NFL legend Shannon Sharpe went on the defensive on Monday after Caitlin Clark was named the AP WNBA Rookie of the Year.
Clark had a long 2024 season filled with questions and scrutiny about how her game would translate from college to the WNBA with the noise growing as the Indiana Fever started the season 1-8.
But the sharpshooter blocked out the noise, and as she grew acclimated to the league, she thrived. She set WNBA rookie and single-game records on her way to an All-Star appearance. She then helped the Fever to a sixth seed after the Olympics break.
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Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark smiles at an official, Aug. 28, 2024, during a game against the Connecticut Sun at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. (INDIANAPOLIS STAR-Imagn Images)
Clark was named the AP WNBA Rookie of the Year and was selected for the All-WNBA First Team. Sharpe, on ESPN’s “First Take,” lambasted her critics.
“I would be remiss if I didn’t say this,” he said. “A lot of this noise came from people sitting on this network. They tried to minimize her, saying, ‘You’re 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 were a lot of people that tried to make sure to keep Caitlin Clark in her place because what you’re doing, if you give her all this shine, you minimize what they done.”
Sharpe said praising Clark and recognizing her game didn’t diminish what some of the greats did, but “we should’ve been giving her the credit” all along.
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Shannon Sharpe speaks onstage during the RenderATL Tech Conference at AmericasMart Atlanta on June 14, 2024. (Paras Griffin/Getty Images)
“We saw the ratings, we saw the merchandise sales, we [saw] all the attendance, but you all want to make it about something else,” he added. “‘Oh, but what about the women that laid the foundation? What about this?’ What about it? That ain’t got nothing to do with Caitlin Clark.
“Caitlin Clark is box office. She’s doing this. And instead of giving her credit, you all are trying to make it about, ‘Oh, you all pooh-poohing the old guard.’ You all never talked about the old guard like this. Nah, I ain’t gonna let it slide.”
The Fever guard broke the league’s single-season assist mark (337) and scored the most points ever for a rookie (769) en route to leading Indiana to the postseason.
Indiana Fever’s Lexie Hull (10) and teammate Caitlin Clark watch from the bench in the fourth quarter of their playoff game in Uncasville, Conn., on Sept. 22, 2024. (Mark Smith-Imagn Images)
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Clark started all 40 regular-season games for the Fever and averaged 19.2 points per game. She was the first rookie to record a triple-double and the first player in Fever franchise history to record a triple-double. She set the WNBA record for most assists in a game with 19 against the Dallas Wings in July.
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