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The Real WNBA MVP Contenders So Far This 2024 Season: Where Do Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese, A’ja Wilson and Breanna Stewart Rank?

The WNBA season is well underway as we are a third of the way through the 36-game schedule. Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese, Cameron Brink and Rickea Jackson are just a few of the rookies who have distinguished themselves and become significant pieces in their team’s plans. 

Related: For Anyone Interested In Basketball | The Brilliance Of WNBA Rookies Rickea Jackson, Cameron Brink and Caitlin Clark Is The Real Scoop  (theshadowleague.com)

However, there is still a pecking order in the WNBA as far as talent on the floor goes, and these players are the leading MVP candidates at this time, according to The Shadow League. 

1. A’ja Wilson 

A’ja Wilson is the front-runner for MVP right now, but just barely. 

She’s been the consensus MVP of the league since the season began. Her sneaker deal with Nike finally gave her the exposure she’s been longing for. 

She is the best player on the two-time defending champions Las Vegas Aces. She’s leading the league in scoring at 28 ppg both as an All-Star and a walking double-double player.

This year, she is averaging 28.3 points and 11.4 rebounds, 2.5 assists, two steals and almost three blocks per game. She’s also second in the league to Arike Ogunbowale of the Dallas Wings in shot attempts per game. Wilson is taking nearly 21 shots per game, and only 1.4 of them per game are threes. 

Wilson is in her bag for a team that is 60-16 over the past two seasons, and they are the betting favorites to win a third title in a row. But her team is a mediocre 5-5 with some bad losses to bottom-rung teams in the WNBA.

Las Vegas Aces Have Lost Three In A Row For First Time Since 2019

They have lost three in a row for the first time since 2019, so everything isn’t peachy. The Aces don’t look like the same team that won back-to-back championships. That’s the only negative against Wilson’s MVP campaign. Winning is high on the list of boxes that need to be checked for MVP. 

A’ja is thriving, but the offense isn’t clicking as it should with such an array of decorated weapons. But the most glaring issue is they are sixth in a 12-team league in defensive rating, so overall Wilson needs more help on that end. 

Offensively, as three-point shooting becomes a more important part of the game, the Aces might want to give some more shots to Kelsey Plum or Tiffany Clark or Jackie Young. Plum is the only bona fide three-point shooter, but her field goal percentage and percentage on threes are below 36 percent. Young’s hitting less than 29 percent of her threes.

2. Kayla McBride (Minnesota Lynx)

Kayla McBride is a dominant, modern-day weapon for a Lynx team that is leading the WNBA in scoring at 86.7 points per game. The Lynx are also first in assists per game (25), as well as second in blocks (5.8) and steals (9.7). 

Efficiency is the keyword with her. She’s 22nd in the WNBA in shot attempts per game, but she’s 12th overall in scoring and first in three-point shooting, nailing 51.7 percent. She’s also leading the WNBA in three-pointers made per game (3.8). Kelsey Plum is second (3.3). Add three rebounds, about four assists and two steals to the mix, plus the fact that the Lynx has the best record in the Western Conference (9-3), and McBride is a definite MVP candidate. 

3. Napheesa Collier (Minnesota Lynx)

If not for teammate Napheesa Collier, McBride would be much higher on most people’s MVP ballots. 

Collier, who will be playing for Team USA in Paris, is the leading scorer and rebounder on the Lynx. While McBride hits Steph Curry-style daggers at clutch moments in games and makes opposing teams have to account for her on the court at every moment, Collier is the superstar workhorse. 

She’s fourth in the league in scoring at 20.8 points per game. She’s third in rebounding, averaging 10.9 boards. She also gives you almost four assists a game, a couple of steals and a block or two. She is a product of Geno Auriemma’s UConn hoops factory and is bred to play winning hoops. 

Although she plays inside often, Collier is 11th in the WBA in three-point shooting percentage at just under 38 percent (37.8). 

McBride and Collier have combined to give the Lynx the most dynamic duo in the Western Conference this season. 

4. Brenna Stewart

Breanna Stewart was a three-time National Player of the Year and four-time NCAA Champion at UConn. Her WNBA dominance has been similar. “Stewie” is the reigning WNBA MVP and has the Liberty back and rolling through the Eastern Conference as they try to avenge last season’s WNBA Finals loss to the Las Vegas Aces. 

She’s seventh in scoring (18.7 ppg) and tied for sixth in rebounds per game (9.4) which is per usual for her. She’s sharing the scoring load with sharpshooter Sabrina Ionescu, and they have the Liberty sitting at 11-2, second in the East.

The Liberty is second because the Connecticut Sun leads the way at 10-1. The dynamic and married duo of WNBA’s fifth all-time leading scorer DeWanna Bonner and double-double machine Alyssa Thomas.

5. Alyssa Thomas (Connecticut Sun)

Thomas is first in assists (8.5) and fourth in rebounding (10.4 pg) in the WNBA. Both will garner MVP consideration if the Connecticut Sun continues to win and challenge the Liberty for Eastern Conference supremacy. 

6. Dearica Hamby (L.A. Sparks)

The L.A. Sparks aren’t winning, but Dearica Hamby is averaging 20 points and tied for the league lead in rebounds while shooting a sizzling 48 percent on threes. The 6-foot-3 forward, in her ninth season out of Wake Forest has blossomed after averaging less than 10 points per game throughout her career.

She will be an important part of a Sparks team that is steadily improving and coming off a huge win over the Las Vegas Aces. Rookie bucket-getter Rickea Jackson and blockmaster Cameron Brink are distinguishing themselves on a team with a nice blend of veterans and youth. 

7. Kahleah Copper (Phoenix Mercury)

Kahleah Copper is a walking bucket for the Phoenix Mercury. She’s third in the W in scoring (24.0 ppg), scoring at a crazy clip for a team with WNBA all-time leading scorer Diana Taurasi still getting it done at 41. Add in 6-foot-8 Brittney Griner, who just returned to action and will make the team way more formidable coming out of some great reps in the Olympic Games this summer.

Phoenix is 6-6 now, but watch out for one last magical run from Taurasi, and Copper will be the lead baller to get them there. She’s also hitting 39.3 percent of her threes on more than seven attempts per game and will continue to leave her mark on this MVP race. 

Honorable Mention: 

Nneka Ogwumike is averaging 18.2 points and nearly eight rebounds per game for the Seattle Storm, who are 8-4 and second in the Western Conference to Minnesota. She and Jewell Lloyd, the team’s leading scorer at 20.3 ppg, put up a lot of shots and carry the underrated Storm

‘I Think Michael Jordan’s The Greatest. He Deserves It’: RIP To ‘The Architect’ Jerry West, Who Agrees It’s Time For MJ To Replace Him As The Logo

On Wednesday Los Angeles Lakers legend and Basketball Hall of Famer Jerry West passed away at the age of 86. The legendary guard whose silhouette became the NBA logo leaves an indelible mark as both a Hall of Fame player and Hall of Fame executive. Following the news of West’s death, the Lakers released a statement.

“Jerry West, the personification of basketball excellence and a friend to all who knew him, passed away peacefully this morning at the age of 86,” the team said. “His wife, Karen, was by his side.”

Jerry West Passes At 86

West the one-time NBA champion, 14-time All-Star and 10-time All-NBA First Team selection finished his illustrious playing career averaging 27 points, 6.7 assists and 5.8 rebounds per game.

Only Michael Jordan and Elgin Baylor boast a higher scoring average amongst retired players. His 29.1 playoff average is only bested by the aforementioned Jordan. West also holds the distinction of being the only player to win NBA Finals MVP on a losing team, doing so in 1969. 

West Believed Jordan Should Replace Him As The Logo

Following the announcement of his death, the sports world took time to remember West the former West Virginia Mountaineers legend and 1960 US Olympic gold medalist. ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith spoke at length about his relationship with West. Smith also described his first time speaking with West, and how he mentioned that Michael Jordan should replace him as the NBA logo. 

“The first time we had a conversation … He heard me saying that that NBA logo, that the silhouette should be changed to Michael Jordan from him,” Smith began.

“He wasn’t calling to refute it. He was calling because he felt like I sounded like it’s something he would refute. And he was saying, ‘Absolutely not. I think Michael Jordan’s the greatest. I think he deserves it.’”

Jordan, who has never mentioned replacing West and never would because he has too much respect for those who have paved the way, made sure to send his condolences to the family of West.

“I am so deeply saddened at the news of Jerry’s passing. He was truly a friend and a mentor. Like an older brother to me. I valued his friendship and knowledge. I always wished I could have played against him as a competitor, but the more I came to know him, I wish I had been his teammate. I admired his basketball insights and he and I shared many similarities to how we approached the game. He will be forever missed! RIP, Logo.” 

West Won Eight Championships As NBA Executive

Following his Hall of Fame playing career, West coached the Lakers for two seasons, finishing with a (145-101) record. He became general manager in 1982-83 leading the Lakers to six NBA championships in ten Finals appearances. West is credited with building the Showtime-era Lakers, which featured Magic, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, “Big Game” James Worthy, and head coach Pat Riley stalking the sidelines. That core won three titles together (1985, 1987, 1988). 

West is also credited with convincing Shaquille O’Neal to sign with the Lakers in free agency in 1996. He then traded center Vlade Divac on draft night in 1996 for a young high schooler named Kobe Bryant.

What became the finishing piece to what would become another Lakers dynasty was adding former Chicago Bulls coach Phil Jackson. The Zen Master led the Lakers to a three-peat (2000-02). 

West also won two titles (2015 and 2017) as an executive board member of the Golden State Warriors. He was really instrumental in landing Kevin Durant via free agency in 2016. 

“If I Would Have Died … I Would Have Felt Great”: Kelsey Plum Headed To Paris Olympics With Jackie Young: Ex-Husband Darren Waller Gives Up $14M, Retires From NFL

Las Vegas Aces stars Kelsey Plum and Jackie Young comprise what most people consider the best backcourt in the WNBA. They are both not only Top 15 players in the league, but they have won back-to-back WNBA championships together.

Two rings are enough to define any duo as all-time greats, but in addition to Young and Kelsey going for a third straight WNBA championship, they are also on the cusp of making some exclusive history in Paris this summer.

Per USA Basketball’s 3×3 account, the two Vegas ladies have the chance to become the first athletes to win Olympic gold in both 3×3 and 5×5 basketball.

“So many interesting storylines with the Aces and the Olympics, but this is one of my favorites,” Callie Lawson-Freeman replied.

“Make more HERstory Aces!” TJ Keasal cheered.

“This Duo & the most hard working,” a fan tweeted. “I’m so proud of them.”

“So proud of them. It’s gonna be hella amazing to watch.”

“4 years later, in 2028, Cam and Rhyne will be third and fourth on that list!!!” another person exclaimed.

Jackie and Kelsey will be joined by fellow Aces stars A’ja Wilson and Kelsey Gray on 2024’s Olympic roster — although Gray is still working her way back from an injury.

This year’s team is going for a record eighth straight gold medal, as Team USA has dominated the competition winning nine of 11 contests dating back to the 1996 games in Atlanta.

Kelsey Plum and Jackie Young, both won gold on the inaugural 2020 U.S. Olympic 3×3 Basketball Team. Following their historic gold medal performance, the U.S. Olympic 3×3 Women’s Basketball Team was named 2021 USA Basketball 3×3 Team of the Year.

