WNBA 2024 No. 1 overall pick Caitlin Clark has struggled in her first two games. The dynamic sharpshooter is finding things to be much tougher at the professional level, and with teams game-planning to contain her she’s looked overwhelmed. In two games this week, both losses Clark shot a combined 30 percent from the field while committing 13 turnovers and just nine assists.
In many aspects it looked a lot like what 21-year WNBA legend Diana Taurasi said would happen when she said “reality is coming” for Clark and all of the 2024 rookies during the NCAA Tournament.
Most only listened to the first three words that Taurasi said, and not to her reasoning as to why Clark and the other WNBA frosh would have a big adjustment period. As with everything these days, most considered it hate, but when you look at Clark’s struggles Taurasi was definitely onto something.
Lady D Says Clark Will Figure It Out
Taurasi, who’s never been one to hold her tongue has stood by her comments. During an appearance on Bickley and Marotta on Friday, the former UConn legend had this to say about Clark going forward. That seemed to happen in the Fever’s road loss to the Liberty on Saturday afternoon.
“You know these days, everything takes on a life of their own. Every little snippet, every little comment, any quote taken out of context. Look, I only said it because when I watch games — and I’m sure when you talk to any professional athlete — you think about what they’ll look like as a pro,” Taurasi said.
“How will it translate? It’s going to translate. Like any college quarterback, it’s going to take time.”
In Saturday’s (91-80) road loss to the New York Liberty, the Fever were much more competitive, and Clark was a huge reason why. The sharpshooter went for 22 points, eight assists and six assists, easily her best performance in her first three games as a pro.
While she did have eight turnovers, she also became the fourth WNBA player to have 50 points and 15 assists in their first three games, joining Candace Parker, Sue Bird and the late Nikki McCray. Clark shot (9-17 overall and 4-10 from three), which is her best shooting game.
Taurasi was saying don’t expect Clark or any other rookie to come into the WNBA and dominate as quickly or as often they did in college. Not everyone is Candace Parker, who went for 34 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists in her first WNBA game as the only player in league history to win MVP as a rookie.
Taurasi Says She Still Doesn’t Feel Comfortable
Despite her current 21-year Hall of Fame career, Taurasi, who went for 23 points and made seven threes in the Phoenix Mercury’s season-opening loss, to the two-time defending champion Las Vegas Aces, says she still isn’t comfortable.
“I still don’t feel comfortable,” Taurasi said in speaking about the physicality of the league. “It’s an uncomfortable league. It’s physical, it’s a grind. You never feel comfortable. You feel used to the things around you [as you play more]. At the same time, she’s in an interesting position where she’s played ball her whole career. Sometimes you have to play off the ball, sometimes that’s the solution.”
Strong words from the league’s all-time leading scorer and three-point shot maker. Considering the amount of success she’s had in winning three WNBA championships, two WNBA Finals MVPs and one league MVP, one would think she’s been comfortable at some point in her career.
But maybe that’s part of the edge she carries to stay motivated to keep going in the league. If you know Taurasi, it’s always been about gaining a competitive advantage anyway, anyhow.
If she isn’t comfortable, a rookie being comfortable after three games isn’t going to happen either. Clark will be fine, and Saturday was indicative of that, but it will take some time.
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Jayson Tatum’s Boston Celtics punched their ticket to their third consecutive Eastern Conference Finals and sixth in eight years with a five-game series win over a depleted Cleveland Cavaliers squad, who, while game, just didn’t have enough. That followed a five-game series win over the Jimmy Butler-less Miami Heat in the first round. In each series the Celtics had their moments, but with the Cavs missing starting center Jarrett Allen the entire series and All-Star Donovan Mitchell the final two games, it was a forgone conclusion that the series would be short.
The same can be said for their win over the Heat, and while it’s all about surviving and advancing each round, the 64-win Celtics haven’t been impressive this postseason. In fact they’ve been so unimpressive that former Miami Heat legend Udonis Haslem, who had his fair share of battles with the Celtics, says they haven’t been “battle tested.”
UD Talks Celtics On ESPN
Since retirement Haslem has entered the podcast world, and now he’s become an in-studio guest on “NBA Today” on ESPN. There he gives his opinion on everything related to the playoffs. When asked about the Celtics being the heavy favorite in the Eastern Conference, Haslem didn’t hesitate to say they are and should be, but he did question if they have or will be pushed by any team in the conference.
He mentioned that not having to face much adversity during their playoff run could come back to hurt them if they reach the Finals.
“The Celtics haven’t been battle-tested yet. I don’t know if you want to get battle-tested in the Finals by the Nuggets or the Timberwolves. It might be too late.”
Haslem is onto something, because the Celtics have been able to just kind of show up and win because they’re healthier and more talented than any team in the Eastern Conference. Even when they’ve struggled to shoot, they’re still able to overcome that because of their talent. In addition, star player Jayson Tatum hasn’t been great this postseason either, shooting just 43 percent from the field and 28 percent from three.
While his averages are still solid with 24 points, 11 rebounds and six assists per game, the shooting needs to be better.
Joe Mazzulla Under Pressure, Team Needs Kristaps Porzingis
Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla is under pressure to bring Beantown its first NBA title since 2008, and just its second since 1986. Back in April, Mazzulla who replaced former head coach Ime Udoka prior to the 2022-23 season told reporters that he embraces the pressure and “wouldn’t have it any other way.” Sounds like a confident coach, but if he doesn’t unlock his stagnant offense that relies solely on shooting the three, he might not be back next year if they don’t win it all.
If the Celtics expect to raise banner No. 18 which would break the tie with Los Angeles Lakers for most ever. In order to do so the Celtics will need a healthy Kristaps Porzingis whose ability to stretch the floor (38 percent from three) and protect the rim (two blocks per game) will be needed against whoever comes out of the Western Conference.
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The public has fallen in love with JJ Redick since his daily appearances on First Take and being the “chosen one” to have a podcast with LeBron James.
Redick has become one of the hot candidates to replace Lakers coach Darvin Ham, because of Redick’s reputation as a high-IQ hoops guy and also his clear relationship with LeBron James.
Reports say that Redick, a former NBA sharp-shooter All-star podcaster is the early favorite to become the next head coach of the Purple and Gold.
While his current celebrity as a talking head makes him a great public choice, there are several former players who also have podcasts and basketball opinions who don’t think the Lakers job is suited for a coaching novice like Redick.
Channing Frye believes that JJ would be committing suicide if he took the gig.
“To be honest, I think it’s a death sentence,” said Frye. “I think he’s jumping on a grenade. I mean, I’m just being; I think JJ is a coach. I know for a fact JJ Redick is a coach, but taking that job, I just don’t know. That’s a lot.”
Frye’s concerns are more about the nature of the Lakers job and what it entails. The X’s and O’s he feels Redick could handle, even though lacking experience is a big deal at the NBA level. Redick would be stepping into his first coaching job trying to handle the high expectations and unpredictability of Anthony Davis, LeBron James and the pressures and criticisms that will come if Bronny James ends up on the team with his dad.
Coaching smaller-market or lower-profile clubs such as Detroit and Chicago, Frey adds, is not the same as sitting on the bench in Los Angeles. He noted that the coach has to be ready to win now and know what to do in all situations, because it’s not a “learn your way through the process” kind of deal.
Given the many layers of challenges the Lakers job presents beyond the court performance, Frye thinks that the next Lakers coach should be an “experienced” leader who has a firm grasp of the league and has been in that capacity for some time. He mentioned former NBA champion point guard Sam Cassell and ex-Hornets head coach James Borrego as better fits for the Lakers opportunity than Redick.
“To me, you need somebody who can command that locker room and who’s gonna say, ‘Bron, I understand what you want to do, but this is my vision for the roster that we have,’ and also, the roster has issues. You can be Phil Jackson, and you still gonna have to deal with those things. So, as a first-year coach, I wouldn’t recommend that job to anybody. I wouldn’t recommend that job for anybody,” added Frye.
