There was an embarrassing but telling moment for WNBA legend Sheryl Swoopes and former NBA shooter turned podcaster Gilbert Arenas recently when Swoopes appeared on “Gil’s Arena” podcast and tried to discredit Iowa star Caitlin Clark’s NCAA all-time scoring record pursuit.
“If you’re going to break a record to me, if it’s legitimate you have to break that record in the same amount of time that the player set it,” Swoopes said.
“If Kelsey Plum broke that record in four years, well Caitlin should have broken that record in four years. But because there’s a COVID year, then there’s another year, so she’s already had an extra year to break that record, so is it truly a broken record?”
Arenas chimed in: “You think exactly how I am”
Swoopes saw the co-host sitting with the computer and didn’t bother to even make sure she wasn’t spitting misinformation. For her own credibility at least.
“I don’t think (it’s a true broken record) but that will go in the record book as Caitlin Clark is the all-time …whatever it is I don’t know what the number is…but that’s the way it will be, but I don’t think there should be.”
Gilbert Arenas continues to co-sign Swoopes.
“And the sad part is that record will never be broken because there’ll never be another five or six years you can play in college sports. It should be a whole separate entity.”
What Arenas meant is the points record should be according to the number of years you played, because under normal circumstances a player would only have four eligible years.
“This is not the NBA where you talk about you playing 10 years and I played 20 years,” he continued.
Swoopes and Gilbert Had The Facts Wrong
Swoopes and Gil were totally wrong on the eligibility of Clark personally, although their points are valid about the years of eligibility and how that affects the authenticity of the record.
If they stopped there, it might not have been seen as a session of hating on Clark’s success. But when Swoopes implied that Clark’s scoring is unimpressive because she basically doesn’t let anyone else shoot the ball — and greatly exaggerated Clark’s field goal attempts per game to validate her point — she kind of crossed the line.
“Caitlin Clark probably takes about 40 shots a game….” Swoopes said. “When she comes to the league, regardless of hat team she goes to that has vets on that team, she’s probably not going to get 40 shots a game.”
The most shots Clark has taken in a game this season (which is also easily researchable) is 34 in a 76-73 win over Michigan State on Jan. 2. She took 31 shots in a 67-58 win over Iowa State on Dec. 6. She also averages 7.9 assists and seven rebounds per game, while shooting a very efficient 48 percent from the field.
After ranting about misinformation for a few minutes, all it seems, in an effort to disparage Clark’s record as if she was taking advantage of a loophole and didn’t earn her accolades, Clark Nation was undoubtedly pissed at the WNBA legend and former college coach, who would never want her numbers or place in basketball history misrepresented.
Swoopes’ loose lips were no different or potentially-damaging than certain folks labeling Angel Reese as “ghetto” or painting her as the antagonist when Clark’s confidence and bravado was expressed in equally animated fashion on the court.
Clark and Reese Still Most Polarizing Names In Women’s College Hoops
Clark picked up where she left off in last year’s NCAA tournament, when her battle with LSU’s Angel Reese took on a life of its own and made both players millionaires and media darlings. Clark’s visibility went through the roof when she led Iowa to the national championship game in April 2023 after a huge upset win over Dawn Staley’s South Carolina Gamecocks in the Final Four.
Clark is the top scorer in women’s hoops this season and is known for her signature Steph Curry threes from the logo. Clark is on pace to top Kelsey Plum’s women’s scoring record (3,527), set in 2017 and has an outside shot at the longstanding men’s scoring record, set by Pete Maravich in 1970 (3,667 points) prior to the implementation of the three-point line.
If she doesn’t break the record this season, which, barring injury, she will accomplish easily, then maybe Swoopes and Gil have a gripe if she needs a fifth year to do it.
But the WNBA is calling and she keeps scoring. Clark started the 2023-24 season with 2,717 career points, and through 23 games she’s averaging 32.4 points per game and will likely break Plum’s record in mid-February.
Caitlyn Clark vs. Angel Reese
The lines in college basketball were drawn last season when everyone from social media talking heads to radio hosts and the average sports fan immersed their emotions in the NCAA women’s championship game between Clark’s Iowa team and Angel Reese’s LSU squad.
Reese won the title and much of the glory, but conflicting cultural opinions on the use of Tony Yayo’s signature “You Can’t See Me” move which some publications attributed to white wrestler John Cena, opened up another can of worms and it seems the support for the two players largely became defined by political and racial lines.
While Clark has continued to rise to the top of the sport, Reese struggled at times this season. She was benched by her coach Kim Mulkey for four games early in the season for unspecified reasons. Rumors were rampant that she had failed to maintain academic standards and the NIL deals and fame that she acquired, elevating the 21-year-old’s net worth to $3 million, had gone to her head.
With her popularity at its peak following the NCAA title win over Clark, top brands like Amazon, Xfinity, McDonald’s and Coach among others brought her a bag of nearly $2 million.
Reese regained control of her life and season and is averaging nearly 20 points per game and 12.2 rebounds. She’s definitely a force for ninth-ranked LSU (19-4) who still has a chance to repeat. Iowa (21-2) is ranked third in the country, and don’t be surprised if these two teams meet during March Madness again. With all due respect to Dawn Staley and the incredible culture and winning tradition that she’s brought to South Carolina, the casual fan wants to see Clark and Reese run it back.
Both players are covered on a much higher scale than any other player in women’s basketball. Southern Cal’s JuJu Watkins had a recent 51-point game explosion and she’s next up, but the perfect ending for the NCAA money machine and women’s college basketball as a brand would be to have its two biggest names on its most visible stage.
Both are guaranteed to have their own fan bases and the facts are irrelevant. Sheryl Swoopes and Gilbert Arenas showed us that.