The U.S. Olympic 3×3 Team included Stefanie Dolson (Chicago Sky/Connecticut/Port Jervis, N.Y.), Allisha Gray (Dallas Wings/South Carolina/Sandersville, Ga.), Kelsey Plum (Las Vegas Aces/Washington/Poway, Calif.) and Jackie Young (Las Vegas Aces/Notre Dame/Princeton, Ind.), as well as USA coach Kara Lawson (Duke).

While Plum won gold medals at the past two FIBA World Cups and has played in a total of six international events in the full-court game, this marks Young’s first five-on-five USA Basketball team for an international competition.

Both players have ascended to the big time, and now Cameron Brink, Hailey Van Lith and Ryhne Howard will carry the torch in Tokyo this summer for 3×3 excellence. 

Kelsey Plum Having An All-Star Season, While Husband Darren Waller Retires Following Divorce

New York Giants tight end Darren Waller married Kelsey Plum in March 2023, but they filed for divorce in April after a year of marriage. 

The Las Vegas Aces champion confirmed with a heartbreaking X post.

“I’m devastated. I walked through fire for that man, but now I see it’s time to go,” she wrote. 

“God has given me an incredible life, and I’m truly so grateful for the profound love from my family and friends,” Plum continued.

“One day I’ll share my story, today is not that day. Thank you for the grace to process my pain, to forgive and move forward. Today and everyday I will continue to choose joy. Much love KP.”

Most assumed that Waller cheated or went back on a promise he might have made Kelsey concerning his all-around behavior. Her post screams infidelity, but she still hasn’t revealed the cause of the divorce. 

In the meantime, Plum is among WNBA scoring leaders, averaging 19.3 points per game and headed to another All-Star game for a Las Vegas Aces team who is surprisingly struggling at 5-4, following an upset loss to the 4-7 Los Angeles Sparks. 

For Waller, however, sports have been the furthest thing from his mind amidst all of the other challenges he had in his life. The breakup with Plum, whether it be his fault or not, seemed to hit him hard. 

Waller released a song on social media expressing the pain and regret he has felt since losing the love of one of the WNBA’s most famous players. 

Of course, social media had a field day with the rumors of his retirement and his impending divorce. Waller got roasted for about a week, but Plum is acting as if she’s never been married, and Waller is going through it publicly. 

Recently the 31-year-old tight end announced his abrupt retirement from the sport of football. Waller says a “very scary” hospitalization last season drove him to his recent retirement decision, which shocked the NFL world. 

Waller said the experience “kind of forced me into a position to re-evaluate, you know, and I’ve made the decision that I’ll be retiring from the NFL.”

Waller announced his retirement on Sunday, saying he “found a lot of joy” in the sport, but “the passion has slowly been fading.”

In a nearly 18-minute video posted on his YouTube channel, the 31-year-old Waller confirmed he’s stepping away from the game after doing some soul-searching.

The Giants had been waiting for Waller to decide whether he wanted to play this season after not attending the team’s offseason workouts and mandatory minicamp begins Tuesday.

Waller Had Scary Medical Situation That Convinced Him To Retire

The medical situation Waller is referring to occurred last November while dealing with an injury suffered in a game a few days earlier. He said he was going home in New Jersey after shooting a music video when he began feeling ill and later started “shaking like pretty violently” and couldn’t breathe. He said he called 911 and ended up hospitalized for 3 1/2 days.

“I go back into my daily life and I’m pretty clear I almost just lost my life and don’t know if I really feel like if I would have died that I would have felt great about how my life was going if I died at the time,” Waller said. “I’m doing something that I found a lot of joy in and have had amazing moments with, but the passion has slowly been fading.”

NFL Players and CTE

NFL players have a history of CTE-induced depression, emotional challenges, violent mood swings and all other kinds of illnesses that constant brain collisions have historically inflicted upon football athletes. 

Football is a brutal sport, and the effects of brain trauma are well documented and not pretty, from former Kansas City Chiefs player Jevon Belcher blowing his brains out in front of coaches at the practice facility, to the many stories you hear of NFL players exhibiting bizarre and self-destructive behavior. So it’s better to leave too early than wait one hit too late.  

After his first song, Waller struck back at all of the people gossiping about his unfortunate turn of events with another heartfelt tune.

Waller, who dealt with hamstring issues the last three years, was limited to 12 games and had 52 catches for 552 yards and a touchdown in his only season with the Giants.

‘He Is An Industry-Created Coaching Celebrity’: Did Paul Finebaum Call Deion Sanders The Caitlin Clark of College Coaches? 

They love to kick a brother when he’s down. When Deion Sanders was working wonders at Jackson State, had the school all over ESPN, was bringing in unprecedented levels of recruits and running HBCU schools out of the stadium led by his sons Shedeur and Shilo Sanders and five-star flip Travis Hunter, he was the toast of Black America. 

In fact, there weren’t many people of any race, creed, color or gender who had anything bad to say about “Coach Prime,” who had the full support of everyone from Tom Brady to the NFL scouting combines.

That was until he bounced to Colorado, took the PWI money and brought his best players with him to the mountains of the now-defunct Pac-12, started 3-0, and then reality set in and the team stumbled to a 1-8 ending to what appeared to be a promising season. 

Now his biggest fan is probably 98-year-old Buffs superfan Peggy.

That losing, followed by the defections of several highly-touted recruits who were critical of their time with Coach Prime and questioned his intentions with his program, has taken Deion Sanders from being one of the most highly coveted and touted college football coaches in the country to a guy who is losing the support of people who once supported his football mission.

Facing an even tougher season in a new conference (Big 12), optimism is still there that Sanders will shock the world, but it is waning, and his act is wearing thin on some college football analysts across the country, who now confidently say they don’t believe in the NFL Hall of Famer’s coaching acumen. 

ESPN’s college football insider Paul Finebaum is one of those people.

Appearing on the “McElroy and Cubelic in the Morning” show, Finebaum wasn’t playing nice about Deion Sanders or his projections for Prime’s Colorado football team. While Sanders has re-invigorated the entire student body and made football games a thing again, Finebaum isn’t buying in.

Paul Finebaum Calls Deion Sanders a ‘Celebrity Coach’

Via SI.com: “First of all, he is a celebrity but he’s not a celebrity as a coach. To me, Deion, it’s all about what he did previously, and I think that’s why I give him a lot of credit for calling himself Coach Prime. Because that puts the emphasis on being a coach. But listen, he is an industry-created coaching celebrity. What happened last year was generational, but it was mostly forced and created, and it was really in many ways illegitimate.

Finebaum roasted Sanders, totally devaluing him as a real football coach, forgetting that Sanders fought through some serious medical problems including almost having his foot amputated during his last season at JSU. 

As far as Finebaum’s reflection on Colorado’s 2023 season and the media hype that fueled expectations:

“He really never beat anyone of consequence, but that didn’t stop us from talking about it. By the way, I’m guilty. I was on those shows as you were. But it felt surreal and I’ll never forget being asked, I think Stephen A. Smith asked me in the second week of the season. ‘Hey, do you think they’re a playoff team?’ I had a hard time answering with a straight face, because I think he had just been out there and he believed in it. But that was never real.”

Paul Finebaum Says Deion Sanders Is Not A Great Coach

Finebaum says he doesn’t consider Deion Sanders “a great coach at all.” But it’s hard to determine greatness after three years as a college head coach rebuilding programs that had lost their luster.

But, honestly, Sanders hasn’t been at this long. This is his first Power Five job, and he is trying to build a great program at a school that attracts less and less top athletes each season. Colorado definitely won’t get any more competitive or recruit any better with Sanders gone. Imagine if he was recruiting at Alabama or Florida State? The talent would be twice as good. 

You can sense some peculiar narrative shaping and shifting by Finebaum going on here.

“It’s just a matter of being honest, I don’t consider him a great coach at all. He’s a Hollywood created celebrity primarily because of what he did in other walks of life, namely playing football. But I mean he disappeared for a long time. We didn’t really know what he was up to and quite frankly, his performance as a coach has been less than spectacular.”

Deion Sanders’ Colorado Buffaloes finished dead last in the PAC-12’s final season. But despite the record, no coach was as polarizing last season other than the legendary Nick Saban, who retired.

Colorado Buffs Projected To Win 5.5 Games

Now with the 2024 College Football season about three months away, the hype train is picking up steam again in Boulder, Colorado, despite Vegas putting the Buffs’ wins total o/u at just 5.5 wins next season. 

Any Deion Sanders-coached team is always going to be projected to be better than the talent it actually has. That has to do with Deion’s ability to sell and promote his players and his brand.

As one of the most successful two-way athletes to ever step on a field and possibly the most charismatic player to ever grace the NFL, when Deion talks or tweets, whatever he says is usually a conversation starter.

Finebaum is judging one season at Colorado with a team that Deion tore down and constructed through the transfer portal. Deion won big at Jackson State and then didn’t do well in his first year at Colorado. 

Plenty Of Coaches Lost Games

I’m not sure that Finebaum can credit all of these losing coaches with being better than Deion at coaching. They aren’t great yet either, but

He’s not the only coach who had problems winning big against the powerhouses of college football. To imply that he’s any less of a coach than the coaches of Baylor, Houston or Cincinnati — all who failed to muster more than four wins — is an insult. 

Scott Satterfield’s first year at Cincinnati, a team that lost to Alabama in the College Football Playoffs in 2022 behind the arm of a future NFL draft pick named Desmond Ridder, was a 3-9 disaster. Nobody said he was a fake head coach.

Deion Sanders The Caitlin Clark of College Football Coaches?

Year 1 wasn’t fun, but the process has just begun. Colorado got a ton of press, but the results fell short of the hype.

I guess you can call Deion the Cailtin Clark of college coaches. At least, some people would feel that way about the woman who has been credited with elevating the game despite performing at a very good level during the first 10 games of her career, but well below the high expectations that were set when she was called the best women’s basketball player in the world. A’ja Wilson, Diani Taurasi, Kayla McBride, DeWanna Bonner, Brenna Stewart, Kelsey Plum, Sabrina Ionescu (and the list goes on), are still active players and have something to say about that.

Deion should expect plenty of people to jump off the bandwagon. He knew this moment would come, and how he handles year 2 will go a long way towards proving Finebaum right or wrong.

“They Don’t Have To Bring Guns To The Locker Room” | WNBA Legend Angel McCoughtry Doesn’t Want Gilbert Arenas Dragging Her Into His Podcast Drama 

The gender wars and Caitlin Clark wars rage on as fodder for podcasts trying to get some eyeballs and build on controversy. 

Gilbert Arenas has been very controversial with his takes on CC and the WNBA and how she should be treated by other players.

He went as far as to say at the beginning of the season, that WNBA should let Clark dominate them intentionally so that she can continue to blow up the league, bring chartered flights and unprecedented ratings for the league. 

Of course, that didn’t sit well with the ultra-competitive women who comprise the league and scrape and scrap for everything they get. 

Recently, in an episode of “Who Did Gilbert Arenas Offend This Week” on his ‘No Chill Gil’ podcast, WNBA legend Angel McCoughtry struck back after getting caught up in Arenas’ nonsense on social media. 

McCoughtry, a five-time WNBA All-Star, is trying to get back in the WNBA after suffering several injuries, and she put it into the atmosphere that she wants to come back to protect young players on a championship team. 

Angel McCoughtry As Caitlin Clark’s Enforcer?

