The lights in the ESPN studio burned bright, but not nearly as bright as the fire in Stephen A. Smith’s eyes. It was a Monday morning, the kind that seemed made for debate, and the energy was electric. The topic? Caitlin Clark, the Indiana Fever rookie who had set the WNBA ablaze, and the storm of controversy swirling around her.
Stephen A. sat at the center of the desk, his suit crisp, his voice booming with conviction. Across from him, Andrea—a respected analyst, former player, and frequent critic of the Clark hype—prepared her notes. The cameras rolled, and the opening segment began.
“Let’s be clear,” Stephen A. started, his tone sharp. “Caitlin Clark isn’t just having a good rookie season. She’s rewriting history. She’s doing things we’ve never seen before, and some people—yes, Andrea, I’m looking at you—can’t seem to handle it.”
Andrea bristled. She’d played in the league, fought for every minute on the court, and carved out a respected career. She admired Clark’s talent, but the endless comparisons, the talk of “generational greatness,” the suggestion that Clark alone was responsible for the WNBA’s rising popularity—it all felt like a slight to the women who came before.
“I’m not taking anything away from Caitlin,” Andrea retorted. “But let’s not pretend the league didn’t exist before her. There are legends—Swoopes, Taurasi, Catchings—who built this foundation. The media needs perspective.”
Stephen A. leaned forward, his voice lowering. “No one’s denying the legends. But Caitlin Clark is box office. She’s shattering rookie records—19.2 points per game, 337 assists, 122 three-pointers. That’s not just rookie-of-the-year stuff. That’s all-time greatness.”
He gestured to the stats on the screen behind him. “Look at these numbers, Andrea! She’s not just playing the game—she’s changing it. And the attention? That’s not hype. That’s what happens when you’re special.”
Andrea shook her head. “But Stephen, it’s not just about numbers. The league is bigger than one player. We can’t let the narrative become ‘Clark or nothing.’ It’s disrespectful to the veterans who paved the way.”
Stephen A. slammed his hand on the desk, not in anger, but in emphasis. “Andrea, you’re missing the point. A rising tide lifts all boats. Caitlin Clark’s impact brings eyes, money, and respect to everyone in the league. Instead of resentment, there should be celebration. But some people—yes, you—seem jealous she’s doing what others couldn’t.”
The segment went viral before the commercial break even ended. Clips flooded social media: Stephen A. “destroying” Andrea, defending Clark, calling out the “haters.” Fans picked sides, some agreeing with Andrea’s call for respect for the past, others echoing Stephen A.’s belief in Clark’s transformative power.
But the real story was happening on the court.
The Rookie Phenomenon
Caitlin Clark had arrived in the WNBA with the weight of expectation pressing on her shoulders. She was the number one pick, the NCAA’s all-time leading scorer, and the most hyped rookie in years. Every night, she played in front of sold-out arenas—over 17,000 fans in Indiana, with even opposing teams moving games to bigger venues to accommodate the crowds.
Her stats were eye-popping: 19.2 points per game, 337 assists, 122 three-pointers—a new rookie record by a wide margin. She was a unanimous selection for the 2024 AP Rookie of the Year. Jerseys with her name sold out in minutes, and her games drew millions of viewers, breaking broadcast records.
But it wasn’t just about the numbers. Clark brought a swagger, a confidence, a sense of inevitability every time she crossed half-court. She pulled up from the logo, drained threes with a defender in her face, and made impossible passes look routine. She was a closer, a clutch performer, a player who made fans believe anything was possible.
Yet, with greatness came scrutiny.
The Critics and the Clutch
Andrea wasn’t the only one to question the Clark effect. Some veterans, like Cheryl Swoopes, wondered if the hype was too much, too soon. Others accused the media of overlooking the contributions of Black players, of rewriting history to fit a new narrative.
Clark heard it all—the whispers that she was overhyped, that she hadn’t earned her place among the legends, that she was just a “media creation.” But she responded the only way she knew how: by letting her game speak louder than the doubters.
There were tough nights, too. In her playoff debut against the Connecticut Sun, Clark struggled with her shot, scoring just 11 points. She took a brutal poke to the eye from Deja Carrington, a moment that could have rattled any rookie. But Clark refused to leave the game. She finished with eight assists and several steals, her fingerprints all over the Fever’s effort.