None of the common sense Frye is speaking will matter if LeBron is staying and says that’s who he wants to lead the show. Even if Redrick is hired, if LeBron stays and ops in on his $51.4 million payday, it’s easy to predict that Bron and JJ would be running the team in a “partnership” similar to the podcast they share together now.
How else would it work?
Earlier this month, three-time Sixth Man of the Year winner Lou Williams said he doesn’t think Redick has the cachet or respect to command the locker room, even if LeBron has his back.
“There is no chance that JJ Redick is going to be able to command that locker room. Yeah, he and LeBron can sit there, drink wine together, and break down plays, but it’s a little different when you have 20,000 people screaming at you, and you have 11 other players that you have to manage as well,” Williams said on the ‘Run it Back’ podcast.
This doesn’t sound too promising for Redick. Frye thinks the job is suicidal and Lemon Pepper Lou says nobody will respect Redick. Knowing JJ, that’s a perfect high-profile challenge that he would embrace and let the chips fall where they may.
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Giannis Antetokounmpo is a few years removed from his NBA championship (2021) and MVP seasons of 2018-19 and 2019-20. Injuries kept him from competing in these NBA playoffs with his new sidekick Damian Lillard as the Bucks were eliminated in the first round by the Indiana Pacers with the franchise player in street clothes nursing myriad injuries.
Giannis’ off-court earnings are what has propelled him into the top tier. Per Forbes, the former back-to-back MVP pocketed $46 million from his deal with Milwaukee and $65 million coming from his various sponsorship deals with Nike, Amazon, Google, Meta, PepsiCo, Unilever, and Walt Disney, just to name a few.
His absence didn’t affect his standing as one of the highest-paid athletes in the world for 2024. Giannis joins a very exclusive list led by soccer legend Cristiano Ronaldo who enjoys his second straight year atop the Forbes rich list. The 39-year-old earned $260 million in 2024, which mainly comes from his ridiculous contract with Saudi Arabia club Al-Nassr.
Golfer John Rahm is in second with $218 million worth of earnings, while Lionel Messi rounded out the top three with $135 million.
If you’re not familiar with Rahm, that’s because he’s also a recipient of the “new” Saudi money that has infiltrated American sports.
According to the report, Rahm moved from 28th place on the 2023 list to second place in 2024, largely because of his deal with LIV Golf. The article mentions that the Spaniard reportedly signed for $350 million, although some media suggest the deal was more than $500 million.
Rahm is another of the athletes from American sports who have seen their pockets inflate after entering a league backed by Saudi money.
LeBron James sits one spot above Giannis at No. 4. The King brought in $128.2 million in 2024 between his Lakers salary and many endorsement and side companies.
The only other NBA players in the top 12 are Stephen Curry ($102 million, ninth) and Kevin Durant ($93.3 million, 12th)
Interestingly enough, despite the rise of women’s sports Forbes didn’t have one female athlete listed in its Top 50. The Top 50 highest-paid athletes earned a combined total of $3.88 billion before taxes and fees.
Back in 2018 there were no women on the Top 100 list of highest paid athletes. That was the first time in more than eight years. Serena Williams made the list in 2017, but then took time off to have her baby in 2018. Naomi Osaka was caking before she took her hiatus, had a baby, faced great challenges in her relationship with rapper Cordae and fell off of the tennis map for a sec. CoCo Gauff is on her way, btu not there yet.
The cutoff for this year’s top 50 is $45.2 million, a 20 percent hike from the previous record in 2022. The NBA has the most players on the list of any sport at 19, while the NFL has 11 and global soccer comes in third with eight.
Serena Williams was the only woman who made last year’s list, which marked her sixth appearance. But now that she’s retired, Williams is no longer eligible.
Since 2012, only three other women have appeared on the list: fellow tennis players Maria Sharapova, Li Na, and the aforementioned Osaka. Many will argue that no women being on the list proves how deep the economic disparities in pay and endorsement opportunities are in men and women’s sports.
“This year and last year have been phenomenal for women in sports,” Anjali Bal, associate professor of marketing at Babson College, told Forbes. “It’s just going to take time for the market to catch up with the fans.”
“It’s so unfair for people to say things like, ‘Well, women’s sports will never be viewed like men’s sports’ because we’ve never tried to give them equity in terms of distribution, in terms of pay, in terms of other things,” Bal continued. “Sponsors are driven by things like viewers. There’s no question about it.”
WNBA players are constantly pointing out these disparities and the Caitlin Clark Effect isn’t going to fix things overnight, although we are trending toward more women breaking into that exclusive financial group sooner rather than later.
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Bronny James is currently embarking on his NBA journey. After just one season at USC the former McDonald’s All-American declared for the NBA draft while still maintaining his college eligibility.
While the well-spoken 19-year-old, who also happens to be the oldest child of NBA legend LeBron James, hasn’t given any indication that he’s definitely staying in the draft, his NBA Combine performance seemed to legitimize his standing as an NBA prospect.
As you’d expect, James is easily the most recognizable prospect at the week-long event being held in Chicago, and Bronny didn’t disappoint in his play.
The 6-foot-2 and 210-pound combo guard was even named player of the game in the second intrasquad scrimmage (13 points, on 5 of 10 shooting in 23 minutes). That followed a strong showing by Bronny in the individual drills, where Bronny hit 16 of 25 from three. He also displayed the athleticism that he inherited from his legendary father.
But not all is well with Bronny, who suffered a cardiac arrest scare last summer. The former Sierra Canyon star recently opened up about how that moment has affected him nearly a year later.
During a summer workout with his USC Trojans team, James suffered a cardiac arrest scare. That forced him to miss the next five months, and pretty much stunted any development he would’ve received in his freshman season. Speaking with Yahoo Sports from the combine, James let it be known that he still has concern about his heart condition.
“It’s still lingering. My parents were a big factor of believing in me and giving me the love and affection that I needed at that time. I still think about everything that could happen, but I just love the game, it just overpowers everything. I was set back but that’s not an excuse. I’ve put in so many years of work, and I don’t want anyone to think that because I had this issue that I’m lower than anyone else.”
After returning to the court, James really never found his stride averaging 4.8 points, 2.8 rebounds, 2.1 assists while shooting 26.7 percent from three in 25 games.
Most believe Bronny is only in this position because of his dad, and one could see why they’d think that. Not many players who average under five points a game are invited to the NBA combine, and most wouldn’t dare enter into the NBA draft. Don’t tell that to Bronny, who’s trying to separate himself from his dad.
“Honestly, I feel like this is a serious business. I don’t think there would be a thought of ‘I’m just drafting this kid because of I’m going to get his dad.’ I don’t think a GM would really allow that. I’ve put in the work, and if I get drafted it will be because of not only the player but also the person that I am.”
Sounds like Bronny wants to create his own path separate froom his dad, and there’s nothing wrong with that. But he must also remember being the son of such legendary NBA hierarchy has definitely helped him in his current path.
Rooting for a kid like this isn’t hard, because he wants to be known for putting in the work and not riding his dad’s coattails.
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Everybody has a price.
For former Facebook and Nike diversity manager Barbara Furlow-Smiles, the cost of her career, reputation and future was $5 million that she stole from the companies that employed her. Now she’s been sentenced to five years in prison for wire fraud and a promising career is down the drain.
Attorneys claim Furlow-Smiles used fraudulent vendors, fake invoices, and cash kickbacks to fund her luxurious and lavish lifestyle in various states, including California, Georgia and Oregon.
Over a six-year time period, Furlow-Smiles used fabricated charges and bogus invoices to steal $4.9 million from Facebook and over $120,000 from Nike.
The sentence was announced on Monday by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia.