That sounds like an enforcer role. 

“I would love to play on a team that can contest for a championship or be a vet to help the young ones … like Caitlin Clark,” McCoughtry told TMZ Sports last week. She needs that vet around her arm just pushing her through the season.”

Many Clark fans were hyped that CC has a veteran in her corner. Gilbert Arenas may have taken it a step too far, forcing McCoughtry to respond to his statements and insinuation that she was jocking Clark to get back in the league. 

Initially, Gil praised McCoughtry’s comments and the fans.

“Brilliant move,” Arenas said on “No Chill Gil.” “Someone gets it. Angel you get it. Someone’s thinking. No matter what we say, no matter what’s going on, someone is going to get paid from protecting her [Clark] as a teammate. It’s just a fact.” 

NBA Had Enforcers To Protect Superstars

Gilbert gave examples referencing how Udonis Haslem was Dwyane Wade’s enforcer and Michael Jordan had Charles Oakley early on in his career. Arenas claimed that anyone who acts as the top WNBA rookie’s enforcer becomes her ride-along. They get to ride the wave of the accomplishments of the superstar they are protecting and keep a job.  

Arenas hyped McCoughtry’s abilities as a defender and her physical composition. The 2009 WNBA ROTY is a two-time scoring champion, steals leader and clutch performer. As often happens on social media, the responses to his commentary took on a life of it’s own.  

McCoughtry was accused of trying to stay relevant with her comments. A clout chase of sorts. 

She posted a video on X with the caption, “Gilbert don’t play !!! @GilsArenaShow” and began with, “This message is for Gilbert Arenas.” 

Arenas also botched McCoughtry’s name on his podcast, referring to her as McCartney. 

“This message is for Gilbert Arenas. First of all, my name is Angel McCoughtry, not Angel McCartney. Second, if you heard what I said instead of having selective hearing you would have heard that I mentioned three incidences. Jackie Young’s incident. Angel Reese’s incident and also Caitlin Clark’s incident,” McCoughtry said.

“And what I said was as a vet I’m going to take up for my teammate. It doesn’t matter who it is. Real vets, they do take up for their teammates. They don’t have to bring guns to the locker room,” taking a shot at a very notorious incident, where Arenas as a member of the Washington Wizards brought a gun into the locker room to intimidate a teammate who owed him a gambling debt. 

“So don’t try to make it look like I’m trying to make a comeback to the league to just protect one player. People who know my story know I’ve been injured twice, I have gone through a lot, and I’ve been trying to make a comeback to the league since three years ago to retire the way I want and finish out winning,” she continued.

“That has been my goal. So don’t do that time Gilbert that’s not what we do. Next time call me.”

McCoughtry wanted to be known that she wasn’t just referring to Clark, even though that’s how Gil and everyone else interpreted it.  

While Arenas only referred to Clark, in the larger interview McCoughtry spoke in defense of Jackie Young and Angel Reese too, which went ignored. All anyone hears is Caitlin Clark and then they transform into fight mode. 

NBA Vets Criticize Caitlin Clark’s Teammates

Arenas, many NBA veterans, even Magic Johnson criticized Indiana Fever player for not protecting Clark, after the rookie had several incidents, including being pushed to the ground by Chennedy Carter. 

While McCoughtry also advocates teammates sticking up for teammates in the heat of the battle, she also made sure to clarify in response to Arenas’ show, that she expects all veterans to step up for the rookies no matter who they are. That’s the culture in the WNBA. It’s a sisterhood and a family concept for each team. 

Not just Clark, as Arenas tried to make it seem. The way it was presented was as if McCoughtry was trying to get brownie points from Clark by offering her services as an enforcer. 

McCoughtry is a two-time Olympic gold medalist, five-time WNBA All-Star and has had many great moments in the league. She’s also tough and understands winning at the pro level. She has been trying to get back in the league for one last run and despite the controversy this caused, the Indiana Fever might want to give the veteran a call.

Especially if she’s willing to throw hands for CC. That role alone would make her more popular than she’s ever been since coming out of Louisville and having a very productive WNBA career.

Danny Hurley Turned Down $70M, Ran For His Life and Saved Himself From Becoming The Next Victim Of The LeBron James Narrative Tour

Danny Hurley wasn’t crazy enough to take the Lakers job. He didn’t care that the six-year/$70M deal would have made him the fifth-highest-paid coach in the NBA. He didn’t care that he would probably have the chance to coach LeBron James and Bronny James.

If Hurley accepted that job, coaching LeBron and managing the Bronny James situation and AD’s ailments, while trying to construct a team and implement a new culture, the betting odds in Vegas resoundingly say he would have lived to regret it. 

Danny Hurley Made Correct Choice Turning Down Lakers Job

With all due respect to King James, who is still performing at an elite level on the court and off, Lakers Nation has become a sideshow. These past few years in L.A. have been nothing more than a retirement tour for Bron, who is today’s definition of Ol’ Man River. Other than financially, Hurley, the son of legendary high school institution Bobby Hurley Sr., and brother of legendary college guard Bobby Hurley Jr., saw no benefit to being an eventual scapegoat when high expectations aren’t met. 

If the job was just coaching talent, even with his abrasive demeanor and demanding standards, Hurley could do it while tying his shoes and chewing gum. Managing the LeBron James narrative is a job that few, if any, first-year NBA coaches are built for. 

So, instead of sharing power with LeBron and Klutch Sports, Hurley went back to UConn, where he has total control and rebuilt a former Big East powerhouse into a squad that could become the first college team to win three titles in a row since the legendary John Wooden-lead UCLA teams.

An anti-LeBron narrative is never going to be the go-to for any hoops publication, so instead let’s focus on Hurley declining the offer as an example of the complete dedication he has to the program that Jim Calhoun built into a titan. 

 Hurley has transformed the Huskies into a powerhouse, culminating in back-to-back national championships. His coaching philosophy, player development skills, and strategic acumen have not only brought success but have also revitalized the program, making UConn a perennial contender.

Next is becoming immortalized in college basketball history by completing a three-peat, which is an almost impossible feat in this climate of basketball, NIL deals, transfer portal madness and me-first mentalities. 

If the Lakers are willing to give Hurley $70M today, somebody else will offer him even more if he completes the mission. 

Hurley made the right choice, and he will see that as the Lakers’ 2024-2025 season plays out.

Sorry, Caitlin Clark, This Team USA Journey Is All About Diana Taurasi’s Historic Sixth Olympic Gold Medal and A Proper Farewell To WNBA’s GOAT

“The W is more than one woman.”

Unless you are White Mamba Diana Taurasi.

Team USA Coach Cheryl Reeve told us everything we needed to know about Caitlin Clark‘s chances of making the Olympic team in an interview back in May.

When she was asked about the possibility of Clark, making the team, she made it clear that it was “above her pay grade” and not her decision. A committee selects the final team and the coach deals with the cards she is dealt.

Reeve didn’t spend too much time on Clark, but she did emphasize that the selection process isn’t about one individual. It was about choosing the right pieces, developing chemistry and ensuring gold in Paris as a collective.

“She’s an incredible talent. … We have a great basketball team. Individual talent is great but our mission … how can we become the best team we can be?” Reeve said.

Reeve pointed out that other countries’ teams spend a lot of time together. So, Team USA has to accelerate that process with one camp and very limited time to gel prior to the Olympics. Reeve admits that facing teams with chemistry and talent who have been playing together for months, even years, in preparation of the Olympics, will be challenging.

The US Women haven’t had a problem with overcoming any of the disadvantages they may have, including stopping in the middle of the WNBA season to play in the Olympics. They have won nine out of the 11 tournaments in which they competed, including seven in a row from 1996 to 2020. 

Half of Twitter lost its mind when Clark wasn’t named to the team and people lashed out with zero understanding of the history of the women’s team in the Olympics, or how the selection process works. Or how little time the American team has together to develop true chemistry.

Diana Taurasi Deserves Her Farewell Tour: WNBA All-Time Leading Scorer

Everybody on that squad can get 20 points in their sleep. Even 41-year-old Diana Taurasi and Brittney Griner, who is playing her first meaningful basketball since being released from a Russian prison. And that’s what leaving Clark off the team was really about.

This Olympics is Diana Taurasi’s last hurrah. White Mamba is saying goodbye to a league that she has dominated since the day she left UConn, amassing 10,307 points (and counting). Second-closest is Tina Thompson (7,488) and she hasn’t played since 2013.

As far as WNBA scoring goes, there’s Diana Taurasi and then everybody else.

Taurasi has won the WNBA Rookie of the Year Award (2004), three WNBA championships (2007, 2009, and 2014), a historic five Olympic gold medals (2004, 2008, 2012, 2016 and 2021), one WNBA Most Valuable Player Award (2009), two WNBA Finals MVP Awards (2009 and 2014), five scoring titles (2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011), and three FIBA World Cups (2010, 2014, and 2018).

A sixth Olympic gold would be unprecedented in the sport and a testament to how she really has been a key part of the bloodline of the WNBA. Carrying the torch of greatness no matter how popular or unpopular the league was and keeping it relevant to young girls all across the world.

Caitlin Clark Didn’t Fit On This Olympics Team

Caitlin Clark caught the eye of corporate America at a time when social media blows people up overnight and ties them to a narrative. Her battles with Angel Reese in college and her ratings bonanza in the NCAA Tournament and this WNBA season made her a legendary figure.

Taurasi has been mother hen for some time now. She warned Clark early in the season that she wouldn’t be relinquishing the crown without a fight.

To put Clark on the team would have been nothing more than a distraction. She wasn’t going to play over women who have already won multiple gold medals. The team that was compiled is a who’s who of WNBA All-Stars and future Hall of Famers. This is their time. Caitlin Clark is just 22 years old, and the 2028 Olympics will be her headline debut on Team USA.

All in due time. Right now, this is about a proper sendoff for a legend playing in her last Olympic Games. Giving Taurasi her flowers. Some people are using age discrimination and shaming to discredit her being on the team.

Those people clearly don’t understand what she’s done for the sport over the past two decades and how much dedication and love she has to have for the sport to still be playing. Taurasi should be marveled at in the same way LeBron James is.

Minnesota Lynx Coach Cheryl Reeve Not Happy With Caitlin Clark Obsession

While many are excited about Clark’s ascension as the new face of the WNBA, not everybody was singing her praises as savior of the league. That includes Minnesota Lynx head coach and president of basketball operations Cheryl Reeve. The four-time WNBA championship-winning coach and three-time WNBA Coach of the Year wasn’t feeling all the love and attention Clark is already receiving.

Reeve Says League Was Here Before Clark

After the league’s social media account on X repeatedly pushed Clark’s preseason debut, Reeve, who’s never minced her words, took to X to voice her opinion on the league. 

“ALSO in action tonight – @minnesotalynx vs @chicagosky 7PM CST. Though fans won’t be able to watch, Lynx fans can go to the Lynx app to follow along via play by play. Or if you are in the market, come to the game… as we start the season off right. #12teams #theWIsmorethanoneplayer”

A fan responded to Reeve’s tweet, saying, “Because they only care about Caitlin.”

Reeve replied, “That part.”

That’s an apparent shot at Clark, and the league definitely caught some flak for not also showing Chicago Sky rookie Angel Reese’s debut which was against Reeve’s Lynx squad.

