Shannon Sharpe Blasts ESPN and WNBA Gatekeepers Amid Caitlin Clark's Rookie Campaign
NFL Hall of Famer turned iconic sports media personality Shannon Sharpe has made his respect and adoration of Indiana Fever rookie Caitlin Clark abundantly clear this year.
Sharpe seems to take exception to any disrespect thrown Clark's way. This was proven when he called out select ESPN analysts for their ice-cold Clark takes and when he questioned whether the WNBA's frequent flagrant fouls on Clark were truly a coincidence earlier this month.
Sharpe's Clark defense campaign continued on Monday, as he embarked on a passionate rant during an episode of "ESPN First Take".
"A lot of this noise [about Clark] came by people that were sitting on this network," Sharpe said on the ESPN show. "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... Caitlin Clark, what she's doing, doesn't minimize what they've done," Sharpe continued.
"But we should have 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. 'What about the women who laid the foundation? What about this?' What about it? That ain't got nothing to do with Caitlin Clark."
Sharpe went on, saying, "Caitlin Clark is box office. She's doing this. And instead of giving her credit, y'all tried to make it about... poo-pooing the old guard... Nah, I ain't gonna let it slide. Caitlin Clark, unanimous rookie of the year, and what's more impressive, she's first-team WNBA."
"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
While neither the WNBA Rookie of the Year nor the First-Team All-WNBA voting results have been released, Clark is expected to earn both honors.
Regardless, Clark's impact on the sport of women's basketball cannot be understated. And Sharpe is making sure it isn't.
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.