If Caitlin Clark had a payroll then Shannon Sharpe would be on it. From her exclusion from Teams USA women’s basketball to his claims that the WNBA and veterans in the league have mistreated Clark despite all she’s done for the league, Sharpe, The “First Take” personality and host of “Nightcap” and “Club Shay Shay,” has been unwavering in his praise of Clark as the biggest brand name in women’s basketball.
He almost popped a blood vessel vilifying her Team USA Paris Olympics snub. Accusing the WNBA of basically lacking business sense. That belief was echoed by a few other prominent names.
“Are we really trying to grow the game? Because this is the most popular women’s basketball player in the world and it ain’t close… So are we really trying to grow the game?” Sharpe said back in June. “Is that what we’re really trying to do? Or are we just talking about ‘we’re trying to grow the game’ and just bull jiving?”
As the Indiana Fever fight for playoff positioning down the stretch, Clark will be the vocal point of plenty of contentious situations as she controls the ball and has it in her hands often.
Early in the season, Clark had her share of physical engagements with Angel Reese, Chennedy Carter and other players across the league.
There was a recent instance of Skylar Diggins-Smith bumping into Clark during a timeout, and Uncle Shay Shay lost his mind. He mentioned that Smith had sped up to catch Clark and intentionally body-checked the league’s assists leader as she went to reach the sidelines during a timeout.
Caitlin Clark and Skylar Diggins-Smith Mix It Up
Despite the Fever handily winning the game, tensions flared on the court and on the sidelines between coaches.
With Indiana enjoying a 17-point lead, Seattle’s head coach, Noelle Quinn, took exception to Fever coach Christie Sides leaving her starters in the game. The two coaches exchanged some smoke on the sidelines.
On the most recent episode of his “Nightcap” podcast with Chad Johnson, Sharpe discussed Clark’s rookie assists record she broke in the 92-75 blowout win.
He also let it be know — again — that Clark gets mistreated by inferior players and her brand and standing in the WNBA should be untouchable. Everyone should bow down to the woman who made women’s basketball a commercial sport.
“This been going on, Ocho,” Sharpe told his co-host.
“If I’m Caitlin Clark, I would’ve told Skylar Diggins, ‘Get your coat, your brim, and get on out of our gym. Get your coat, your hat and leave!’… Y’all stop this foolishness,” continued Sharpe. “Y’all see the woman speed up. Y’all see her — Caitlin Clark is getting the crowd going. Y’all see Skylar Diggins speed up to make contact with her. Stop this!”
“Y’all mad because that cornfed Iowa girl busting y’all ass,” Sharpe added. “Y’all said, ‘She’s too weak. She can’t do this.’ She leads the WNBA in assists. She’s cooking — let her cook. Let her cook! Let that girl cook! She cuttin’ ass. She’s like a double-edged sword, Ocho, she cuttin’ ass left and right. … Cut ’em up!”
The “y’all” Sharpe must be referring to is veterans such as SDS who have helped grow the league exponentially over the past two decades.
Similar to Gilbert Arenas suggesting that opposing players just allow Clark to score for the good of the league, Sharpe is suggesting players ease up on Clark as well, which is odd.
In the same breath, Sharpe praises the fact that Clark is the real deal and continues to disprove any talk about her being overhyped because she is white.
While that notion leaves room for debate, there’s no question Sharpe is Team CC.
“It ain’t hype. Y’all keep talking sh*t about the ‘Great White hype,’ Ocho. They keep talking about — ain’t no hype,” added Sharpe.
Sharpe rehashed an old comparison between Clark and Larry Bird, which TSL has also examined.
Then he stayed along racial lines and implied that other white stars in predominantly Black pro hoops such as Luka Dončić and Nikola Jokić have also been sold short but proved they are above the hype.
“Y’all said the same thing about Larry Bird,” Sharpe complained. “I remember, I’m old enough to remember. They said the same thing about Larry Bird. Ain’t nothing hype. Ain’t nothing hype about Luka (Dončić). Ain’t nothing hype about (Nikola) Jokić. I get it; we’re not used to seeing (this)… she’s saucy with that thing. Watching her in person twice — I’ve seen her against the (Las Vegas) Aces and I saw her at the All-Star Game — she is elite. She is the pinnacle at passing the basketball.”
He called her Magic Johnson with the pill. Sue Bird and Patrícia “Ticha” Nunes Penicheiro might have something to say about that, but that’s how hard Uncle Shay is going for Clark.
The Hall of Famer is going to hype everything and then say there’s no hype.
He continues to fuel the narrative that Clark is succeeding despite the challenges and barriers and wants her to be recognized as the only relevant player in the game. At the very least, it’s most important player.
What you can’t say is that Clark has been surviving her first WNBA season alone. Whatever support she lacks on the court she gets from the fans and media two-fold.