Reeve has coached WNBA legends Maya Moore, Seimone Augustus, Sylvia Fowles and many others, so she’s seen her share of great players. Which is why she isn’t enamored at all by Clark, or any other rookie coming into the league and being anointed before they earned their status amongst the greats.  

People Blaming Reeve For Caitlin Clark Not Being On Team USA

Reeve’s perception of Clark being treated differently than other players in the league put a weird vibe in the air as it pertained to Clark being selected for Team USA and the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.

Reeve serves as the team’s head coach, and while the committee will make the decision on who gets chosen, many believed Clark was a shoo-in. They assumed that her corporate appeal and huge fan base would be something the WNBA wanted to tap into in Paris on such a huge stage. No way a league that’s striving for more revenue can afford to see its biggest brand left at home as the Olympic team goes abroad, WNBA fans thought.

I thought the same, in a previous article:

“Even if Reeve doesn’t think Clark is good for chemistry, the committee will make the final decision and she probably wouldn’t push back. Something tells me this will get sorted out and Clark will be a member of the team.”

It did get sorted out, and the committee decided against adding the Clark circus to a group of older women who have been working together for some time to create the perfect gold-winning team.

So, if you want to get mad at somebody, don’t get mad at Reeve. Maybe you can be mad at Taurasi for being so damn great and deserving of her own spotlight. Or maybe you can enjoy the current WNBA season, which still has a ton of action left, enjoy Clark’s rookie season, enjoy the gold medal Team USA will win this summer and then re-start the clock and get ready for the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.

More TSL Stories:

‘It’s Because Of Me Too’ | Chicago Sky Star Angel Reese Demands Her Flowers For Helping WNBA Popularity Soar (theshadowleague.com)

“There’s A Privilege For Younger White Players”: Cameron Brink Makes USA 3×3 Team With Hailey Van Lith and Wants Acceptance For Her “Masculine” Teammates (theshadowleague.com)

‘I’m Not In The Mindset That’s It’s All Caitlin Clark’: Draymond Green Gives A’ja Wilson Her Flowers As WNBA’s Best Player (theshadowleague.com)

‘They Woke Up A Monster’: Caitlin Clark Responds To Being Left Off Team USA; WNBA Legend Lisa Leslie Doesn’t Like It

On Saturday the announcement of Team USA’s women’s basketball team for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris was made, and the most notable name missing was Indiana Fever star and WNBA 2024 No. 1 overall pick Caitlin Clark.

The former Iowa Hawkeyes star was expected to land one of the twelve spots, but the selection committee, which features former Team USA coach and player Dawn Staley as well as three-time Olympic gold medalist Seimone Augustus, voted to not have Clark be a part of this particular team, instead opting for 41-year-old Diana Taurasi, who’ll be appearing in her record sixth Olympics, winning five gold medals previously. 

The decision sent shock waves through the sports world, as most believed Clark was a shoo-in. In retrospect, Clark easily could’ve been chosen, but who would she replace on the list? That’s the magic question. Everyone chosen is more than deserving, even the aforementioned Taurasi, who’s still performing at a high level at 41. As she’s done with everything she’s faced thus far this season, Clark took the snub in stride. The sharpshooter even texted her head coach Christie Sides this:

“They woke up a monster.”

Sounds like Clark intends to use being left off the team as motivation.

Clark Has Praise For Those Chosen

Speaking with reporters after practice on Sunday, Clark congratulated those who were chosen, but she vowed to work hard to hear her named called four years from now.

“I’m excited for the girls who are on the team,” Clark said. “I know it’s the most competitive team in the world and I know it could’ve gone either way — me being on the team, not being on the team. So I’m excited for them. I’m going to be rooting them on to win gold. I was a kid that grew up watching the Olympics. So, yeah, it’ll be fun to watch them.”

“No disappointment,” Clark added. “I think it just gives you something to work for. That’s a dream. Hopefully, one day I can be there. I think it’s just a little more motivation. You remember that. And, hopefully, in four years, when four years comes back around, I can be there.”

It’s highly plausible that Clark will be a part of the next three to four to Olympic teams, so while this one may sting a little, she’ll be the face of the team going forward in four years. Rumors are Clark wasn’t chosen because of the fear of how her fans would react to her lack of playing time, which likely would have been very minuscule with the talent on the roster. 

In April Lisa Leslie Called For Clark To Make The Team

Following Clark being drafted No. 1 overall in April, WNBA legend and Basketball Hall of Famer Lisa Leslie told ESPN this about Clark’s chances to be chosen for the squad:

“She better be on the Olympic team. We should not leave the country without her. She’s a bona fide baller. There’s no doubt she’s already one of the best players in the world.”

Leslie’s quote went viral then, and it definitely went viral again following Saturday’s announcement. Not only was Leslie speaking from a basketball standpoint, but also Clark’s ability to move the meter. With the team headed to Paris you’d think the league would want to have its most popular player there as well. 

But the committee obviously didn’t believe she was deserving this time around, and while they’re correct in many aspects, they also missed the mark as pertains to pushing women’s basketball globally in the biggest sporting event in the world. 

Hard to do that without Clark in Paris. 

Kyrie Irving Has To Rebound From Embarrassing 12-Point Game 1 Or Luka Doncic and Mavs Are Fried

Kyrie Irving probably has the most pressure entering Game 2 of the NBA Finals.

While Boston blitzed Dallas with the return of 7- footer Kristaps Porzingis (20 points) , who was all over the court in the first half rejecting shots, popping threes and being the overall unicorn menace he’s known to be, the dynamic duo of Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving failed to live up to the hype in Game 1. 

Kyrie Irving Laid Egg In Game 1 NBA Finals

Luka got his numbers: 30 points in 28 minutes, but his wingman had an historically poor playoff game with just 12 points on 6-of-19 shooting. 

No one could have predicted such a poor game from Irving who admits that he thought he would get more resistance from the crowd in his return to TD Garden since playing for the Celtics. 

So while everything went right for the Boston Celtics, for the most part, the one constant for the Mavericks, along with Luka, came up short.

He says he has to take some accountability for misinterpreting the vibe and misreading the crowd. It seems to have affected his approach to the game and we all know Kyrie has to be in a certain mental state to be at his best.

Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving Didn’t Play Like Best Backcourt Ever

All week we heard the hyperbole about Kyrie Irving and Luka Doncic being the best backcourt in NBA history. The respect the media has for these two guys is so high that many picked the Mavericks to win the series despite being outmatched and having less talent overall then the Boston Celtics, led by dynamic duo Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown.

As we saw in Game 1, the two star players on the Mavericks can’t slack and expect to defeat the Green Machine. Irving is capable of scoring 30-40 points in his sleep, but this isn’t the regular season, and the Celtics are no regular team.

They have very few weaknesses outside of their addiction to the three-pointer.

This was going to be a very rough series for the Mavs to win even with their platinum backcourt rolling.

Dallas Mavs Fans Panic After Kyrie’s Poor Game 1

For starters, they need more than 12 points from Kyrie Irving to have any chance to win the title

If anyone knows about shaking off bad games and coming back it’s Kyrie, who helped LeBron James come back from an historic 3-1 deficit in the 2016 NBA finals against a 73-win Golden State dynasty team.

So we can’t count Kyrie out, but Luka won’t be able to do the heavy lifting, alone and if the Mavs have any chance of winning this series, Kyrie will have to play on a hall of fame level. He can’t afford anymore stinkers because there’s no time left. He has to nail these last six games.

“Just got to stay confident and stay poised throughout this, man,” Irving said after Game 1. “This is the best time of the year to be playing. There’s only two teams left. Let’s put it in perspective. The environment is going to be what it is but my focus is on our game plan and making sure my guys feel confident and I feel confident and continue to shoot great shots.”

Dallas Mavs fans don’t seem to be as confident as Irving  and were panicking on school media.

The crafty veteran isn’t sweating it and he had some words for Mavericks fans who are ready to jump off a bridge after one game of a seven-game series 

“It’s not the first time we’ve heard Dallas fans are panicking. Shout-out to our fans,” Irving said. “We appreciate your support all year. Just stay poised, man. Stay focused on the goal. The mission is bigger than us.”

Kyrie is always trying to keep it Zen. He’s the last person that is going to panic because he trusts in his skills and the culture they have established in Dallas.

After losing Game 4 of the Western Conference semifinals against the Oklahoma City Thunder in what involved blowing a 14-point lead, his messaging was consistent.

Dallas went on to take Game 5 and ultimately won the series. 

“Don’t panic, and just stay poised,” Irving said. “It’s not time to have irrational emotions towards a game like tonight, you know what I mean? We know how we played. We’re honest with each other, and we had the game pretty much in our hands and control, and then down the stretch… we just didn’t make enough of the clutch plays.”

Expect a huge Game 2 from Irving and for Luka to be Luka, but it stil might not be enough to defeat a Celtics squad that is clicking on all cylinders, and playing with a grudge. Trying to close the deal on an elusive championship is the only focus.

If Dallas is going to do what is shaping up to be the impossible then it starts with the dynamic point guard from New Jersey, Kyrie Irving

‘This Is How Stupid They Are’ | Charles Barkley Calls Out ESPN For “Irrelevant Lakers” Coverage During NBA Finals

The 2024 NBA Finals got off to an ugly start on and off the court. The Dallas Mavericks looked overwhelmed by a Boston Celtics squad that’s been the league’s best team all season.

In the 107-89 loss the Mavericks trailed by as many as 29 points at one point (58-29), and only mustered nine assists as a team. Superstar Luka Doncic finished with a career-low one assist, which is nine less than his per game average of 10 per game. But, as bad as the product on the floor was, it couldn’t top the ugliness that occurred throughout ESPN’s pregame, halftime and postgame show, which was focused heavily on the Lakers coaching search instead of the NBA Finals.

NBA legend and “Inside the NBA” analyst Charles Barkley didn’t hold back when criticizing the network’s shows and how they missed the mark with their platform.

Barkley, who was affectionately known as the “Round Mound of Rebound” during his playing days made sure to call out the constant talk about the Lakers, who are attempting to hire UConn head coach Danny Hurley as their new coach. Barkley even called them the “irrelevant Lakers,” further showing his disdain for focusing on them with the NBA Finals taking place and the Stanley Cup Finals starting up this weekend.

Barkley Lays It On Thick With Outkick

In an interview Friday with Dan Dakich of Outkick, Sir Charles had this to say: 

“I’m not going to lie. I love being Dan Hurley. This has nothing to with being Hurley, and good luck with him if you go to the Lakers. But I was so pissed with Game 1 of the Finals, and you have Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Finals coming on, for them to spend the first hour talking about what if Danny Hurley goes to the Lakers?”

“I was so pissed yesterday I had to turn my TV off,” Barkley continued. “I’m not going to lie. I’m like this is how stupid they are. Y’all got the Stanley Cup Finals and the NBA Finals and y’all talk about a team that’s irrelevant. And I’m like that whoever’s doing that program, it got to be the stupidest, most boneheaded people in the world. I’m like, oh, if he goes, we’ll talk about it.”

Barkley wasn’t the only one to call out ESPN’s lack of coverage and analysis of Game 1 of the NBA Finals. Fans were also taken aback by the complete disregard for quality in-depth analysis by the panel led by Stephen A. Smith and Michael Wilbon. 

Barkley Isn’t Too Fond Of ESPN

Hearing Barkley call out ESPN is nothing new. In fact, just last week the “Inside The NBA” analyst said he has no interest in joining ESPN if in fact TNT is left out of the NBA television deal.

