Grace Smith/IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK
Has Doug Gottlieb always been this insufferable? Or is he just being more exposed now that he is giving interviews and doing press conferences as the head basketball coach at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay in addition to his work as an analyst for Fox Sports?
Because he is consistently doubling down and trying to make himself look smart, even when his hot takes, claims and boasts fail miserably.
Case in point: Last spring, Doug Gottlieb got absolutely torched for claiming Caitlin Clark had a “flaw” in her shooting mechanics she needed to fix in order to succeed in the WNBA.
Clark would go on to average 19.2 points per game while shooting 34.4% from beyond the arc to take home the 2024 WNBA Rookie of the Year award. So it turns out that she did just fine.
Now Doug Gottlieb is somehow trying to take credit for the WNBA success of the all-time scoring leader in college basketball history, Caitlin Clark.
“If you watch Caitlin Clark’s form now, take a snapshot of it,” Gottlieb said on The Dan Patrick Show on Wednesday. “Take a snapshot of last year when she was heading into the WNBA, she’s changed and fixed her shot.”
Reminder: Doug Gottlieb was a 45.7% free throw shooter in college. Caitlin Clark shot 90.6% in her first year with the Indiana Fever.
He then went on about a five-minute explanation of why he is qualified to make such a criticism and why his form in college wasn’t why he was such a terrible shooter.
“Has she thanked you yet?” Dan Patrick finally interrupted.
“No, Gottlieb replied before going on another tangent about how Caitlin Clark’s boyfriend’s dad recruited him to Notre Dame and is like a second father to him, so it’s all good. He even threw in a late jab at another well-accomplished basketball player, LeBron James, calling him “insecure,” just for good measure.