Sheryl Swoopes clapped back at rumors suggesting she purposefully didn’t cover a game between the Indiana Fever and Dallas Wings due to an ongoing feud with Caitlin Clark.
Earlier this month, Swoopes was noticeably not in the broadcast booth during the Fever’s 100-93 win over the Wings. Her absence sent social media into a tailspin, with many WNBA fans speculating that the Dallas analyst wasn’t in attendance because of past negative remarks she made about Clark.
Swoopes has rarely shied away from sharing her opinion of Clark, as the three-time WNBA MVP has cemented herself as one of the 22-year-old’s most vocal critics. Just several days prior to the Fever-Wings game on September 1, she drew the ire of Indiana fans after defending Chicago Sky guard Diamond DeShields, who received a flagrant 1 foul for forcefully dropping Clark to the floor.
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Despite the apparent animosity between the pair, Swoopes asserted that she had no issue with Clark. Addressing her missing appearance at the Fever game, she told Angel Reese on the ‘Unapologetically Angel’ podcast: “That’s not how that happened.
“I’m laughing, Angel, because honestly this is so funny to me, and it’s crazy. They were like, ‘Oh, Sheryl was replaced, they fired her, they kicked her off the game because it’s Caitlin Clark and she can’t do that game.’
“I was contracted to do seven Dallas Wings games, I was never supposed to do that game anyway. But because of everything else, they just figured because I didn’t do that game that they fired me, but really my contract was up.”
Reese could hardly believe that the incident was so blown out of proportion, chiming in, “It’s stupid,” before later adding: “So they made that a thing, that was never a thing.”
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Caitlin Clark has received criticism from Sheryl Swoopes
Later on in the show, Swoopes even gave Clark her due praise when she and Reese began naming who they believed to be the best passers in the WNBA. “I got two-and-a-half,” the Sky Rookie began. “Caitlin, Chelsea [Gray], Natasha [Cloud].”
Swoopes expressed a similar sentiment, chiming in: “I had for sure on my list Caitlin and Chelsea. And Tash because I love Tash.”
In an apparent attempt to bury the hatchet with Clark, Swoopes gave a special shoutout to the Fever guard in a following segment of the podcast. “I’m going to give Caitlin Clark her flowers,” she said.
“Yes, I said that… I’m going to give Caitlin her flowers because I think what she has done coming into this league absolutely has brought more eyes, whether you like them or not. But has brought more eyes, more marketing. Like people just want to watch the game, and they want to talk about it.”
On Wednesday, Clark and the Fever suffered an early exit from the playoffs, falling to the Connecticut Sun, 87-81, at Mohegan Sun Arena. The star rookie did all she could to try and stave off elimination in the win-or-go-home Game 2 of the first round – recording 25 points, nine assists and six rebounds on 10-of-23 shooting from the field – but her impressive showing ultimately wasn’t enough.
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