“Furlow-Smiles shamelessly violated her position of trust as a DEI executive at Facebook to steal millions from the company utilizing a scheme involving fraudulent vendors, fake invoices, and cash kickbacks,” U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Buchanan said.
“After being terminated from Facebook, she brazenly continued the fraud as a DEI leader at Nike, where she stole another six-figure sum from their diversity program,” Buchanan added.
In an elaborate and brazen scheme that began while working as a diversity, equity and inclusion executive at Facebook from 2017-2021, Furlow-Smiles had access to the company’s credit cards and she could also make purchases and approve invoices for Facebook’s vendors.
She wasted no time instituting criminal schemes as she reportedly used her position to pay friends, family, and other associates for items and services that were never given to Facebook, according to the statement. She cleverly hid the phony expenses by filing counterfeit expenditure reports.
Once these people got paid, during the wash process they returned most of it to Furlow-Smiles in cash via Federal Express or hand-to-hand according to the district attorney’s office.
The bogus vendors included family and friends, former interns, nannies and babysitters, hairstylists and according to documents, even her university tutor.
Furlow-Smiles paid more than $18K in preschool tuition and a reported $10K to an artist for a special shoot.
After getting fired from Facebook, she continued her criminal activity in her role as DEI leader at Nike, “thinking she was untouchable,” Buchanan said in a press release.
“As a result, she not only threw away a lucrative career, but will serve time behind bars for her excessive greed,” Buchanan said.
Furlow-Smiles was also ordered to pay Facebook close to $5 million and Nike about $120,000 in restitution.
What a time for Furlow-Smiles to lose her position as DEI leader at Nike. Women’s sports overall, from the grass-roots levels to the pros, is on the rise. The issues WNBA players in particular face every day, from fighting for charter flights and against lower salaries than their male counterparts to imploring corporations to support athletes of color the same as their white counterparts, would be right in Furlow-Smiles’ wheelhouse.
Issues where she could make a difference and use her power to empower other women.
With Caitlin Clark’s mega $28 million deal and A’ja Wilson’s recent shoe deal and the record-breaking viewership that is blessing the WNBA and is sure to carry on through the Olympics this summer — helping to highlight other extraordinary female athletes in other team sports and Track and Field and gymnastics — the Nike brand will be bigger and bolder than ever.
Such an opportunity missed because of short-sighted thinking.
Few Black people get the opportunity to work in such pristine and trusted ranks of billion-dollar corporations and be in charge of setting the direction for a plan of diversity that can benefit people of color all over the globe. It’s a shame that Furlow-Smiles saw these lucrative opportunities as mere steppingstones to fraud, theft and presenting a lifestyle that she truly couldn’t afford at the time.
Nike has been criticized for its lack of minority hiring at high executive and influential positions. Furlow-Smiles didn’t do anything to help advance the cause.
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The Kansas City Chiefs are in the midst of a dynasty, but most people have no clue who Patrick Mahomes’ kicker is. Even after Harrison Butker made history with a 57-yard field goal during Super Bowl LVIII, nobody knew who he was.
Now they do, but for all the wrong reasons.
Butker’s controversial commencement speech at Benedictine College received backlash after the athlete’s personal opinions on the LGBTQ+ community, working women, abortion rights and more.
The video has since gone viral and caused a firestorm.
The NFL immediately separated the company from Butker’s comments during his address.
Commenting on Butker’s speech for the first time May 15, the NFL said that his views differ from those of the organization.
“Harrison Butker gave a speech in his personal capacity,” Jonathan Beane, the NFL’s senior vice president and chief diversity and inclusion officer, tells PEOPLE in a written statement. “His views are not those of the NFL as an organization. The NFL is steadfast in our commitment to inclusion, which only makes our league stronger.”
During his speech, Butker addressed what he perceived as various “diabolical lies told to women.” Then he stepped into touchy areas that most people consider off limits in such a diverse setting, offering his take on abortion, in vitro fertilization (IVF) and surrogacy, as well as President Joe Biden.
Butker really painted himself into a corner when he said that Pride Month represented “deadly sins.”
Butker also had some strong advice for the men in attendance, advising them to “be unapologetic in your masculinity,” and to “fight against the cultural emasculation of men.”
Whether or not Butker’s beliefs represent that of a large cross-section of the country really doesn’t matter. His speech was met with strong pushback by those who see his message as cowardice and divisiveness.
Former Kansas City Commissioner Justice Horn said in a post:
“Harrison Butker doesn’t represent Kansas City nor has he ever. Kansas City has always been a place that welcomes, affirms, and embraces our LGBTQ+ community members.”
Many people were also offended that Butker would quote Taylor Swift, a noted ally of the LGBTQ+ community. He raved about her humility and wished her and Travis Kelce the best.
“One of the worst parts of this NFL player’s awful speech is that he quoted a Taylor Swift song before telling women they should be homemakers and serve their man’s career,” OutSports said in a post on X.
Butker’s advice for the female graduates continued to offend.
“For the ladies present today, congratulations on an amazing accomplishment,” he began. “I want to speak directly to you briefly because I think it is you, the women, who have had the most diabolical lies told to you.”
He continued, “Some of you may go on to lead successful careers in the world, but I would venture to guess that the majority of you are most excited about your marriage and the children you will bring into this world.”
“Sounds like some players ‘need to stay in their lanes’ and shouldn’t be giving commencement speeches,” the founding member of Public Enemy and longtime Swift supporter wrote on X.
Butker also condemned the narrative that men aren’t needed in the home as leaders and tone-setters.
These are all volatile topics that not only create division but tend to tear down more than uplift or inspire — and that really shouldn’t be the point of a speech at a graduation. The world is ever-evolving.
Nobody wants to be reminded of how society has failed them and be told that their beliefs or life choices and their ambitions are the product of being brainwashed.
The school takes an L for not vetting the athlete speaker and his intentions better. The debate, however, will rage about all of the topics he mentioned and Butker won’t be standing alone on an island the next time he broaches these topics.
Any way you slice it, we may never find common ground on many of these subjects. There’s just a time and a place for everything and clearly, Butker’s timing was off in this instance. It wasn’t his moment; it was the students’ moment. The same people whose life choices he condemned in many ways.
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A’ja Wilson got her signature shoe, but she won’t be silenced when it comes to issues of race in the WNBA that have become magnified by the Caitlin Clark phenomenon.
Wilson, a two-time MVP, discussed the role Clark’s race played in her rising stardom, telling the Associated Press that the achievements of Black women athletes are often “swept under the rug.”
“I think it’s a huge thing. I think a lot of people may say it’s not about Black and white, but to me, it is,” Wilson said when asked about the race element in Clark’s popularity and before she recently signed an endorsement deal with Nike for her own signature shoe.
A’Ja Wilson Says Black Woman Still Overlooked
“It really is because you can be top notch at what you are as a Black woman, but yet maybe that’s something that people don’t want to see.
“They don’t see it as marketable, so it doesn’t matter how hard I work. It doesn’t matter what we all do as Black women, we’re still going to be swept underneath the rug. That’s why it boils my blood when people say it’s not about race because it is.”
Wilson has some valid points and the racial disparities that are inevitable when Black athletes want white corporations to pay them what they believe they are worth has long been discussed. It’s a battle as old as private sports ownership itself. This lack of appreciation that elite athletes feel, especially when other, less accomplished athletes capture the masses and get more endorsement opportunities, is common and not limited to women athletes.
It’s odd that Wilson would make these comments during the week that she finally got the signature shoe everybody said she deserved for being the No. 1 player in the WNBA.
As a Black woman, she was very appreciated. Her sneaker deal was celebrated by people who aren’t getting a red cent or any personal satisfaction out of the deal. Her Las Vegas Aces team received their 2023 WNBA Championship rings. Wilson’s fits for opening night were the talk of the league.
Wilson represents Black excellence and in many ways the struggle for Black America towards equality. The narrative that she is overlooked because Caitlin Clark took the world by storm, is only half true.
