Caitlin Clark Fans Are Unhappy with Sheryl Swoopes Over Rookie of Year Take

Robin Lundberg | Jul 30, 2024

Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Women's basketball legend Sheryl Swoopes has been, let's say critical, of Indiana Fever rookie Caitlin Clark at times. Swoopes' latest take, a case for why Angel Reese of the Chicago Sky is Rookie of the Year, has led to some backlash from Clark's most ardent supporters. Sheryl stated on the "Queens of the Court" podcast that she doesn't believe the Sky are a WNBA playoff team without Reese, posing the question, "Is Indiana in the playoffs right now without Caitlin?". To which her co-host, Jordan Robinson, replied, "No". The basis of the argument from Swoopes being that Clark has better teammates.

Sheryl Swoopes:

"I don't know if Sky are in the playoffs without Reese"

But Fever are a playoff team even without Caitlin😭

Fever had #1 pick for 2 years for a reason

Also, bringing down other Sky players just to prop up Reese ROTY case. Sick work😭#WNBA #FeverRising pic.twitter.com/544BRcDG7G

— Ashwin (@Sudharsan_ak) July 30, 2024

CC and Fever fans were quick to point out that the team has had the number one pick two years running and that the Sky were actually a playoff team last season before drafting Reese. Regardless, the comments were probably not worth the reaction they garnered. However, perhaps the backlash was at least in part due to previous remarks made by the 4x WNBA champion and 3x MVP.

Sheryl Swoopes believes the Fever would make the playoffs without Caitlin Clark, which is why Angel Reese is her rookie of the year

Last year the Fever:
-Did not make the playoffs (5 games behind 8th, now ranked 7th)
-Have one of the easiest remaining schedules of any WNBA team pic.twitter.com/cno33mSuSo

— Clark Report (@CClarkReport) July 30, 2024

Swoopes was on with Gilbert Arenas before the season and said, "Will Caitlin Clark come into the WNBA and do what she's doing right now?...Absolutely not. Not gonna happen." During that same appearance Sheryl had also stated that Caitlin breaking the NCAA scoring record wasn't truly an achievement given she had an extra year of eligibility. "If Kelsey Plum set that record in four years, well, Caitlin should’ve broke that record in four years." The only problem with that comment being that Clark did indeed break the record in four years.

Sheryl Swoopes hates Caitlin Clark more than Kendrick Lamar hates Drake

— Ayomide (@LawSzn) July 30, 2024

During this break in the W season many will be searching for content to pass the time, hence the topic at hand. I personally think the Rookie of the Year conversation has been over in favor of Clark, and what Swoopes says on a podcast is unlikely to change that.