Afterward, Stephen A. was quick to praise her resilience. “That’s what greatness looks like,” he said on air. “She gets knocked down, she gets right back up. She’s not just a shooter—she’s a leader, a fighter, a winner.”
Legacy in Motion
As the season wore on, Clark’s impact grew. Attendance records fell. Merchandise sales soared. Young girls across the country wore her jersey, imitating her step-back threes on playgrounds and driveways. The Fever’s games became must-see TV, and the WNBA as a whole basked in the glow of newfound attention.
Andrea, for her part, watched with mixed emotions. She saw the good—the money, the fans, the respect. But she also saw the danger in putting one player above the league, in erasing the hard-fought battles of those who came before.
One afternoon, after a particularly heated segment, Andrea found herself alone in the studio hallway. Stephen A. approached, his demeanor softer than on camera.
“You know I respect you, right?” he said. “But this is bigger than both of us. Clark is special, and she’s bringing the league to new heights. That helps everyone. Even you.”
Andrea nodded, the tension easing. “I just want the league to remember its roots.”
Stephen A. smiled. “So does she. Give her a chance.”
A New Beginning
The playoffs loomed, and Clark prepared for the next challenge. She knew the doubters would be waiting, ready to pounce on any misstep. But she also knew she had the support of millions—fans, teammates, even critics who couldn’t help but admire her fire.
As she stepped onto the court for her next game, the arena erupted. Cameras flashed. The world watched.
And somewhere, in a studio far away, Stephen A. and Andrea watched, too—knowing that whatever happened next, the story of Caitlin Clark was just beginning.
ESPN’s Stephen A Smith says some WNBA players jealous of Caitlin Clark, suggests race is component
Sky’s Chennedy Carter later received a flagrant-1 for the foul on Clark
Caitlin Clark was on the receiving end of a hard foul from Chicago Sky guard Chennedy Carter during the Indiana Fever’s close win on Saturday, and it quickly became the talk of the sports world.
With Carter criticizing Clark’s game in a post on Threads, the drama bled into Monday and was the first topic of discussion on ESPN’s “First Take” with Stephen A. Smith, Monica McNutt, Shannon Sharpe and even host Molly Qerim offering their opinions on the matter.
Smith said he believed there were WNBA players who were jealous of the attention Clark has received since entering the league and suggested race may play a part in it.
“There are girls – young ladies – in the WNBA who are jealous of Caitlin Clark. She is a White girl that has come into the league,” Smith said. “She has bursted onto the scene. She hasn’t proven herself yet. It’s not even about them thinking they’re better than her because they probably know it at this particular juncture because they’ve been playing on a level she just arrived to.
“Where the resentment comes in is the hard work, the commitment, the dedication, the pounding of the pavement, the being on the grind all of these years trying to uplift this brand that is the WNBA and is women’s professional basketball and all of their efforts were in vain until this girl comes along and takes the league by storm, takes the sport by form in college and has accomplished in a short period of time what they haven’t been able to.
“One would think that folks would be smart enough to recognize and appreciate that about Caitlin Clark – piggyback off of that to their benefit and praise her and support her for it while competing on the court against her.”
Smith said he wasn’t necessarily concerned with Carter’s history or even overblowing the particular play she was involved in. He wanted to put all of it into context.
“You do that to a person who is now the face of the WNBA, you know that there’s something a little extra to that. Now, in fairness to her, I’ve seen a report where it showed Caitlin Clark elbowing her first and it was retaliatory – I get that part. Let’s also remember that before she shoved, she hip-checked her from the back, from behind, she called her the B-word.… We get all of that. That’s in the heat of competition. We’re not going to overblow that.
“What we’re going to do is give the level of appreciation that it deserves in terms of the venom and potential hostility that exists toward this ‘golden girl’ who happens to be White and how the WNBA is promoting her.”
Carter’s foul was upgraded on Sunday from a common foul to a flagrant-1 violation. She didn’t receive any discipline beyond that.
She wondered on Threads what else Clark brought to the table beyond 3-point shooting after refusing to answer a question about the play.