Wilson hasn’t taken any losses because Clark is white. Clark is appealing to an audience that Wilson, who has close to 1M followers on IG herself, has not yet captured.
The Sun’s 92-71 win over the Fever in Clark’s WNBA debut on the league’s opening night on Tuesday drew an average of 2.1 million viewers on ESPN2, ESPN+ and Disney+, including a high of 2.3 million viewers between 7:45 p.m. and 7:59 p.m. That topped ESPN’s previous mark of nearly 1.5 million viewers for a Phoenix Mercury-Connecticut Sun game on May 22, 2004, in Diana Taurasi’s rookie season.
The attention of that game spilled over into the second game between Phoenix and Wilson’s Las Vegas Aces, that game averaged 464,000 viewers, with the two games averaging 1.28 million — a 192% increase over the league’s average last year for broadcasts on ESPN.
So, while players can throw veiled messages and use Clark’s come-up as proof of their oppression, the No. 1 overall draft pick who scored 20 points and recorded a record 10 turnovers in her debut performance with the Indiana Fever, sees it another way.
“I think there’s opportunities for every single player in women’s basketball,” Clark said at a press conference before her WNBA debut this week. “I think the more opportunities we can give across the board, that’s what’s going to elevate women’s basketball.”
“It doesn’t need to be just one or two players, and I think that even goes back to college,” she continued. “The parity in women’s basketball is what’s making more people want to come watch it. I think the more we can spread love, show people, show their talent, show their teams – that’s just going to continue to elevate it.”
Similar to Larry Bird when he entered the NBA and saved the league along with Magic Johnson, Clark’s skin color makes her polarizing in a sport where 70 percent of the players and 90 percent of the best players are Black. So, in that regard, race does play a part. In addition to his unprecedented annihilation of other pro golfers in major events, a huge part of Tiger Woods’ appeal was that he wasn’t white. He was a man with a Black dad who rose to the top of a white sport.
Pro hoops are similar in that we haven’t had a white American player win an NBA MVP since Larry Bird in the ’80s. The WNBA, however, despite a similar racial composition, is almost the opposite with many of the league’s GOAT candidates currently being white.
It’s all about perspective and Wilson could begin to bridge the divide and ride the wave as Clark suggested without directly saying it. There’s enough love for everybody to go around and in life, some things aren’t fair. But Wilson’s life is going well, her brand is on the upswing and more people are paying attention to her Las Vegas Aces as they try to three-peat. The real race is for MVP and Clark is likely to be in the mix as well before the season ends.
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If you look at his total body of work Rudy Gobert can’t be any more clueless, embarrassing and overall disappointing for the Minnesota Timberwolves in this Western Conference semifinals series against the Denver Nuggets.
After the first two games, one of which Gobert missed to attend the birth of his baby boy, Minnesota was in control, and it appeared that Gobert’s dedication to the game wouldn’t be questioned for abandoning his team at such a crucial moment.
Getting into an argument about dedication to team versus dedication to family is not my objective. He made his choice, and while he received resounding support from the fans and most of his team, there are clearly some basketball personalities that questioned his choice.
All was forgiven when Minnesota was giving Denver the business. Three games later and Minnesota’s been blitzed by the defending champions, who have won three straight and look to close Anthony Edwards and crew out in Game 6.
If anything, Minnesota will learn a tough lesson about the focus needed to become champions. You think the superstars of yesterday didn’t want to be present for childbirth and birthday parties? Unfortunately, they were working and had to sacrifice to show their teammates that they were 100 percent invested.
Not only did Gobert bail out on Game 2, but he’s yet to return to the series. Joker elevated his game and has been dominating the four-time Defensive Player of the Year. In Game 5, Joker dropped a 40-piece on Rudy with 0 turnovers, imposing his will on Minnesota.
“Jokic is embarrassing Rudy Gobert,” Stephen A. Smith said on Wednesday’s “First Take” show. “Rudy Gobert is getting his ass kicked. Jokic accepting his third league MVP goes out there last night and drops 40 and just did what he wanted.”
Such a performance doesn’t do much to help Gobert’s case against Shaq and others who have said he’s overrated defensively. The fact that he makes over $40M per season is another poor reflection on Gobert’s lack of dedication to the highest level of excellence.
This poor performance comes on the heels of Gobert getting fined $75,000 for again making a money gesture directed toward referees on Monday, insinuating they had money on the game.
He did the same thing back on March 8, which assistant head coach Micah Nori said was “unacceptable.”
That’s clown behavior. That might be a bit harsh, but there’s no other way to put it. It’s an example of why Minnesota won’t win this series and won’t be winning any championships anytime in the future, despite the ascending greatness of Anthony Edwards.
The NBA called the move “an inappropriate and unprofessional gesture that questions the integrity of the league and its game officials,” also noting that the fine “takes into account Gobert’s history of improper conduct toward game officials.”
Gobert’s actions also negatively incited the crowd to chants of “Ref, you suck.”
It’s a bad look for the NBA and T-Wolves, who are trying to take the next step as far as benign championship caliber. They went up 2-0 in a Western Conference semifinal and the entire team started listening to overzealous sports commentators handing them the NBA Championship.
Gobert acknowledged his mistake, but he owes his team a lot.
“My reaction, which I think was the truth, but it wasn’t the time to react that way,” he said at the time. “It cost my team the game. It was an immature reaction. It’s not just one call. Everyone makes mistakes, but when it’s over and over and over again, of course it’s frustrating.”
What Gobert does in the rest of this series and how he rebounds from getting run roughshod over by the three-time MVP will affect his legacy for years to come.
Russell Wilson came to Pittsburgh ready to reinvigorate his career, prove he is still a leader and an elite QB. Wilson hasn’t taken a snap in a game, and he’s already being compared to former Steelers great turned social media troll Antonio Brown.
Before you jump to conclusions, Mark Kaboly of The Athletic, was referring to Wilson’s work ethic when he said it rivals that of the mercurial former Steelers wideout, who walked off the field as a player for the Tampa Bay Bucs in the middle of a game against the Jets for the last time in his NFL career.
Wilson never displayed that kind of quit, no matter how bad things got in Denver, but behind the whispers and based on some comments by his former Seahawks teammates, his reputation as a team player took a hit. People questioned how hungry the Super Bowl champion still was.
So far he reportedly left quite an impression on his new team.
“One team source said the Steelers haven’t seen somebody work as hard as Wilson at his craft since the early days of Antonio Brown, who was notorious for the effort he put into his game to become the best wide receiver in the league for a span of more than five years,” Kaboly wrote.
As far as the rumors that Russ was in his own world, did his own thing and didn’t indulge in team camaraderie off the field, Steelers tight end Pat Freiermuth recently shot down that accusation when he praised Wilson for organizing an offseason workout in San Diego.
Freiermuth, wide receivers Calvin Austin III and Van Jefferson attended the workout.
“That was big time,” Freiermuth told Teresa Varley of Steelers.com. “He invited us to San Diego and a couple of us went there and got to work out and run routes and get to know each other. That’s big. The relationship on the field is big but building that off field is a big thing. It’s that trust you can bring over to the football field.”
Wilson also sat next to Steelers offensive lineman Spencer Anderson, a seventh-round pick out of Maryland in 2023 at the Penguins game last month, in what appeared to be a husband and wives date, with Ciara in attendance.
Wilson seems to be happier than he’s been in years and that interview that he did on Brandon Marshall’s “I Am Athlete” podcast shortly after signing with Mike Tomlin and the Steelers, doesn’t seem like lip service after hearing how he has handled his business this offseason.
Wilson wants to win two more Super Bowls, and he has a burning passion to hoist the Lombardi Trophy again. That’s always the objective in Pittsburgh but they haven’t won since 2009.