Speaking on the “Sports Illustrated Media Podcast,” the 1993 NBA MVP was pretty adamant about why he wouldn’t entertain a move to ESPN.

“ESPN Radio, ESPN2, ESPN Deportes,” Barkley began. “I mean HELL NO! As much as I love ESPN, I just turned 61. The notion that I’m go to be working like a dog in my mid-60s, that’s definitely not going to happen.” 

Hopefully, hearing Barkley and fans call them out ESPN for a poor show prior to Game 1, they step it for Game 2. That’s not likely though.

With the Lakers job still in limbo, the daily coverage won’t subside. Until they hire someone it’ll be included in every show on the network. That’s also another reason Barkley is not interested in joining them. He isn’t gonna talk about the Lakers or any other team that isn’t playing at that time every single show. 

Shaquille O’Neal On Dirk Nowitzki Having A Black Wife: “I Knew That He Likes The Chocolate Bars!”

This is the podcast episode we’ve been waiting for. “The Big Podcast with Shaquille O’Neal,” welcomed NBA legend Dirk Nowitzki in to discuss various topics, including the NBA Finals, their respective careers, and of course, Mavericks star Luka Doncic. 

Shaq is known to say whatever comes to mind and pull no punches. He’s known as the loveable giant, but he still has an enormous mouth and cracking jokes, from conservative to lewd, has always been in his ballpark. 

It’s been common knowledge throughout NBA circles and those familiar with the lifestyles of superstar NBA players, that Dirk Nowitzki is married to a Black woman, Jessica Olsson. 

The former champion, NBA MVP, NBA Finals MVP, a 14-time All-Star has been happily married since 2012. 

The elephant in the room is always that she’s Black. So, of course, Shaq had to mention that on the pod and even recalled the first time he personally saw Jessica, saying he noticed a beautiful woman standing outside of the arena after a game (was probably going to shoot his shot), but later found out it was Nowitzki’s wife. 

During the conversation, O’Neal threw some cringy humor into his story, as Shaq is known to do.

“I found out accidentally, and I don’t know if Dirk knows this, but we all live the same way. So one day, there was this gorgeous person standing right there, and I was like, oh.”

“It was like, that’s Dirk’s wife. I was like, oh, OK, my bad. But after that, I knew that he was down. I knew that he liked chocolate. I knew that he liked chocolate bars. Yes, I knew that it was good.”

Shaq on first seeing Dirk Nowitzki’s wife:

“One day it was this gorgeous person standing back there… I was like oh and they was like that’s Dirk wife… I knew that he likes the chocolate bars!”

Dirk is invited to the cookouts 😂

(Via @bigpodwithshaq) pic.twitter.com/7ON972Se2s

— MFFL NATION (@NationMffl) June 7, 2024

Nowitzki laughed at the comment. It’s the first time he’s heard that story, but probably not the first time people have been surprised that his wife is Black. The NBA is known for Black players dating white women, but we have seen very few examples of white ball players marrying a Black woman. 

Who is Dirk Nowitzki’s Wife, Jessica Olsson?

Jessica Olsson is a Swedish-Kenyan businesswoman and philanthropist, who enhanced her profile by being the wife of NBA legend Dirk Nowitzki. 

Olsson spent her formative years in Sweden, where she attended school. Her mother is from Kenya and her father is Swedish. Olsson, 47, was born in Gavle, Sweden, later earning her bachelor’s degree from the University of Stockholm.

Ollson comes from a very athletic family as her younger twin brothers Marcus and Martin are professional soccer players in England. 

What does Jessica Olsson do for a living?

Jessica Olsson’s first duty is as a mother and home keeper to their three children: Malaika, Max, and Morris. Malaika arrived in July 2013. Dirk was 35, and averaged 21.7 points per game and was 14th in MVP voting in the season that ended that year. 

In 2015, Jessica gave birth to their second child, Max, before eventually having Morris in 2016. Dirk retired in the 2018-19 season and became a full-time husband and father. 

Jessica is a huge fan of the arts, and she has worked at the Dallas Art Gallery. Much of her attention is present on her charitable works. She’s also an associate director at Goss-Michael Foundation.

In addition, she’s heavily involved with The Gates Foundation and UNICEF.

The couple got married in Nowitzki’s Texas home, but the wedding ceremony was conducted in a traditional Kenyan wedding ceremony, where Dirk was asked to identify his wife from among five veiled women. 

Dirk has been married for over a decade and has never been in the tabloids or even hinted at any turmoil in the marriage. He and his wife have kept a low profile and it has served them both well. 

When asked, the legend, whose former team is down 0-1 in the NBA finals to the Boston Celtics, spoken highly of his wife throughout his career, describing her as “supportive” and “amazing” and crediting her with helping him maintain a healthy balance between his existence as a larger-than-life hoops star and a family man. 

You can’t miss them when they are together. In addition to being different races and nationalities, Jessica is 5-foot-1, making her two feet smaller than the 7-footer. 

Jessica Olsson’s Net Worth

Jessica Olsson’s net worth can be estimated at over $1 million that comes from her art gallery, but she is also the proprietor of her husband’s holdings and probably entitled to half of his $140 million fortune. 

How did Dirk and Jessica meet?

The couple met at a charity event for the Sports for Education Economic Development in the year 2010 and by 2012 they were married.  The organization uses basketball as a platform for youth to be engaged in leadership, academic, and athletic programs.

When asked about his experiences after marrying a Black woman, Nowitzki says he was warmly embraced by the Black community. Which isn’t surprising. Dirk has the most official invitation to the cookout, as he frequently received invitations to cookouts and gatherings during home games. 

Shaq Tried To Join Dirk In Dallas

Shaquille O’Neal also revealed that he tried to join the Dallas Mavericks to team up with Dirk Nowitzki when he was leaving the Lakers in 2004, before winning his fourth and final title with the Miami Heat in 2006. 

The locker room would have surely been lit.

Dirk and Shaq would have probably won multiple titles, as they were both 7 feet but played very different styles of ball. Dirk was versatile and is probably the best-shooting big man in NBA history. Shaq is the player known as the most dominating force of his generation. Despite his desires, the Lakers were unwilling to trade Shaq to a Western Conference rival without getting Dirk in return. 

Kobe is probably grateful for that.  

With the Mavericks back in title contention — and being led by another white, European player trying to reach legendary status in Luka Doncic, Dirk’s presence at these games is even more required.

He’s the only player to lead the franchise to a championship, and he did it by defeating the NBA’s first Super Team (LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh). The living legend is also an example of a changing world, where interracial marriages are as common as the hula hoop.

So, yeah Dirk Nowitzki loves chocolate, and she seems to be the perfect sweet tooth.

‘Just Getting Away From Basketball A Little Bit’ | Caitlin Clark Has Best WNBA Game After Clearing Air On Absence From Team Function

The Indiana Fever are the biggest draw in the WNBA, and that’s thanks in large part to 2024 No. 1 overall pick Caitlin Clark.

The former Iowa Hawkeyes star has been the talk of the league since she was taken with the top overall selection. While Clark has had her moments, there’s been more struggle than early success for Clark and her teammates. Friday’s 85-83 road win over the lowly Washington Mystics (0-10) made the Fever 3-9. 

Clark had her best shooting game of the season, 8 of 15 from the field and 7-for-13 from three, tying her career-high of 30 points. Clark also chipped in with eight rebounds and six assists.

The sharpshooter looked quicker and more decisive in the win, and her teammates seemed to be in a much better rhythm with their franchise player. 

In the win Clark bounced back from her career-low of three points in Sunday’s 104-68 blowout loss to the New York Liberty. Following the loss Clark decided she needed to get away from the game a bit and therefore she decided to skip a birthday celebration for teammate Grace Berger. In the aftermath of her absence Clark was quick to quell any notion of team conflict.

Clark Clears The Air On Absence 

Speaking with reporters following Wednesday’s practice, Clark let it be known that she just needed a few days after a crazy 11-game stretch to begin the season. 

“Just getting away from basketball a little bit,” she replied when asked about her off days. Getting some sleep, getting some rest, and just taking care of my body.”

Whatever Clark did, it worked, as she rebounded from her worst game as a pro to have her best game against the Mystics.

Caitlin Clark Effect Is Real

How real is the Caitlin Clark effect, you ask? Friday’s game against the Mystics, which was originally scheduled to be played at the team’s home court, was moved to Capital One Arena, home of the Washington Wizards. Not only was the atmosphere in and around the arena on 10 all day, a sellout crowd of 20,333 fans packed the arena. It’s the largest attendance of any WNBA game ever. 

No player in the WNBA moves the meter quite like Clark, and that was on full display Friday night, even as the visiting team there were far more Clark (Fever) jerseys in the stands than the Mystics. 

The Fever now travel to face the Connecticut Sun, the lone undefeated team in the league, on Monday. The Sun won the two earlier meetings, the first a 92-71 blowout at home. The second meeting was much closer, with the Fever losing 88-84 at home. 

“Her Teammates Have To Come To Her Defense”: Magic Johnson Says Indiana Fever Not Protecting Caitlin Clark, Says She Should Call Larry Bird For Advice

Magic Johnson appeared on Jimmy Kimmel on Thursday evening after the Boston Celtics obliterated the Dallas Mavericks in Game 1 of the 2024 NBA Finals.

Among the hot topics discusses between the two legends of their trades, Johnson, the 64-year-old five-time NBA champion and three-time league MVP and Finals MVP, whose rivalry with Larry Birds’ Celtics in the 1980s is credited with catapulting the NBA to a new stratosphere as a permanent hub in American sports entertainment, had a lot to say about WNBA star Caitlin Clark and her rise to face of the league. 

Magic Johnson Understands Caitlin Clark’s Struggle

He also expressed an understanding for what she is going through as far as veteran players in the league being physical with her and testing her gangster every now and then. 

Magic says he experienced even harsher treatment from his own teammates when he first arrived in L.A. 

“So I went to go up and get the rebound and he hit me real hard, behind my neck. My own teammate and he said, ‘Take that, rook.”

“I said, ‘OK.’ I got up, and about three plays later he was looking up trying to box me out. I ran as fast as I could and I just hit him, bam, hard as I could right behind his neck, really hard. And he fell to the floor, and I told him, ‘Don’t forget. I’m tough. I’m rough. If you want to play like that, we can play like that,” he added.

Magic said his refusal to back down to a notorious enforcer and his physical retaliation, garnered him the respect of his teammates. 

“And all the Lakers players came running up to me and said, ‘We like you.’ I couldn’t let him get away with that.” 

Magic Chastises Caitlin Clark’s Teammates For Not Retaliating

“Now, Caitlin, her teammates have got to come to her defense,” Magic said. “You can’t allow her to have to fight every battle. But we have to understand both Caitlin and Angel Reese and Cameron Brinks who play for my Sparks… They made the WNBA better and they’re going to be tested by these incredible women who have been in the league for a long time.” 

Caitlin Clark Popular But Not The Best Yet 

“Now, Caitlin is the most popular WNBA player, but she’s not the best at this time. Just like Larry and I weren’t the best when we entered the league,” Magic continued. “We became the best later on by our play. Caitlin still has to play great to become the best WNBA player.” 

