Gayle King is still catching heat from leading voices on Black X/Twitter for her comments in a recent interview with South Carolina coach Dawn Staley, who won her third national championship over growing legend Caitlin Clark and Iowa.
“We were all cheering for Iowa and Caitlin Clark but for so many people you’ve got their heart,” Clark said to Staley after asking if she was nervous down the stretch of the championship game.
Stephen Jackson Claims Gayle King Demeaned Dawn Staley
King’s comments set fans off like when she blindsided Lisa Leslie about Kobe’s past legal issues after he had died tragically.
The venom came from King suggesting that “we” were rooting for Caitlin Clark, which in the opinion of many, was absolutely one-sided and false.
The fact that King said it to another Black woman who’s accomplishing historic feats, further rubbed some folks the wrong way.
Former NBA player Stephen Jackson of the award-winning podcast “All the Smoke” responded to King’s exchange with Staley.
“Gayle King is supposed to be somebody that’s big in the journalism space, right? Well I don’t consider her Black media,” Jackson said in video he uploaded to social media.
“Y’all give her all these passes because she’s Oprah’s friend. I don’t give a F whose friend she is. You cannot demean Dawn Staley like that,” he continued. “You talking to her about winning the championship. About going undefeated and you have the nerve to get on there and say ‘We was rooting for Caitlin Clark and you [Staley] broke everybody’s heart?”
“Who’s we? Who’s we? All the Black people I know was rooting for Dawn Staley … We all fans of Caitlin Clark but the way you put it that sh*t was trash,” Jackson added.
Stephen Jackson Responds To Jason Whitlock
He also went at Uncle Ruckus, aka Jason Whitlock, for saying that the only reason why Jackson rooted for Dawn Staley is because she’s Black.
Jackson had to set the record straight that he’s been a Dawn Staley fan for a long time dating back to his rookie season in the NBA.
“What number did I wear my rookie year?” Jackson asked. “No. 24”
Stephen Jackson Wore No. 24 NBA Rookie Season: Dawn Staley Fan
No. 24 was Staley’s number during her legendary college career at Virginia back in the ’90s where she was a three-time Losak All-American. When she got to the WNBA, she wore No. 5 with the Charlotte Sting and became a five-time All-Star before blossoming into one of the elite coaches of our era.
“The sad part is you can’t go a day without hating on Black people,” Jackson said to Whitlock.
Who Is We?
King and Whitlock are similar in that they don’t decide their allegiances based on race and that’s probably the point they both were making in their own way.
King’s lack of sports knowledge came out in her question to Staley. Of course, the mainstream crowd was rooting for Caitlin Clark because that’s all they really know about women’s hoops.
There was also a large contingent of people not rooting against Clark, but for a coach and player who is a legend and continues to do amazing things on the court and in developing young women for life.
Caitlin Clark continues to be a lightning rod, drawing opinions from everyone from journalists to celebrities to sitting presidents. Whatever the case, Stak5 was not trying to hear any Dawn Staley bashing.