Wilson was able to leave Denver accountable for his $38 million salary while signing a “team friendly” veteran minimum of $1.21 million. With the addition of Justin Fields, the two-time Super Bowl quarterback can also serve as a mentor for the talented young QB who had an underwhelming career in Chicago.
It’s amazing how a change of scenery can change the narrative. In Dever, there were a lot of guys, including head coach Sean Payton who tried to throw their failures on the back of Wilson and ride these unfounded narratives while his reputation took the hit.
Wilson endured the benching and mistreatment in Denver and Steeltown seems to be a much better fit. He’s already expressed his affections for Tomlin, who is a winner and also respects his players and develops strong relationships with his quarterbacks.
Rumors about a lack of leadership has also been dismissed. Maybe this is the season we see the rebirth of “Let Russ Cook.” It’s also good that Antonio Brown still has aspects of his illustrious and tumultuous Steelers career that can be looked back upon with respect.
Last week WNBA Commissioner Cathy Englebert announced that the league would finally be using chartered flights to transport its 12 teams. While it is a hugedeal, it also comes with some stipulations
One being teams won’t be offered chartered flights for every game. In that instance they’ll fly commercial or via charter bus, and that has reigning and two-time league MVP Breanna Stewart speaking out.
Stewart, who’s arguably the second-best player and one of the most recognizable faces in the league behind Las Vegas Aces superstar A’ja Wilson, isn’t too fond of the chartered flight setup.
The former UConn Huskies legend decided to take to X, formerly known as Twitter, to voice her displeasure of how things are being done. With all the shots being taken at 2024 No. 1 overall pick Caitlin Clark, one has to wonder if this is in that same ballpark.
As the Liberty prepared to face the Washington Mystics in their season opener on Tuesday which they won 85-80, Stewie had this to say:
“2 out of 5 teams traveling today are on WNBA charters — and that’s a win. It could be a bigger one if the W allowed teams that were not offered League charters to secure their own until a full 12 team solution is ready.
Trip #1 of the season —
Charter Bus”
Stewie is excited that the league has started using chartered flights for their players. That seemed to pick up serious steam after videos of the aforementioned Clark walking through a very crowded airport in Dallas prior to her preseason debut. Some will say Clark isn’t the sole reason for the chartered flights, and that’s probably true, but she’s the main reason.
Chicago Sky rookie star Angel Reese wasn’t feeling the charter arrangements either.
As the WNBA opening night approached, Reese and her teammates found themselves still relying on commercial flights. Reese expressed her frustration with the situation in a recent Instagram story, sharing her hope that the team’s reliance on commercial flights would soon come to an end.
“Just praying that this is one of the last commercial flights Chicago Sky has to fly,” Reese wrote, highlighting the difficulties and inconveniences of traveling as a WNBA player.
Hearing Stewart speak about it should put some pressure on league brass to expedite the process of finding enough planes to allow all 12 teams to enjoy chartered flights. That would likely help the product on the floor while eliminating a lot of the current security concerns they have with players flying and traveling via commercial.
Of course they’re going to make sure Clark, who’s quickly become the face of the league, is on one of those flights early in the process, but there are 143 other players who deserve the same treatment nightly.
In her first WNBA game after being chartered to Connecticut, Clark was OK in a 92-71 blowout loss scoring 20 points and dishing out three assists, but she also had ten turnovers and was clearly affected by the speed of the game and intensity of the defenders. The game saw the Sun have its first season-opening sellout (8,910) since the Sun began playing at Mohegan Sun Arena in 2003.
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The Caitlin Clark Era officially kicks off on Tuesday night as the Indiana Fever meet the Connecticut Sun on ESPN2 to launch the WNBA’s 28th season.
Expect the game to break some ratings records for WNBA as Clark’s debut is one of the most anticipated in recent memory in men’s or women’s sports.
While Clark already has the affections of the fans and corporate, she still has a ways to go before she earns the respect of the WNBA gatekeepers and current superstars.
The preferential treatment she’s received, from traveling with bodyguards to making sure her team was first in line to take advantage of the new charter flight policy, hasn’t gained her many admirers within the league.
But various fan polls have Clark leapfrogging Breanna Stewart and A’ja Wilson in the MVP voting and becoming the first rookie since Candace Parker to win Rookie of the Year and MVP in the same season. CP also holds the record for most points in a WNBA debut on May 17, ’08 with 34.
In one particular poll posted by media personality Kelsey Nicole Nelson, Clark received 55 percent of the vote in the preseason MVP projection poll. Nelson wasn’t happy about the poll and felt it disrespected Wilson.
A’ja Wilson, fresh off her newly announced shoe deal with Nike, received 23 percent of the vote. Breanna Stewart of the Liberty, who won MVP in 2018 and 2023, received 17 percent of the vote, while 4 percent went to others.
This list is sure to tick off fans of WNBA players not named Caitlin Clark. It is, however, a harsh reality that the current stars are going to have to deal with. It took them an entire career to build up the respect and celebrity to be able to consider themselves an all-time great and one of the faces of the WNBA.
Recently-retired Parker headlined the 2008 WNBA draft as the LA Sparks’ No. 1 pick in what many consider the best draft class the WNBA has ever seen.
She was generational in that she was positionless and could do everything from shoot the trey to dunk. When she got together with the greatest WNBA center of all-time, Lisa Leslie, the Sparks doubled their win total from 10-24 (tied for worst in the league) to 20-14 and a second-round playoff appearance.
If Clark and Aliyah Boston can make that happen, then maybe one would be less inclined to dismiss these fan polls as delusional or prisoners of the hype.
But Vegas is buying in too.
Wilson currently leads the odds at +100, a reflection of her consistent dominance on the court. Close behind is Breanna Stewart at +750. There are plenty of other worthy candidates, but Clark is already third at +950.
Clark, who dazzled fans with her prowess in women’s college basketball, is facing high expectations as she transitions to the professional stage. Clark is just touching the floor tonight for the first time and she’s already 100 times more popular and marketable than her direct competition.
There’s no guarantee that Clark will even be in the running for MVP because her team is ranked at the bottom of WNBA preseason power rankings. According to WNBA League Pass, Indiana is the ninth-best team in the WNBA out of 12 teams.
Wilson is coming off back-to-back championships and her Las Vegas Aces squad is expected to three-peat. Stewart’s Liberty lost to Las Vegas in the WNBA Finals last season, and they will be contenders again.
So, while everything Clark does will be magnified, the team wins might not come as quickly as the fans would like. Still, to remain in the MVP conversation all Clark has to do is put up some decent numbers and perform well when on television. She’s the golden ticket. The show will never be the same again without her.
The WNBA needs her to ascend to stardom quickly and the fans want it. The fringe fans who are only interested in Clark and never paid attention to the league before her arrival, (which is now probably about 30 percent of the WNBA fan base), will want to see her vying for awards and being recognized as a face of the league.
Some are already crediting her with having the “Larry Bird” Effect. These preseason polls that totally boost Clark and dismiss any woman who played hoops before she attended Iowa and broke the all-time NCAA scoring mark will only add hate to the fire.
Which also makes every Caitlin Clark game a must see. The people have spoken. But the players still believe they will have the last word.
Ice Cube is always making moves and after overcoming plenty of adversity over the first seven years of his 3-on-3 Big3 pro basketball league, he’s finally ready to start selling teams in the league to private owners.
According to Bloomberg, in a deal worth $10 million, the 3-on-3 basketball league has sold its first team to an outside party.
Led by investment firm DCB Sports, a team of investors has acquired the team, with Los Angeles, California, to serve as its home city. This also launches the league’s transition from a touring league to a city-centric model.
All 12 teams on the roster have been put up for sale. Los Angeles is a prime location, and the market has been set as far as team value. This is another historic move for the league Cube co-founded in 2017 with just eight teams. No teams have been affiliated with major cities until now.
