WNBA fans are not happy with sports commentator Cari Champion after she ripped Caitlin Clark on her podcast, calling the Indiana Fever guard arrogant and entitled.
“That type of blatant favoritism annoys the hell out of me,” Cari Champion said on her podcast this week while suggesting that Caitlin Clark gets preferential treatment. “And I don’t know if this is her fault, because I think it might be unfair for me to say that it’s her fault. But at the same time, it’s like, why is she getting this special treatment? And it just is, yet again, another example of the league and its fans, new fans, old fans, her fans, whomever fans, being so precious with her.”
Cari Champion continued to rip Clark for her on-court behavior
“The more we get to catch these glimpses of Caitlin Clark, I’m like, ‘Ooh, ooh, I don’t like you. I don’t like the way you behave on the court,’” Champion continued. “And the league is positioning you to be its superstar because you are, and with leadership comes certain responsibility. And if you don’t want that responsibility, I understand that.
“But the way that you behave, this entitlement that you behave, the way you are talking to your coaches, you and Sophie [Cunningham], you enjoy that, right? So if that’s what you enjoy, if you want to be the villain, if you want to be the tough person, and I’m not even going to compare you to guys in the NBA, if that’s what you two decide to do, if that’s what you specifically, Caitlin, decide to do, then let it be. Because we’re coming at you the same way we could come at anyone else. And her fans need to recognize that. Like, she chooses that behavior.”
Many WNBA fans did not agree with Cari Champion’s hot take
This week, Caitlin Clark became the fastest in WNBA history to reach 500 career assists, doing so in just 59 games. Sue Bird previously held the record at 82 games. Clark also has set records for being the fastest to 500 points, 1,000 points, 250 rebounds, 200 assists, and 250 assists. She also has the record for the most assists in a single game, most points scored or assisted in a single game, most 20 point-10 assist games, and the single-season assist record. And that’s not even the full list of records Caitlin Clark has broken in her first 59 games in the WNBA.
So, many WNBA fans took issue with how Cari Champion portrayed the two-time All-Star.
“I understand this was the only way y’all could get your views up but y’all lose credibility when y’all make dumb statements that point towards you not knowing s— about sports,” one fan wrote in the comments on YouTube. “Kobe had multiple moments that you’re speaking of and so has LeBron. Selective outrage.”
“The more they speak on CC the more they look like a hater,” read another comment. “You didn’t hear Cari say anything about Angel Reese last year when she knocked the clipboard out of her assistant coach hands and yelled. These fools have selective outrage.”
“How is the league favoring Caitlin Clark…?” another fan asked. “Last game she had a tech, flagrant, 5 fouls… There have been women who knocked her down on dead balls and weren’t ejected, LIKE stfu it’s sports she can be fiery…. Clearly, she is just going off of viral clips and narratives on Twitter. LAZYYYYY.”