There are hot takes that people really believe. There are also hot takes meant to spark discourse on a topic. Then there is Tyrone Johnson of The Craig Carton Show claiming the hype surrounding Caitlin Clark is no different than “Linsanity.”
“The Caitlin Clark thing is over,” Johnson said on the show this week, “because she’s not the best player in the WNBA. She’s not the best guard in the WNBA. She’s not even the best guard from her college class ‘be’cause that’s Paige Bueckers, who plays for Dallas, who beat them in the season opener.
“This could be a situation where this could all, we look back on Caitlin Clark, and we’re not gonna look back on her like she’s Michael Jordan. She’s Jeremy Lin. This is just Linsanity.”
What the heck is ‘Linsanity’?
For those fans under a certain age, Jeremy Lin wasn’t selected in the 2010 NBA Draft. He received one offer to play in the Summer League, from the Dallas Mavericks.
Based on that performance, he signed a contract with the Golden State Warriors. He played in 29 games his rookie season and averaged 2.6 points per game.
On the first day of training camp in 2011, he was waived by the Warriors. He was claimed off waivers by the Houston Rockets, who then waived him 12 days later without him ever playing in a regular season game for them.
The New York Knicks then picked up Jeremy Lin, but after a few games, he was sent to the Erie BayHawks of the D-League. After he was recalled, Lin went on a surprising tear. In his 12 starts before the All-Star break, Lin averaged 22.5 points and 8.7 assists per game, and New York had a 9–3 record.
He would go on to play for the Rockets, Clippers, Lakers, Hornets, Nets, Hawks, and Raptors. Over nine seasons, he averaged 11.6 points, 4.3 assists, and 1.1 steals.
Tyrone Johnson wasn’t done
On the flip side of Tyrone Johnson’s argument is Caitlin Clark. Her resume is well-known by just about everyone who enjoys sports.
“She’s gonna fumble this,” Johnson continued in his rant. “And it’s because of two things, who would’ve thought. She decided to roll up with Morgan Wallen. Morgan Wallen says the N-word liberally. Says it more than I do, and I’m black! And her b——- and moaning to the refs non-stop.
“But when we look back on this, we’ll go this girl had the world by the balls. She had everybody loving her. People who hate women’s sports were tuning in just for her.
“And when we look at Jeremy Lin and look at her, we’re gonna find out that at the end of the day it was the exact same thing.”
For the record, Caitlin Clark, through the first two games of the WNBA season, is averaging 22 points, 8 assists, and 4.5 rebounds. Paige Bueckers is averaging 17.5 points, 3.5 assists, and 2.5 rebounds. Small sample size to be sure, but still an interesting comparison.
Tyrone Johnson’s Caitlin Clark take did not go over well
Needless to say, many, many fans took issue with Tyrone Johnson’s hot take (which was probably the whole point of him making it in the first place).
“This is the dumbest f—— thing I’ve ever seen,” one fan commented on X.
“No way. Can’t watch you guys anymore. Ridiculous take. Unfortunate,” read another comment.
“This idiot knows so much about the WNBA he thinks Paige and CC were in the same draft class, LMAO,” another fan wrote.
“Do you have a problem with Mahomes walking out w/Wallen a couple weeks ago?” asked another fan.
“Imagine being so devoid of any self respect that you’d say something this stupid just go get media attention and clicks,” someone else wrote.