Napheesa Collier Denies WNBA Vets Were 'Attacking' Specific Rookies
One of the most ever-present narratives of the 2024 WNBA season was that the league's veterans were hesitant to embrace this year's rookie class, which includes generational superstars Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese, and others.
NFL icon and sports media personality Shannon Sharpe embarked on a passionate rant about this during a September episode of "ESPN First Take", where he said, "A lot of this noise [about Clark] came by people that were sitting on this network. They tried to minimize her, saying, 'You're giving her all this credit, what about the women who came before her?'
"What the women who came before her did cannot be taken away. That ain't got nothing to do with Caitlin Clark. But there's a lot of people who tried to make sure they keep Caitlin Clark in her place, because what you're doing, if you give her all the shine, you minimize what they done," Sharpe continued.
However, during her Monday appearance on "Podcast P With Paul George", Minnesota Lynx star Napheesa Collier denied that WNBA veterans were abnormally tough on this past season's rookie class.
"As far as [the narrative] that people are always picking on the rookies, and that was a huge narrative for us this year, everybody always picks on rookies!" Collier said. "They're freshmen. Like, it wasn't them personally that we were attacking. It's the rookies.
"They don't know your moves yet, they don't know the nuances of the game, of course you're trying to get the easy stuff on them," Collier continued. "So I think just naturally, as part of natural selection, people are going to try to go after rookies."
Napheesa Collier on why it’s “natural” for rookies to get picked on in the WNBA:
— Grant Young (@GrvntYoung) November 4, 2024
(Per @PodcastPShow) pic.twitter.com/Mng1ESgT7T
She certainly has a fair point.
Grant Young covers Women’s Basketball, the New York Yankees, and the New York Mets for Sports Illustrated’s ‘On SI’ sites. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco (USF), where he also graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing and played on USF’s Division I baseball team for five years. However, he now prefers Angel Reese to Angels in the Outfield.