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Superstar WNBA rookie Caitlin Clark seems to have found another hater in the form of three-time league MVP Sheryl Swoopes.
But the evidence suggests that Clark might already be outperforming the Basketball Hall of Fame Member.
Swoopes took a shot at Clark’s fans recently after they criticized her for omitting Clark when discussing the Indiana Fever’s recent turnaround.
“FYI, I was never supposed to do the game. Also, I do not hate Caitlin. It’s a lot of her fans that are just flat-out mean and evil,” she tweeted.
Swoopes is also locked in a feud with Stephen A. Smith and fellow women’s basketball legend Nancy Lieberman over her Clark comments.
“I called [Sheryl Swoopes] as a friend and I said “you can have your own opinion about anybody but you do have to get the stats right,” Lieberman said recently. “She got upset with me… and so our relationship is pretty much not happening at this point.”
Though it appears that Swoopes and Clark are on good terms personally.
Now Clark’s fans are, to an extent, proving Swoopes right.
Sheryl Swoopes' MVP season vs Caitlin Clark's rookie year 🤷♂️ pic.twitter.com/aymzRbhTXc
— IUwonka (@HoosierFever) September 2, 2024
Caitlin Clark’s Rookie Numbers Blow Sheryl Swoopes 2002 WNBA MVP Year Away
Twitter user @HoosierFever, who describes themselves as a “Caitlin Clark junkie” posted a stat comparison of Clark’s rookie year to Swoopes’ WNBA MVP season in 2002.
And the results were more than a little surprising. Swoopes narrowly outscored Clark, 18.5 points per game to 18.4 But Clark averaged more assists and rebounds per game while scoring more efficiently as well.
Of course, it’s very important to note how different the WNBA was in 2002 compared to 2024. The pace of the game is much higher, leading to more possessions and thus, more opportunities to rack up counting stats. But Clark’s efficiency after a rough star is impressive. And the competition level is undeniably higher as a whole.
Players like Swoopes laid the groundwork for Clark and company. But it’s clear that Clark and her cohorts have taken the game to an entirely different level.