WNBA legend Sheryl Swoopes has made numerous controversial statements about Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark. These comments have become even more controversial as Clark and her team have improved throughout the season, because there is much less to be critical of now than there was earlier this year.

While there were some brief growing pains for Clark and Indiana, it did not take long for the star rookie to become one of the WNBA’s best players and lead her team to the playoffs. Averaging 19.5 points, 8.4 assists, and 5.7 rebounds entering the regular season finale, Clark has broken numerous WNBA records in her rookie season.

In a recent appearance on Gil’s Arena, Swoopes claimed current Fever players do not like playing there because of the negative attention from Clark fans on social media.

“There’s a lot of other s—t going on that other players are like ‘This ain’t where I want to be,'” Swoopes said of the Fever. “So you have players that are very significant on this Indiana Fever team that are like, ‘I don’t think this is where I wanna be this year.'”

Former NBA forward Sam Dekker saw these comments and shut them down on X with an example from his time playing with James Harden on the Houston Rockets.

Via Dekker: “Being on the Rockets with Prime Harden was the best s—t ever. We were on National TV all the time, won a ton of huge games in awesome moments, and he made the game incredibly easy for guys like me. I don’t believe for a second that the team dislikes it.”

Dekker played five seasons in the NBA, two of which came during Harden’s incredible run in Houston. Dekker was then traded to the LA Clippers where Harden now plays.

Swoopes used Fever center Aliyah Boston as an example for the point she was trying to make, saying she is vulnerable to hate while playing for Indiana.

“What happens when Aliyah ain’t playing well again?” Swoopes asked. “You know what I mean? As a player, do you want to continue to stay in a situation where you keep yourself vulnerable to all of the hate that you know is going to come to you if you’re not playing the way everybody thinks you should be playing?”

Indiana Fever forward Aliyah Boston (7) celebrates with Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (22) against the Los Angeles Sparks. / Grace Hollars/IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK

Swoopes is making what sounds like a definitive statement about how Fever players feel, but it is purely speculation on her end. While Clark’s spotlight is significant and impacts her teammates, Boston and others have not expressed a desire to be elsewhere.

For Dekker, he said it was great playing with a superstar like Harden, and thinks Fever players love being with Clark.