The Pro Basketball Hall of Fame seems to have taken a cheeky jab at WNBA legend Sheryl Swoopes with their strategic placement of a Caitlin Clark sign.
Swoopes had previously thrown shade at Indiana Fever star Clark, both before and during the Rookie of the Year’s impressive debut season in the major leagues.
Clark, an Iowa native, chose to let her game do the talking, averaging 19.2 points per game along with 8.4 assists, 5.7 rebounds, and 1.3 steals, while shooting 41.7 percent from the field.
- Minnesota Lynx star Courtney Williams nearly had very different career
- Napheesa Collier’s true side comes out shortly after Minnesota Lynx’s spectacular comeback
An injury to Angel Reese led to almost unanimous Rookie of the Year votes for Clark, with only one voter favoring another player over the 22-year-old
Despite being Clark’s biggest critic, Swoopes recently praised the young player’s performances, marking a significant change of heart from the four-time champion and three-time WNBA MVP. However, this hasn’t stopped the Basketball Hall of Fame from having a bit of fun with their exhibit placements/
Swoopes, who was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2016 following an extraordinary career, has a banner hanging inside the Massachusetts venue. Now, positioned directly beneath that banner is a poster of Clark proudly holding a basketball in her Fever uniform.
This playful gesture follows several skeptical comments from Swoopes directed at Clark, starting back in her college days when Swoopes claimed that Clark’s NCAA D1 scoring record “wasn’t legitimate” because she was ‘a 25-year-old player in her fifth year’.
Caitlin Clark was named the WNBA Rookie of the Year (
(Image: Getty))
Swoopes may have been stretching the truth a bit about Caitlin Clark, who at 22 and in her fourth year with the University of Iowa was primed to make a splash in the WNBA and send fans into a frenzy.
However, Swoopes, at 53, seemed unimpressed, suggesting Clark’s college achievements stemmed from her having “about 40 shots a game”.
Even as Clark propelled the Fever’s staggering surge after the Olympics, Swoopes dodged recognizing her contributions, instead giving shouts out to Lexie Hull, Kelsey Mitchell, and Aliyah Boston, despite Clark’s star presence on the court.
Yet it appears Swoopes is changing her tune following Fevers brief stay in the play-offs, acknowledging on a podcast episode of Queens of the Court: “I just thought what Caitlin was able to do coming into the league this season… she was just crazy.”
Leave a Reply