Magic Understands Why Clark’s $28M Historic Nike Deal Rubs Players Wrong

Kimmel said, “After your rookie year you got a 25-year, $25 million contract, which seems like a crazy amount of money at the time. Now that’s basically what you spend on lunch, right?” 

It was a lot of money at the time, and Magic says the other Lakers players weren’t happy about it. 

“They were not happy because that was more money than anybody had ever received at that time.,” Magic recalled.

Kimmel says he’s surprised they reacted that way because Magic setting a higher pay scale for the league would potentially benefit all players. 

But Magic said the other NBA players didn’t see it that way. “Even though it worked out like that,” Magic said.

“See players don’t see the long-term, it’s all about the short-term. So, what Larry and I did for the NBA to this day, guys are capitalizing on. Now they are making 50 million a year.”

Caitlin Clark vs. Angel Reese: New Magic Johnson vs. Larry Bird WNBA Style

The Larry Bird vs. Magic Johnson rivalry transcended the court and was actually made in heaven. Bird was a white player in a white town (Boston) and was excelling in a Black man’s sport as the rival of the No. 1 Black player in the world, Magic Johnson, who was flashier and more famous. Bird became a reflection of the Northeast town he played for. He was just as polarizing as Magic and had the support of the white audience.

Magic was from urban Michigan and Bird was from rural French Lick, Indiana.

Race played a part in the rivalry. But it was the incredible skills of both players and how they would go back and forth, gaining the upper hand, year-to-year and NBA Finals-to-NBA Finals that captivated people.

The way they played against each other in the national championship game in college in 1979 and then were drafted by storied franchises setting the stage for their built-in NBA rivalries that flourished.

Reese and Clark have a similar storyline dating back to college, and a chance to elevate the league in a similar manner. Like Magic said, they have to keep progressing on the court to have the best impact.

Magic Johnson Says Clark Should Call Larry Bird

Magic also offered Cailtin some personal advice: 

“Call Larry Bird. Ask him for advice” 

“He’s from Indiana, he’s already there and I think he can give her great advice on this situation, because he went through it himself. He already lived there, grew up in Indiana. I think he would be great.” 

Magic Johnson clearly understands the assignment as an owner of the L.A. Sparks. He praised Clark, promoted the WNBA, told the rookie’s teammates to hold her down better even if it means being physical, celebrated the rookies who are moving the needle and gave props to Larry Bird, a player who is forever tied to Magic and the legacy he’s achieved.

Ty Cobb’s Granddaughter Kicked Out Facebook Group, Called A “Woke Nitwit” For Supporting “Most Drunken Farce Ever”: Negro Leagues Stats Inclusion

The backlash from Major League Baseball’s announcement last week that it was combining Negro League stats with MLB stats, which elevated legends such as Josh Gibson above Ty Cobb in several all-time statistical categories, took an interesting turn when the granddaughter of Ty Cobb was booted from the same “let’s be racist forever” club, that her grandfather was allegedly apart of during his illustrious career. 

Cindy Cobb Kicked Out Of Facebook Group Celebrating Her Grandfather’s Legacy

Cindy Cobb was booted from the very Facebook group that she helped nurture in honor of her grandfather when she expressed support for the inclusion of Negro League statistics, even though the changes pushed her grandfather further down in the record books in some all-time categories. 

Cobb, 67, is the granddaughter of Ty Cobb, the baseball legend and lifetime .367 hitter who is replaced in the new record book as MLB’s career batting average champion by Negro Leagues great Josh Gibson, who hit .372 for his 16-year career. 

She has always maintained that despite the complicated time in American history and the way her grandfather is portrayed, “he wasn’t a racist to those who knew him.”

After his death in 1961, at 74, a biographer Al Stump wrote that Cobb was a “racist and a dirty player.” Claims that his granddaughter disputes. She notes that another author, Charles Leerhsen, later debunked those claims.

Gibson is also MLB’s new leader in on-base plus slugging percentage (OPS) and slugging percentage, replacing Babe Ruth. The changes were more than many people in the 2,600-plus member Official Ty Cobb Fan Group could accept and they railed against them in their private Facebook fan group, Cobb said. 

The critics argued that Negro Leagues statistics were unreliable, their stars played fewer games and went up against inferior competition.

Ty Cobb Legacy Group Lashes Out Against New Stats

ESPN described how some in the Cobb Facebook group reacted: “This action is by far the most drunken farce that I have ever witnessed in professional sports,” a person identified as Wesley Fricks, a self-described Ty Cobb historian who controls the fan page (recently renamed Official Ty Cobb Legacy Group), posted on Ty Cobb Athenium, another Cobb fan page, shortly after the MLB announcement.

It doesn’t stop there, though. With the integration, Gibson will also be the single-season leader in batting average for his .466 batting average in 1943. Topping it off, he’s the single-season and career leader in slugging and on-base plus slugging percentage — overtaking Babe Ruth in the two career categories. 

“It’s a great day,” Negro Leagues Baseball Museum President Bob Kendrick told Yahoo Sports at the time. 

Most people of all races celebrated the move; however the Ty Cobb Legacy Group was not having it. They refused to embrace the combination of stats and still question the validity of these statistics  that were compiled by the Negro Leagues Statisical Review Commitee, a committee made up of former players, historians and writers tasked with uncovering and validating Negro League statistics. Among the group is former MLB pitcher CC Sabathia, Hall of Fame baseball writer Claire Smith, and Hall of Fame baseball voter Rob Parker. 

Cindy Cobb Fights Back: Says Grandfather Would Embrace Change

Cindy Cobb fought back, arguing in her posts that her grandfather, who was in the Hall of Fame’s inaugural 1936 class, would have embraced the changes. Cobb was known as a notorious racist and sexist, but as the legend goes, he changed some of his views as he got older. Some say he was totally misunderstood altogether.

She added that it was undeniable that ballplayers from the Negro Leagues enjoyed few of the privileges afforded her grandfather. For that, Cobb asserted, she was kicked out of the group on June 1 — three days after the MLB announcement

It’s understandable that some old schoolers who live and die by baseball history as they know it and accept the oppression of Black players as part of history, don’t feel the stats legends such as Ty Cobb accumulated in MLB should be downplayed or diminished by a sudden inclusion of Negro Leagues stats. In the same way that some Black people feel that gesture is disingenuous and only confuses the history of what truly happened to future generations. 

Others feel like the move was forced and was a slap in the face to the white players who truly played in MLB and also played almost three times as many games yearly, according to reports. However, their anger shows a lack of empathy and understanding for the segregation that baseball instituted upon so many talented Black ballplayers. that racism forced Rube Foster and Co. to form the Negro Leagues, which were every bit as formidable as MLB. 

Cindy Cobb neglected to make copies of her posts but did manage a screenshot of one of the sharp responses she received.

“So, some nitwit loser who was willing to support giving away Cobb’s hard-earned titles due to Wokeness, got the boot,” a member wrote. “Good riddance.”

The fan group’s postings are closed to outsiders, so there was no way to know which way the conversation went after she was blocked.

Cobb, who lives in New York state, said she was left wounded by the reaction. “I made a post speaking to the inequities of the past, saying that because my grandfather was a white man playing in the MLB, he had opportunities that Black men did not have,” she said in a phone interview. “Then I was harassed and verbally abused.”

Who Is Josh Gibson?

Gibson, a Baseball Hall of Famer, played from 1930-1946 where he became a 12-time Negro Leagues All-Star and two-time Negro World Series champion thanks to his powerful pop of the bat.  

“This means so much for not only the Josh Gibson family,” Gibson’s grandson, Sean, told USA Today, “but representing the 2,300 men in the Negro Leagues who didn’t get the opportunity to play (in the Major Leagues).” 

Gibson is among the many Negro Leaguers who will see their Negro LeagueS stats enter the books, with Jackie Robinson, Satchel Paige and living legend Willie Mays being some of the prominent players. 

Most notably, Paige moves to third in ERA in a season with 1.01, a mark he accomplished in 1944 with the Kansas City Monarchs.

Fricks, who Cobb said is administrator of the Facebook page, did not respond to several requests from ESPN for comment.

The inability for some people to progress and accept the past, while paving a more equitable baseball culture for the future is inevitable. Everyone won’t share in the joy of Josh Gibson and Satchel Paige and the like being elevated to their rightful place as not just Negro League greats, but all-time baseball greats.

It was a bit overboard for the Ty Cobb Legacy Facebook to kick Cindy Cobb out of the group because she understood the assignment and wanted her family name to be on the right side of history. 

There are still gatekeepers who don’t see anything wrong with what transpired in the early years of MLB, and similar to Southerners finding personal pride in what a Confederate flag represents and lamenting when certain statues and buildings were taken down during a supposed period of wokeness in this country a few years back, those tasked with preserving the legacy of one of one baseball’s all-time greats don’t like seeing their guy removed from the top of the statistical list. 

Drawing such inflexible lines creates more problems and now alienates the granddaughter of the man the group celebrates.

Time For WNBA Stars To Embrace Rock Star Status: Kiss More Babies, Do Less Complaining About New Male Fans and Booming Media Coverage

The WNBA and its players need to quickly identify who their friends are and who their enemies are, because they are quite confused right now, blindly swinging at any target like a losing boxer looking for a late-round knockout.

The league is so used to fighting and scraping for a bone that it is slow in making the switch in identifying itself as a league people actually care about. It’s almost like they still don’t believe — or believe in — what’s happening. How you handle your fan base has to change as your popularity grows. 

WNBA Players Often Lash Out At Fans and Media

It’s to the point where it is clear that not even the popular WNBA players understand why they are popular and what they need to do to maintain that popularity. 

Basketball fans aren’t necessarily the same fans that follow players such as Chicago Sky rookie Angel Reese on social media. She has a league-leading 3 million social media followers, but her team still doesn’t draw more than 8,500 to home games (seventh in the WNBA out of 12 teams). 

Which means, despite the corporate push and all of the attention the league is getting, there’s still some personal work that the players must do to connect with the public, get them to pay at the ticket gate and maintain the current support they are getting. 

Angel Reese Posts About Fans Obsessive Behavior: Calls it “Nasty Work”

Reese and the Chicago Sky posted on social media about fans finding out what hotel they stay in, showing up and “harassing the players.” 

She wrote on X:  

“finding out our teams hotel to pull with a camera as we get off the bus and put it in my teammates face & HARASS her is NASTY WORK. this really is outta control and needs to STOP.”

What exactly needs to stop? The WNBA is at a moment of unprecedented fame and fandom. This is what the league wanted. More fans and attention so the players can make more money. 

Throughout the course of American history, when a celebrity reaches a certain level they will have to deal with all kinds of things regular people don’t. That includes weird fans wanting to touch, speak to them and know their whereabouts. Even taunt them at times.

For the Beatles, to any mega-celebrity since, overbearing fans, even dangerous ones, has been a thing. It’s what happens when you are somebody. Sounds like the WNBA is kind of hesitant to embrace this celebrity Caitlin Clark and few others have brought them recently. 

It comes with the kind of fan baggage that these players, who moved in obscurity just a year ago, may not be ready for. They’ve always dealt from a position of proving they were not inferior to the men, demanding pay equity and blaming men for why their league is not promoted and funded better and more revenue-generating, and also for the lack of shoe deals for players such as two-time MVP A’ja Wilson. 

Now that the fandom has reached a chaotic pitch, the league is showing that they haven’t schooled the players or prepared them for what truly lies ahead. Angel Reese’s tweet was unnecessary. It’s provocative and off-putting. Sure she can say what she wants, but she has to see the bigger picture.

