of them is Caitlin Clark, who, by the way, as a rookie, is leading the league in assists? How do you do that?”
In addition to leading the league in assists (8.3 per game), Clark also ranks second in minutes played per game (35.2), fifth in made 3-pointers per game (2.8) and 12th in points per game (17.8).
She also broke Ticha Penicheiro’s rookie record for single-season assists, and she’s been garnering more love in the MVP discussion post-Olympic break.
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