Shannon Sharpe had an impassioned rant about how other commentators at ESPN minimized the impact Caitlin Clark was having on the WNBA early in her rookie season.
Sharpe was appearing on his customary Monday “First Take” co-host spot, and was speaking with Stephen A. Smith and Andraya Carter.
“A lot of this noise came by people that were sitting on this network,” Sharpe told his fellow panelists. “They tried to minimize her saying, ‘Well you giving her all this credit, what about the women that came before her?’ What the women came before her, what they did cannot be taken away. That ain’t got nothing to do with Caitlin Clark. But there is a lot of people that tried to make sure they keep Caitlin Clark in her place because what you’re doing if you give her all this shine, you minimize what they done. You can’t minimize Maya Moore or Candace Parker or Lisa Leslie or Lauren Jackson or Diana Taurasi or any of the other great players.”
Sharpe did not name names of who he was talking about at ESPN.
Earlier in the season, Carter was one of the ESPN women’s basketball analysts who sought to pump the breaks on praising Clark.
When the Fever and Sky — featuring Clark’s rival, Angel Reese — were both struggling out of the gate but their games against each other drew outsized attention, Carter said, “I enjoy watching these two trying to have success in the W. But if we’re being completely honest, their teams are having a mid-off right now. Their teams are just very mid. They’re eight and ninth in the WNBA standings.”
“Caitlin Clark is box office. She’s doing this. And instead of giving her credit, y’all trying to make it about, ‘oh y’all poo pooing the old guard…’ Nah, I ain’t gonna let it slide.” – Shannon Sharpe pic.twitter.com/NjdBMRU450
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) September 23, 2024
In his “First Take” rant on Monday, Sharpe talked about all of the exposure Clark brought to the WNBA.
“Caitlin Clark, what she’s doing, doesn’t minimize what they’ve done,” he continued.
“But we should’ve been giving her the credit. We saw the ratings, we saw the merchandise sales, we saw the attendance, but y’all want to make it about something else. … Caitlin Clark is box office. She’s doing this. And instead of giving her credit, y’all trying to make it about, ‘Oh y’all poo-poo’ing the old guard. Y’all never talked about the old guard like this.’ Nah, I ain’t gonna let it slide.”
Games featuring Clark and the Fever this season nearly doubled all other matchups in attendance and nearly tripled other games in TV viewership.
The Fever are down 1-0 in their best-of-three playoff series against the Sun, with Game 2 happening on Wednesday night at Mohegan Sun Arena.
