Caitlin Clark’s arrival in the WNBA has brought with it an awful lot of eyeballs, as the former Iowa star’s early games with the Indiana Fever have broken WNBA viewership records for multiple networks. With that attention comes an awful lot of scrutiny, and as Clark navigates the challenges of learning life as a professional, she is being met with plenty of resistance on and off the court.
Things reached a fever pitch this weekend after Clark’s Fever got a close win over Angel Reese and the Chicago Sky. Clark had made clear she felt she was getting “hammered” and not getting the calls she deserved coming into the game, and then late in the third quarter she got knocked down from behind by Sky guard Chennedy Carter waiting for an inbound pass.
Here's an extended look at the Caitlin Clark – Chennedy Carter incident, there was more to it than the shoulder check and Clark was clearly talking to her on the way back up the floor from the prior basket by Indiana pic.twitter.com/1XG1RyzTw4
— CJ Fogler account may or may not be notable (@cjzero) June 1, 2024
That foul sent the Clark discourse even further into the deep end, with seemingly everyone having an incredibly strong take on how Clark is being treated by her fellow WNBA players and whether it is fair or not. That discussion arrived at the First Take desk on Monday, where things got heated as Stephen A. Smith, Shannon Sharpe, and Monica McNutt discussed the incident, with McNutt closing the conversation by calling out Stephen A. for not discussing the WNBA at this level until this year.
Stephen A. Smith: "Who talks about the WNBA, who talks about women, who talks about women's sports more than First Take?"
Monica McNutt: "Stephen A., respectfully, with your platform, you could have been doing this three years ago if you wanted to."
Stephen A.: "Wow." pic.twitter.com/szQXOPQ3h4
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) June 3, 2024
Smith was taken aback by McNutt’s comments and seemed legitimately upset about them, even if McNutt is absolutely correct. The WNBA may have been touched on by First Take in the past, but it certainly did not get A-block territory nearly as often as it has this year. McNutt, like many longtime followers of the WNBA, is clearly frustrated by the lack of tact around the discussion of the league right now, and was willing to do what few do on Smith’s show, which is to give him a call out on air.