“We need to plant our roots in cities so we can be more than a rolling all-star game coming through,” Ice Cube said in an interview with the outlet. “It’s really about growing the sport and the league.”
Teams in the Big3, which include the 3 Headed Monsters, Ghost Ballers, and more, have been owned and operated by the league.
Reportedly, management aims to announce four new ownership groups by the start of its season, which kicks off in June.
Once all of the teams are sold and they adopt the city-centric model — the Big3 will host games in arenas located in numerous home markets to ensure that each event has a home team. The days of barnstorming are over.
The overall strategy is to allow teams to build their own local fan bases because, at this time, the Big3 brings in roughly 14,000 fans per weekend event and had more than 500,000 viewers on Paramount Global network during the last season.
So there’s enough interest to determine that the league can have permanent home bases and be able to fill those venues on a consistent basis.
With the 3-on-3 format hitting the Paris Summer Olympics in July after debuting at the previous Tokyo Games, Ice Cube’s league (which has different rules but same concept) should gain in popularity even more. Being featured worldwide at the Olympics also creates interest for more teams to be sold to private owners.
“I love the fact that it’s an Olympic sport and we view it as an interesting property,” said DCB Sports Managing Partner Gary LaDrido, whose firm has also invested in horse racing, golf, and soccer teams. “Grabbing the LA market is super cool — and for Ice Cube to trust us to usher that in.”
London, England and Toronto, Canada, are at the top of the list of home cities for a Big3 team, with U.S. cities still to be announced. The league is considering expanding to 16 teams as early as 2025.
Looks as if Ice Cube and his partner Jeff Kwatinetz continue to have a strong vision for Big3, and despite what he called some hating on his league by the NBA, Cube has been able to maneuver this simple idea into a huge expanding brand and a sport that can attract arenas of fans.
Now we know why Ice Cube offered Cailtin Clark $5M to play in his league. He’s doing big things, and she would probably have been exposed to just as many or more fans than playing in the WNBA for her first season.
And Ice Cube knows that expansion and selling teams off is a positive step forward, but every movement needs a face, so the more household names he can bring into the mix, the better off he will be.
That first season of the Big3, Allen Iverson played one game, but the fact that he got on the court did wonders for the legitimacy of Ice Cube’s league.
Obvious Cube and company had something special when over 15,000 people packed into Barclays Arena to see AI play in Brooklyn.
The Big3 co-founders are like snipers, meticulously choosing the perfect targets to help elevate their burgeoning 3-on-3 professional basketball league, but not wasting ammunition on anything that doesn’t help strengthen the league and the culture it represents.
Going against the grain, while promoting basketball in its most basic form, has been the formula from jump, and it’s working as the league takes its next step in becoming a mainstay in the domestic and international sports landscape.
The beat goes on.
Boxing has lost some of its popularity and attraction in America since the days when the heavyweight champion was the most famous athlete in the country.
The lack of fan interest hasn’t changed the fact that it’s a sport that can have deadly consequences. Boxers don’t die in the ring often, but it’s not unheard of and recently, middleweight boxer Sherifeed Lawal passed away after collapsing in the ring following a knockout punch in his professional debut in the U.K.
Lawal was only 29 years old. He was a highly-rated St Pancras ABC stalwart who was looking forward to rising up the ranks.
His pro boxing career tragically ended as soon as it started on Sunday at the Harrow Leisure Centre in London, where he faced Portuguese fighter Malam Varela (2-4) on the undercard of the Clash of Titans fight night.
The first three rounds were pretty even, then in the fourth round Varela threw a haymaker of a right that landed directly on Lawal’s temple, knocking him to the ground.
As soon as the blow was struck the referee immediately called for medical assistance.
According to reports, doctors and paramedics jumped into the ring and performed CPR for over 10 minutes before the pugilist was taken to the Northwick Park Hospital and shortly after pronounced dead.
“I am so sorry to hear this. Such Talent,” one fan wrote. “Condolences to Sherif’s family & friends. May he rest in peace.”
Sherif began his boxing mission in 2018. He and his trainer CJ Hussein decided that it was time for the talented fighter to turn pro.
“I think the pro game will suit Sherif down to a tee, he’s got all the talent to become a great middleweight,” Hussein said to Camden New Journal at the time.
“He’s a real inspiration to all the younger boxers at the gym.”
Boxing is a dangerous sport and one of the worst places to catch a big blow is to the temple. Longtime promoter Lou Dibella reminded the public of the risks involved with boxing.
“#Boxing is often unforgiving; our athletes don’t play, they fight. Every time they do, they bear great risk,” he tweeted.
The cause of death is still unknown, but it is a medical fact that hits to the temple from falls, fistfights, or mishaps during high-impact sports pose a significant risk to the brain. Even a seemingly harmless object, if projected with enough force, can cause severe damage.
The Nuggets 115-107 victory over the Timberwolves to tie up the Western Conference semifinal series at 2-2, was a reminder to all prisoners of the moment, that you can never underestimate the heart of a champion.
While Anthony Edwards continued his ascension as one of the game’s elite performers, Denver’s duo of Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray figured out what went wrong the first two games of the series when it appeared they couldn’t chew gum and text message at the same time.
TSL warned overzealous NBA fans not to jump the gun and anoint Minnesota after the shellacking they delivered to the defending world champs in going up 2-0 in the series.
While Ant-Man’s youthful bravado and confidence served him well in the first two games, after suffering from these two shocking losses at home, his energy seems to be all the way up.
But his supporting cast is fading fast.
Edwards’ 44 points were 29 more than the next closest contributor. Mike Conley had 15 and Karl Anthony-Towns (self-proclaimed “best shooting big man in history”) had a measly 13.
The verbal exchanges between Murray and Edwards have been classic as both are not the type to back down in any situation. They are rim-attackers who can also shoot it. Murray regained his stroke in Game 4, chipping in 19 points, five refunds and eight assists.
While Murray ended the back and forth when the game ended, Edwards continued in the press conference with a stern warning:
“I just told his ass we love that. Keep talking about that, that’s what we like. I love it. He ain’t saying nothing back, but I’m pretty sure he heard me. They heard me. We live for that,” Edwards said.
Edwards’ postgame comments prompted ESPN’s “First Take” crew to question whether or not it was a smart move. Shannon Sharpe lets it be known that he has total belief that Ant-Man is ready to attack and that he personally loves writing checks and cashing them.
Sharpe and co-host Stephen A. Smith were both reluctant to say that the supporting cast of Karl Anthony Towns, Rudy Gobert, Jaden McDaniels and the crew shared Edwards’ enthusiasm.
“No. You live for that. ” Sharpe said. “I’m not so sure they live for that,” referring to the aforementioned supporting cast.
They also didn’t think the heightened pressure his comments put on a team trying to breakthrough against a formidable foe helped Minnesota in any way.
Usually, the dog who barks the loudest is most wounded. Edwards wants to keep the energy but the entire momentum of a series that many prematurely felt the T-Wolves had already won, has shifted in Denver’s favor.
After apologizing to the Denver Nuggets for saying they would get swept after the first two games, Smith added: “We are waiting for the rest of the cats to show up … Karl Anthony-Towns.”
Everybody feels it. Those who have actually watched the NBA for decades know that a 2-0 deficit is not insurmountable, especially when the team that is down is championship caliber and has faced all kinds of adversity.
“They relaxed. Took a (breath) and that’s all the Nuggets needed,” Sharpe said. “Minnesota might not win another game unless KAT decides to show up.”
There’s levels to this. It’s understandable that most of the young NBA fans — and those tired of the LeBron James and Kevin Durant generation, as well as those who don’t think Denver is an exciting enough team to be top dogs in the league, and those who agree with Shaq and SAS that Shea Gilgeous-Alexander should have won MVP over Joker — want Anthony Edwards to win.