WNBA Are Rock Stars Now: Embrace the Hate, It’s Also A Form Of Love

The complaints about how the media covers the W, the dialogue fans want to have about the league and the opinions of new fans, is getting a bit annoying to people trying to embrace the WNBA. 

Sure, you don’t want people running up on Chennedy Carter asking her Caitlin Clark questions with bad intentions, but Carter and the Sky also have to understand that is what happens when you are the flavor of the month in a world where everybody is instructed to clout chase — players included. 

WNBA social activist Natasha Cloud told new male fans to “stfu or invest.” That didn’t look like a player interested in helping the league grow.

Reese’s complaint about some fans harassing coaches or players is par for the course. The WNBA has not reached this place because of incredible play on the court alone. That’s pretty clear. Sure, the women are talented, and they are the best 144 players in women’s basketball in the world. 

But now that the WNBA has hit the mainstream sports scene, everybody will have an opinion. If you take too much time responding to the noise, you lose time building bridges.

Maybe that’s why Clark is getting the bag. Even when reporters have crossed the line, she handled it like a pro and didn’t run to her social media to criticize the reporter. Now she has a fan for life.

New fans will want to learn as much as they can about the women who make the league go. 

When you’re being promoted as rock stars and getting $28 million Nike deals, or in Reese’s case, deals with Reebok and Mercedes and dressing like an R&B star walking through the tunnels game after game, fans are going to fan. 

Fans coming at players in defense of the players they represent and love is also not uncommon.

A year ago, 99 percent of the league could walk through any airport, mall, city street or town and nobody would even say hello, ask for an autograph or be able to identify them or what team they play on, outside of a certain legion of loyal and informed fans. 

There’s no time to turn back the clock. Complaining about every little thing a fan or two might do or concerning yourself with some idiot sitting in a shack in Idaho writing on social media is time consuming and just feeds into negativity. 

ESPN hoops analyst and First Take panelist Monica McNutt yelling at Stephen A. Smith, a man with the largest sports platform on TV, and trying to shame him for not covering past WNBA action with the same fervor he’s now investing in women’s basketball conversation is also nasty work.

Stop shaming men for talking about your game, then complaining when they don’t show any interest. 

There are tons of WNBA players and other women who probably don’t agree with me. But take this advice from a man who has always supported the WNBA and even covered the Charlotte Sting in the league’s early years in 1998-99; put down the defenses. 

Throw away the old beliefs that you want men to also let go of. Scratch the pessimism. Embrace the moment. Use your platform to bring the fans into the arenas.

New Generation of WNBA Fan Is Here

The new generation of WNBA fans is here. Many are men. It’s what the league needs to grow. Without fans there is no platform to complain about fans. There’s no check. No future. 

Embrace the hate. Embrace the celebrity. Be more open and accepting of fans. Even if they are supporting Cailtin Clark and feeding into the rivalries that the WNBA needs to maintain interest. Don’t say negative things about the fans. That won’t help the next time you roll into someone else’s city. Keep the rivalries intense and on the court, but a sisterhood off of it with one common goal: to promote and expand the game for the future.

The WNBA is a league of good-hearted, competitive, talented women with bright smiles and bigger hearts. 

Show it! 

Stop targeting men as a downfall to the league, instead of the asset they can surely be financially and any other way. Don’t fear your fans. Use your star power to make them your friends. Even the annoying ones. That’s how you win as a league.

‘I’m Not In The Mindset That’s It’s All Caitlin Clark’: Draymond Green Gives A’ja Wilson Her Flowers As WNBA’s Best Player

Lost in the hype surrounding 2024 WNBA No. 1 pick Caitlin Clark and all that’s transpired since she entered the league in mid-May is the play of Las Vegas Aces superstar A’ja Wilson and just how dominant she’s been. Wilson is the unquestioned best player in the league, the two-time league MVP, two-time DPOY and two-time WNBA champion is doing some amazing things nightly for the reigning two-time defending champion Aces. The former South Carolina Gamecocks star puts in the work and brings her hard hat nightly.

But Wilson’s play has gone under the radar this season. With the hoopla and noise surrounding the aforementioned Clark, and many of her draft mates, mainly Chicago Sky rookie Angel Reese, Wilson has become an afterthought in a league where she reigns supreme. In fact, Wilson’s name hasn’t been mentioned much since she landed a signature shoe deal with Nike in May, one day before the season began. 

Draymond Green Gives Wilson Her Flowers

Despite not winning the MVP award last season, Wilson outplayed the winner (Breanna Stewart) and secured the WNBA Finals MVP as the Aces defeated the New York Liberty 3-1. This season Wilson has been on a tear, averaging 27.9 points, 12.4 rebounds, 2.6 blocks per game and 2.0 steals per game. She leads the league in noth scoring and rebounding, ranks second in blocks, and tops in efficiency (34.6). She’s on pace to have the greatest scoring season in the 27-year history of the league, and that got the aforementioned Green talking heavy on his podcast, “The Draymond Green Show.” 

“The best thing since sliced bread in the WNBA is A’ja Wilson. I’m not necessarily in the mindset that’s it’s all Caitlin Clark. No. Aja Wilson is great. A’ja Wilson to me is the American Dream. Coming from a two-parent household, she grew, got better, young black girl, had everything against her, beat the odds to become what soon will be known as the greatest player to ever grace the WNBA. That’s quite honestly my opinion I think A’ja Wilson is as marketable as anyone in the WNBA, but you have to figure out how to market the product.”

Strong words from Green, but in many ways he’s correct about Wilson, who’s all-around skill set on both ends of the floor is definitely putting her in position to he considered the best women’s player the WNBA has witnessed when she’s done. It doesn’t hurt that she’s also winning titles to accompany those individual accolades along the way. 

Wilson Makes History

Not long after Green’s proclamation about Wilson did she go out and do something that hasn’t been done in the league before. In Wednesday’s win (95-81) win over the Dallas Wings, Wilson put up a staggering 36 points, 12 rebounds and six steals. It’s the first time in league history that a player has put up a stat line of at least 35 points, 10 rebounds and five steals in a game. 

Following her 36/12/6 masterpiece on Wednesday, Wilson told reporters, “I just take what the defense gives me and just the flow of the game. My teammates really just keep me afloat.”

What’s so great is how Wilson goes about her business, she almost looks like she’s floating on air against her opponents. She’s become the most unstoppable force in the league, and she does it in a variety of ways and on both ends. In a league littered with supremely talented women, Wilson stands alone as the best on both ends of the floor. 

“There’s A Privilege For Younger White Players”: Cameron Brink Makes USA 3×3 Team With Hailey Van Lith and Wants Acceptance For Her “Masculine” Teammates 

Cameron Brink is another of the heralded and captivating WNBA rookies that have helped to elevate the league to new heights and levels of visibility in 2024. 

The credit for that success has been heaped upon Caitlin Clark, who has been promoted disproportionately, especially as compared to the Black stars of the WNBA such as A’ja Wilson. 

Clark even got a $28M sneaker deal from Nike before Wilson debuted her shoe, which was only after Black Twitter went crazy pressing for Wilson, a two-time MVP and the best player in the women’s game, to be rewarded for her efforts. 

Cameron Brink Acknowledges White Privilege

Brink is performing well too, and as a standout white player in a predominantly Black league, she is well aware of the privilege she enjoys. 

The Los Angeles Sparks forward expressed in a new interview with Uproxx, that she’s looking to extend that impact beyond the numbers, hoping to play a part in breaking the “younger white” privilege in the league.

“I could go way deeper into this, but I would just say growing the fan base to support all types of players,” Brink said. “I will acknowledge there’s a privilege for the younger white players of the league. That’s not always true, but there is a privilege that we have inherently, and the privilege of appearing feminine. Some of my teammates are more masculine. Some of my teammates go by they/them pronouns. I want to bring more acceptance to that and not just have people support us because of the way that we look.”

“I know I can feed into that because I like to dress femininely, but that’s just me. I want everyone to be accepted — not just paid attention to because of how they look.”

The second overall pick in this year’s draft out of Stanford, Brink addressed the tired narratives and social media drama that has been challenging for players but great for the league this season.

Related: WNBA Soap Opera Takes Over The Sports Conversation For Better Or Worse: League Has To Embrace and Manage the Madness (theshadowleague.com)

She dismissed any truth to the constant accusations that the veteran players are jealous of Cailtin Clark, Brink and other popular rookies with huge social media followings.

“The most tired narrative is that the vets are against the rookies — this old-school versus new-school narrative — and the narrative that the rookies need to be perfect, ” Brink said. “I feel like [Indiana Fever rookie] Caitlin Clark has that the worst right now, but even I get that. She had three points the other night [against New York on June 2]. I had three points the other night [against Indiana on May 28]. We’re expected to be perfect. We were drafted to high-drafting teams coming off of losing seasons, which is fine.

“It’s a learning process. But people expect us to be perfect, and it’s freaking exhausting. I feel like we learn how to tune it out, but still, it’s unrealistic, and it kind of just shows that people don’t know basketball.”

Brink has been one of the top 5 rookies to enter the WNBA this season.

The forward has started in all eight games, averaging 8.8 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 2.6 blocks on 47.2 percent shooting.

The Sparks entered Wednesday’s game against the Lynx in last place in the Western Conference with a 2-6 record.

Cameron Brink and Hailey Van Lithe Go To Paris: US Olympic 3 x 3 Women’s Hoops Team

Her team is struggling, but on the bright side Cameron Brink, Cierra Burdick, Rhyne Howard, and Hailey Van Lith will make up the 2024 U.S women’s Olympic 3×3 basketball team that will go for a second straight gold medal, USA Basketball announced on Wednesday.

Three of the four team members — Brink, Burdick and Van Lith — represented the U.S. at the 2023 FIBA 3×3 World Cup, which ended with a gold medal. 

Burdick was on the squad that won the event in 2014.

All four players participated in the 3×3 national team camp recently in Springfield, Massachusetts, and took part in the FIBA 3×3 Women’s Series Springfield Stop, where they were runners-up to Canada.

Van Lithe transferred To TCU recently from LSU, where she played with Angel Reese, losing in the Final Four to Caitlin Clark and Iowa. She previously was a star guard at Louisville before joining Kim Mulkey in The Bayou. So this will be her third college team and final chance to reposition herself to be drafted. The 3×3 competition should also help boost her stock entering 2025 if Team USA wins gold.

Cameron Brink and Hailey Van Lithe Attract Male Fans With Femininity

That younger, white privilege that Brink speaks about is actually on display, as her and Van Lith are considered two of the “blond beauties” that have grabbed the attention of male fans and are expected to be huge hit in Paris, not only for their exceptional skills but fashion and popularity off the court, as they ride this new wave in women’s basketball that is sure to get an even bigger boost this summer. 

Perk, Why You So Hard On Rudy Gobert? | “I Showed Up In Big Moments. He Didn’t. That’s Unacceptable”

Kendrick Perkins appeared on Scoop B’s podcast and refused to back down on his scathing criticism of Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert’s defensive performance during these 2024 playoffs, most notably the embarrassing Western Conference finals loss to the Dallas Mavericks. 

Scoop asked Perk straight up: “Perk, why you so hard on Rudy Gobert?”

The 2008 NBA champion and one of the most noticeable voices on ESPN didn’t hesitate to respond. 