The Jordan comparisons have elevated his notoriety among the mainstream fans. His ability to pour points in, defend and lead at the age of 22 is also impressive. Reggie Miller and Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said Edwards reminded them of legendary guard Dwyane Wade.
Comparisons aside, we will probably have to wait until next season to see Ant-Man take that next step. This series could very well go seven games, but an indisputable fact is that Denver has found its rhythm and is moving like a championship unity.
Games 3 and 4 were like night and day from Games 1 and 2. Michael Malone deserves great credit for challenging his team at the end of Game 2 and refocusing them for the next five games.
“I knew Denver would not go away. I picked them in seven games. Hey, they’re the champs for a reason,” Sharpe noted.
Maybe Ant-Man was challenging his team. Planting the seeds for future success. Trying to elevate them to his level through the media. It wouldn’t be far-fetched to think that he would do such a thing. It’s just probably too little, too late and the Nuggets aren’t at all intimidated by Edwads’ dominance or confidence.
Lawrence Taylor has been a Democrat all of his life, but the New York Giants legend has had a change of heart once meeting Donald Trump, and expressed how the former President changed his life while attending a campaign rally for Trump in Wildwood Beach, New Jersey, on May 11.
Taylor and former running back Ottis Anderson, two prominent players in the annals of New York Giants championship glory, took the stage and addressed the crowd.
“I grew up a Democrat, and I’ve always been a Democrat, until I met this man right here, “ the greatest defensive force in NFL history said, referring to Trump. “Nobody in my family ever will vote Democrat again.”
The crowd of course erupted, and quiet as kept, Trump is flipping more Democrat commits than Deion Sanders.
Bringing in these Giants legends, who paved their legacy in New Jersey at Giants Stadium (now MetLife) and still hold considerable weight among 40-and-over Giants fans who long for the days of dominating defenses and Super Bowl glory, is a power move that, according to Fox News, is influenced by the many voters in attendance who believe Trump could flip the state of New Jersey.
It’s scary that people are ignoring the legal scandal Trump has been fighting for years now, while trying to convince America that he’s the man who should be deciding the fate of our nation.
It seems more and more Democrats are willing to raise the Trump flag, denounce their former party and join in the circus. People are frustrated and expressing it by riding with Trump.
Taylor is a great flip for Trump. There’s no more respected or feared NFL defender walking the earth than LT. When he was dismantling offenses and making legendary plays for Big Blue enroute to two Super Bowl championships, Taylor became a 10-time Pro Bowl selection, 10-time First-Team All Pro and won three NFL Defensive Player of the Year awards.
His personal mishaps stemming from drug addiction that dates back to his playing days are also well-documented and he’s since straightened his life out and is still a revered legend in the history of the NFL and Tri-State area sports.
Trump is drawing on any energy he can find to gain any edge in the upcoming elections. He was his typical uninhibited self when addressing the reported 100,000 in attendance. Always more like a WWE match than an actual political rally. Trump wore his familiar blue suit, red tie and “Make America Great Again” cap as he went on about inflation, electric cars and the like.
Then he got to current President Joe Biden:
“You could take the 10 worst presidents in the history of our country, and add them up .. and they haven’t done the damage to our country that this total moron has done,” Trump, 77, said while the crowd went nuts.
Who will be the next legend to get flipped by Trump? The list is getting longer and cutting into the heart of the city, as LT is the latest to go MAGA.
As 2024 WNBA No. 1 overall pick Caitlin Clark prepares to begin her professional career on Tuesday, the former Iowa Hawkeyes legend is now opening up about some of her past. While, Clark starred for her in-state Hawkeyes that wasn’t always how it was suppose to go. In her four seasons in Iowa City, Clark led the Hawkeyes to back-to-back title game appearances while becoming the all-time leading scorer in college basketball (men’s and women’s).
Clark became a phenomenon, and everywhere the Hawkeyes went they became the main attraction. After hearing Clark’s recent interview, folks in South Bend, Indiana, have to be wondering what could’ve been had Clark stuck with her verbal commitment to then Notre Dame head coach Muffet McGraw. Clark, a devout Catholic, seemed locked in with the Irish, and then she wasn’t. The dynamic sharpshooter decided that Iowa was the best place for her at the next level, and the rest is history.
Why The Sudden Change?
Originally, Clark verbally committed to McGraw and the Fighting Irish, but then she had a change of heart. The logo sniper says her family always wanted her to play in South Bend, but it didn’t sit right with her. In the new ESPN documentary series “Full Court Press,” Clark describes why she made the decision to attend Iowa.
“It’s a lot of pressure having to choose and decide where you’re going to spend the four years of your life,” Clark said. “We’re Catholic, every person, like, idolizes Notre Dame. Like, that’s just what you do. I told a Muffet McGraw, one of the greatest coaches of all-time, that I’m gonna play for her.”
“I just knew like — something wasn’t sitting right with me,” Clark continued. “So, I tell my parents and I’m like, I think I’m gonna switch to Iowa. Which was hard, like, I was scared. I’m 17 years old and now I have to call Coach McGraw and tell her that I’m not coming. I remember sitting on my bed, and I’m like sweating. I’m like, ‘Oh, this is so bad. But I really loved the idea of being close to home.”
It’s safe to say the move played out great for Clark, who became the focal point of the Iowa attack. At Notre Dame there’s no guarantee that happens. Not long after the 2019-20 season ended, the two-time national championship-winning McGraw stepped down, turning the program over to longtime assistant Niele Ivey.
Clark Changes The Fortune Of Iowa Program
After telling McGraw that she would no longer be heading to South Bend, Clark then made the call that would forever change the fortune of head coach Lisa Bluder and the Iowa Hawkeyes program. That call was I’ll be staying home and playing for the Hawkeyes. Bluder for the most part had given up hope on Clark coming to Iowa when you consider the Fighting Irish’s track record with guards (Skylar Diggins-Smith, Jewell Loyd and Arike Ogunbowale) to name a few, and Clark being a devout Catholic.
But that wasn’t the case.
“I was at a restaurant eating with my husband,” Bluder says in the documentary. “When she called I stepped outside to take the phone call. I tried to hold it down a little bit, but then I went back in and we ordered a bottle of champagne.”
What’s crazy is she had no idea what Clark would do over the next four years. That’s cultivate an entire community while turning a once a dormant women’s program into must-see TV.
After hundreds of social media posts and content created around outrage that only a select group of white stars have signature shoes, A’ja Wilson became the first Black WNBA player with a signature shoe since the backlash began.
The long-anticipated news came Saturday morning as Wilson’s two-time champion Las Vegas Aces prepared to face the Puerto Rican national team in a preseason game at South Carolina’s Colonial Life Arena. The former Gamecocks national champion wore a sweatshirt to the arena that said, “Of Course I Have A Shoe Dot Com,” a URL that redirected to Nike’s website with the announcement.
Wilson, who has reportedly been working on the shoe for over a year, which makes the recent whining about her not having a shoe (mostly by people who don’t watch the WNBA and won’t buy the shoe anyway) look kind of silly now, is definitely a top 3 player in the WNBA.
Not sure if she is solidified among the top 3 most popular players, but her statistical efforts and the fact that she’s leading the WNBA’s latest dynasty makes it understandable that she has her own signature shoe now.
Black Twitter, in particular, threw a fit about Wilson not having a shoe and some journalists called the WNBA out on it, which proves that Nike will at least listen when its consumers yell loudly enough.
So now that Wilson has the shoe, here’s a simple question that the gatekeepers of women’s sports probably won’t like.
The big push behind getting Wilson a shoe was that she is an MVP and multiple WNBA champion so she should get one.
That belief totally dismisses the fact that people have to buy the shoes and connect beyond the court with the player’s personality. This is what makes them marketable, which is most important. Not that Wilson isn’t both, but she’s not the hands-down most popular player in the league. She’s also a post player, which lessens the appeal.