“Why not? Why not? I mean, you cannot be going back to France with four DPOY awards after not showing up in the postseason,” Perk said.

Perkins continued: “You don’t need Rudy to be average. Rudy has yet to have a game where we came out and said, ‘Rudy won them that game. He was everywhere” 

Kendrick Perkins Says He Was A Better Postseason Defender Than Rudy Gobert

Perkins is so sure of his take on Gobert that in downing Gobert Perk also confidently elevated himself above the 7-foot-3 rim protector in the annals of NBA history as a clutch playoff defender.

“People thought I was capping,” Perkins added. “I had a better postseason – defensively, career-wise than Rudy. Three times he had seven blocks or more. I had it four times. Even when you are five blocks away. He had three and I had three. So at this point what are we really talking about?” 

“If you go back and watch film. I showed up in big moments, and I was a role player. I didn’t have a DPOY award. I showed up in big moments. He didn’t, man. He didn’t. That’s unacceptable.”

Perkins references the WCF: “I’m watching Daniel Gafford and Dereck Lively block shots. They are so impactful that they have you looking over your shoulder.” 

Kendrick Perkins Says Dallas Mavericks Exposed Gobert

Perk says Kyrie was getting it any way he wanted to, getting in the paint with ease and throwing lobs and doing whatever he wanted.  

“You ain’t breaking up none of them lobs? … You see the lob coming you can’t jump high enough yo (stop one of them)? C’mon, man. … Stop me if I’m lying,” Perk said. 

Comments like these are why the Minnesota Timberwolves didn’t want to go on “Inside the NBA” after a playoff win. Looks like Perk found a permanent whipping boy in Gobert. It’s so bad that Perk thinks he was actually a better playoff performer than the $205M man.

‘LeBron Didn’t Know How To Win Until He Got To Dwyane Wade. Let’s Call That What it Is’: Kyrie Is Great, But Not LeBron’s Best Running Mate

Stephen A. Smith let his “First Take” viewing audience know how he really feels about LeBron James’ legacy, especially when it comes to the topic of James’ best wingman in his career.

The obvious choices would be Dwyane Wade and Kyrie Irving, the two lead guards he won his first three of four NBA championships with. 

Rumors have swirled for years about LeBron and Kyrie possibly reuniting. LeBron James recently addressed his relationship with Kyrie on his “Mind The Game” podcast with JJ Redick.  

“There was nothing on a basketball floor that Kyrie couldn’t do and sitting here watching it, I’m like so proud of his growth…but at the same time. I’m so F–kn mad, at the same time that I’m not his running mate anymore,” James said.  

Smith said it’s not even close. 

“If it weren’t for Dwyane Wade I can make a legitimate argument there would have never been a Kyrie. LeBron didn’t know how to win until he got to Dwyane Wade. Let’s call that what it is. Dwyane Wade and Pat Riley. It’s a fact. Kyrie’s spectacular. Kyrie’s sensational. I’m not saying anything about the greatness of Kyrie,” Smith insisted.

Stephen A. Smith Says Dwyane Wade Showed LeBron How To Win

Smith continued: “About four years prior there was another dude. And that dude came along when LeBron James was so warped, he didn’t want to go to the free throw line. He didn’t want to take game-winning shots during an All-Star game. There was lot of stuff that happened.”

Smith added that Kyrie’s 2016 heroics was years after Wade’s heroics in 2006, when the Miami Heat were trailing the Mavericks 0-2 in the series with an aging and unmotivated Shaquille O’Neal, who told Wade that it was his team and he had to take control if they wanted a ring. 

Wade responded by becoming the Hall of Fame caliber assassin we know him to be and as Smith pointed out, the guard out of Marquette averaged 37 points in the last four games to snatch the championship and cement himself as an all-time great. 

Co-panelist Brian Windhorst, who has covered LeBron James since high school added:

“Noone has carried LeBron James in the Finals like Wade carried him in 2011.”

“It’s a crime that LeBron did not take advantage of him playing that well.” 

Windhorst then reminded Stephen A. of Cleveland’s epic 2016 Finals win, coming back from a 3-1 deficit to bring the title back to Cleveland with Kyrie hitting the game-winning shot. In his opinion, LeBron covets that ring and that moment with Kyrie the most in his career.

“I don’t give a damn about what LeBron James said about that,” Smith responded. “What I’m saying is, Kyrie came after. The LeBron James that Kyrie helped propel to a championship in Cleveland, is not the LeBron James that Wade (played with).” 

Mad Dog Russo disagreed with both and said, “Ray Allen bailed LeBron out against San Antonio.” 

It became the battle of who bailed out LeBron James, which isn’t necessarily the angle the network was probably looking for. It also surely ticked off LeBron fans who declare him the GOAT and refuse to acknowledge any obvious stains, warts or flaws in his legacy. 

The WNBA Soap Opera Takes Over The Sports Conversation For Better Or Worse: League Has To Embrace and Manage the Madness

The WNBA turned up again this past weekend with record viewership numbers.

WNBA Is Doing Numbers

The Indiana Fever and Chicago Sky game on Saturday was the most viewed program of the day on cable, according to ESPN, with 1.53 million average viewers on ESPN+, with viewership peaking at 2.19 million.

The game received an extra boost of drama and juice when Chennedy Carter responded to being elbowed and taunted by Clark with a shove to the ground.

It’s now become known as the “cheap shot heard around the world” and it was the talk of social media and talk radio shows all week long. 

Arguing about the W, picking a favorite player, identifying enemy teams and coming up with conspiracy theories about the league is a new hobby for some sports fans. Some have never thought twice about the WNBA, for a number of reasons, but now, to say that the league has arrived as the center of the national sports conversation, wouldn’t be a stretch. 

For some, football season can’t come soon enough. Others are trapped in the SEO matrix.

The Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark Effect has divided fans along several lines. Those who feel like Caitlin Clark is the sole reason why the WNBA has had this rush of interest. And those who feel like Clark is getting too much of the credit and overshadowing, even belittling, the women who have kept the league vibrant. 

Reese came right out and said what her league-high 3 million social media followers were thinking: 

“The reason why we’re watching women’s basketball is not just because of one person,” Reese said. “It’s because of me, too. I want y’all to realize that.”

She wasn’t lying. Every great rivalry needs a villain and a hero. Reese has accepted her villain role. So much so that she received the first double-tech ejection of her WNBA career late in the fourth quarter Tuesday night.

Reese was whistled for a foul, her fifth, with 2:31 left to play in the Chicago Sky’s 88-75 loss to the New York Liberty. According to reports, Reese “disrespectfully addresses” referee Charles Watson, who gave her technical.

Then in what is determined to be a second violation, Reese waved her hand in disgust as she walked away from Watson, who gave her another technical, which resulted in an automatic ejection.

The players on the court looked confused and after the game, head coach Teresa Witherspoon said she “didn’t get an explanation,” as to why Reese was ejected when she asked. 

Lonzo Ball Wasn’t Feeling Angel Reese Technical Foul

Angel Reese fans were very bothered by the ejection for what appeared to be something very minimal. 

Injured Chicago Bulls player Lonzo Ball was sitting close to where the interaction transpired. He called the ref “weak” and suggested he’d pay Reese’s fine.

Because the technicals were Reese’s first and second of the season, each will cost her $200.

Were the refs trying to send Reese a message? She has a lot of sass to her game and her persona and everyone knows that. In the aftermath of the Carter vs. Clark situation and Reese’s comments following that incident, maybe that ejection was a way to put the outspoken rookie in her place. 

If so, that’s another problem that the WNBA will have to address, because people come out for Reese. According to reports, the Chicago Sky is averaging 8,248 fans at home and more than 10,400 on the road. It’s not the 16,571 average that the Fever draw, but let’s be honest: there’s a lot more going on in Chicago than Indiana. And those pockets of the country support basketball in a different way. In addition, Clark is probably the most popular person in the state of Indiana right now. And the attendance proves it, as the Fever have already surpassed their attendance from all of last season.

Clark vs Reese Is Magic vs. Bird Rivalry The W Has Been Waiting For

Both Clark and Reese have been major factors in the rise of women’s basketball over the past two seasons. Reese referenced the 2023 NCAA women’s national championship game between LSU and Iowa, where she embraced the “bad guy” role.

“It all started with the national championship game, and I’ve been dealing with this for two years now,” Reese said. “And understanding like, yeah, negative things have probably been said about me, but honestly, I’ll take that, because look at where women’s basketball is. People are talking about women’s basketball that you never would think would talk about women’s basketball. … Just because of one single game. Just looking at that, I’ll take that role. I’ll take the bad guy role.”

Reese understands the bigger picture. While she never takes anything away from Clark’s influence, Reese knows that a movement isn’t sustainable with one person getting all of the love and credit. 

WNBA Will Protect Clark: There’s Too Much Invested

It’s really fascinating reading social media posts and the way that people of all races are expressing their personal views through the scope of a few WNBA rookies who have captivated the sports world at large. 

The way Clark’s tribe denounced the incident as hate, jealousy driven by a “thug” mentality, you would think that Chennedy Carter hit Clark in the leg with a steel pipe, on some Tonya Harding-Nancy Kerrigan type of evilness.  

The players within the game, the coaches and those who actually see these games as pro competition and not a soap opera. Unfortunately, the casual fan is only interested in the drama.

Can WNBA Manage The Beast That’s Growing Out Of Control ?

The WNBA is entering uncharted territory, and the league is trying to handle things the best it can. When something grows exponentially faster than expected, while the growth is great, it also creates other unforeseen problems. 

Noone could predict how emotionally involved the casual fan would get in these WNBA debates that are all over every social media platform imaginable. Players such as Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese are becoming as popular as NBA players, and it happened overnight. 

Now the league has to manage all of this, while blocking out the noise and trying to promote the entire league. It still has to be receptive to the voice of veteran players while controlling hundreds of narratives running in various directions. 

Any way you look at it, the WNBA has to embrace these rookies who have captivated the sports world more than any WNBA player has been able to do in the past 28 years. Sure, A’ja Wilson is the best in the game and an incredible player.

Sure, Diania Taurasi has scored more than 10,000 points.

But the new fans that the league clamored for want to talk about the rookies. Period. The next level for the league begins with the first-year celebrities that are the talk of the league.

It’s unfortunate that other stars are getting overlooked and the actual games are a footnote to the drama within, but such is life. If corporate is paying, the league will be forced to go with the flow. Can’t be fighting a war with yourself and think the league will thrive.

Angel Reese vs. Caitlin Clark Part II Could Be Record-Breaking

Reese and Clark’s first WNBA battle was a thrilling game that the Fever pulled out in a 71-70. The two teams will meet again on June 16 and it has a real chance to be the most watched/followed game in WNBA history. 

The Bird-Magic rivalry that catapulted the NBA to great success is happening in the WNBA and the fans are the driving force behind it. No need to coddle Clark. She’s a big girl, doing big things. Nike didn’t give her $28 million to be a victim. She’s playing her hero role to perfection, garnering sympathy that protects her when she has poor games and elevates her when he plays well. 

 It’s clear what the people want. The WNBA has to figure out how it wants to be perceived and how seriously it wants to be taken as we ride this wave of WNBA madness. Right now, it’s just one big soap opera, but that’s what drives everything these days. The league wanted the stage, and it has it. But gossip and drama only last until the next best thing comes along.

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