In fact, her jersey sales for 2023 ranked behind Breanna Stewart, Sue Bird, Diana Taurasi and Candace Parker. Top 5 isn’t bad, but for a league that only generates $60 million in revenue per season, that’s a huge investment of money and time for Nike in someone who only has about 887K followers on IG. That’s a respectable number for a WNBA player, but it also doesn’t scream iconic personality.
Chicago Sky rookie Angel Reese, however, is clearly a more marketable player. She has about 3 million followers on IG and she has a daily presence on the app. All she has to do is go live and thousands flock to just watch her talk. Or see what she’s wearing. That would have been a layup, same as Clark’s deal.
Reese is in the Reebok family, so if her popularity continues to rise, she might have one sooner than later.
Tim Duncan was a five-time NBA champion, one of the best basketball players ever and was 1-2 with Kobe most of his career for NBA’s best player.
But he has the personality of a log, and while people respected his game nobody wanted his sneakers.
Via sneakernews.com: “Spending most of his nineteen years on the court with the San Antonio Spurs wearing adidas, his sneakers were most often quite an accurate representation of his game: very effective with great performance, but not flashy, or even that memorable at all. No offense to adidas, but can you even recite the name of one of his signature models with the Three Stripes?”
Duncan was very popular as soon as he stepped into the league with David Robinson, forming one of the greatest frontcourts in NBA history. Early in his career, he was down with the Nike family and wore some of the most iconic sneakers created.
There’s a personal charisma and connection off the court that elevates players to a level of marketability where people actually seek their sneakers out.
Now I don’t have any specific stats on how well any of the WNBA signature shoes sell. I do have teenage kids who play sports and I never heard any of them say, “Yo, I want the new Ionescu’s,” and, honestly, when it comes to hoops, they never mention A’ja Wilson.
Maybe all of that will change now that Wilson has her shoe. Not sure how this helps anyone other than Wilson, but there are those who equate a win for her with a win for all Black women, and I’m down with that too!
Sheryl Swoopes was the first WNBA player to get a signature show from Nike back in 1995. Although a dozen women have received signature sneakers in the WNBA’s 27-year history, it had been over a decade since a woman had received a signature sneaker until just last year when Breanna Stewart’s Puma Stewie 1 hit shelves, followed by the release of Elena Delle Donne’s Nike Air Deldon. The Swoosh has also announced Sabrina Ionescu’s upcoming signature silhouette, the Nike Sabrina 1.
Nobody was really paying attention until Caitlin Clark got her $28 million deal and then the push for Wilson’s release ramped up.
But Nike didn’t make this move for totally for business. They also did it for perception and when possible racial and gender disparities are thrown into the mix and highlighted it puts pressure on huge corporations to avoid being seen in a light that suggests they contribute to systemic oppression in any way. It was only common sense to make sure that Wilson has her signature shoe. She embodies everything that a role model should be and that has great value in itself.
Are you buying a pair?
Minnesota Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards is just scratching the surface on how good he can be.
The precocious 22-year-old rising star is wise beyond his years, and he’s the biggest reason the Timberwolves have a shot to win an NBA championship this season.
Two big road wins in Denver to open their Western Conference Semifinals were followed by a blowout loss at home in Game 3 making the series 2-1.
Despite the loss, Edwards could be heard telling his teammates to “it’s a series, bruh, we good, first to four games.”
That’s the neccessary leadership he’s shown this year. That and his special talent to play the game of basketball on both ends have likened him to none other than Michael Jeffrey Jordan, the man most NBA fans consider to be the GOAT. All season Edwards has heard how much he looks like MJ.
Even Jordan admitted that Edwards’ all-around game shows some real similarities.
While, Edwards likes to hear it, such comparisons are a ton of pressure to live up to. Ant-Man would like it to stop.
In a recent interview with Fox Sports, Edwards had this to say about being compared to Jordan:
“I want it to stop. He’s the greatest of all time. I can’t be compared to him.”
The charismatic Edwards followed those comments up by tellinh Malika Andrews of ESPN, “I want people to be like, ‘This kid Anthony Edwards, has his own style. He maybe got a mix of Michael Jordan in him.’
“But I got a trey ball. My trey ball. … I can shoot the three, so that makes me a little different than Michael Jordan,” Edwards insisted.
Edwards isn’t wrong in making the statement about shooting the three, he’s got over 200 more made threes in his four-year career than Jordan, who didn’t rely on the three, had in his entire legendary career.
Edwards plays in an era where shooting the three is strongly emphasized, and while teams shot the three when Jordan played, it wasn’t the way they won or lost games.
In this era more often than not the team that wins the three-point battle usually wins the game.
NBA legend Reggie Miller, who played against MJ for years isn’t ready to say Edwards is like Jordan. In fact, he believes Edwards is much closer to another legend, Dwyane Wade. During a recent appearance on “The Dan Patrick Show,” Miller, with strong conviction, isn’t doing what everyone else is doing with the Jordan comparison.
“There’s that similarity with MJ, but I’m not going to jump on the bandwagon and say he’s the next Jordan because we tried to do that with Kobe, and Kobe was probably the closest thing.”
Miller says the fascination with finding the next Jordan has made folks become enamored when they see a player with special talent pop on the scene.
But, it’s so much more than playing basketball that comprises the almighty Jordan brand.
Which is why Miller likens Edwards to Wade, in fact Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra who’s not big on making comparisons also did so during last season’s FIBA World Cup.
Spoelstra was an assistant for Team USA, and being around Edwards every day made Spo concede that he’s a lot like Wade, the greatest player in Heat franchise history.
Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark played her second preseason game on Thursday, and while she didn’t disappoint from a full floor game standpoint with 12 points, eight rebounds and six assists, her decision-making and shot selection is something the Fever want to improve.
Fever head coach Christie Sides, who’s been tasked with harnessing Clark’s raw and natural ability to score while becoming more efficient has given her some rules.
Sides doesn’t want to take Clark’s aggression as a scorer/facilitator away, but she wants her to be more decisive. As the Fever prepare to open the 2024 WNBA season on Tuesday on the road versus the Connectticut Sun, Sides has told her star guard that she has exactly 0.5 seconds to make a decision. Meaning Clark will have to be very quick in her decision-making, something she wasn’t asked to do at Iowa.
Sides Believes This Will Help Clark’s Efficiency And Adjustment
In an attempt to make Clark more than a logo three-point shooter, Sides has implemented that rule. As she explained during her postgame presser following Thursday’s home preseason win, Sides believes that will only help Clark’s adjustment from college to the pros.
“I think she’s used to some shots that she’s taken in the last few years that are just those deep shots. There’s times she comes off ball screens where she’s open in that long two area. We’ve got to get her comfortable taking that long two”
“I gave her a rule the other day. She’s got 0.5 seconds to make a decision. When she gets off the ball and she hits somebody in the high post, she has a habit of hanging out and dancing. That’s what she’s done. It’s these habits that we’ve got to break.”
Sides wasn’t too upset about Clark going 4-for-12, but she didn’t seem too excited about 75 percent (nine) of her attempts coming from three, with six being of the logo variety. She made just two of the nine attempts, and there were opportunities for her to get a better shot, which she passed up.
Clark’s Green Light Won’t Be As Bright In Indy
For four years Clark was able to take any shot she wanted, and with good reason. She was the only player on the Iowa team that could get her own shot at any time. That won’t be the case in Sides’ offense with 2023 No. 1 overall pick and reigning WNBA Rookie of the Year Aliyah Boston in the post, and Erica Wheeler, Kelsey Mitchell and NaLyssa Smith as capable offensive threats.
Clark will get her looks and touches, but it will be within the flow of the offense, and playing with someone as skilled as Boston in the post should open up plenty of good shots for Clark. With the attention she’ll be receiving nightly, this is a brilliant move by Sides in an effort to help her star pupil adjust to the WNBA game.
