Sheryl Swoopes Couldn't Be More Misinformed About Caitlin Clark If She Tried
Maybe it's the jealousy of the #22 or maybe it's that Swoopes only played two years at a major college (Texas Tech) and is way down those lists of all time scorers, or sadly it's maybe that she isn't following the women's game like she should be ... but this clip doesn't make her look good at all.
Caitlin Clark is on the verge of breaking the all time college scoring record in women's basketball. At maximum it's about a week away. Now college is in a very weird time and it's very hard to keep track of where players are, and what year they are, and how many years they have left via the transfer rules and the covid years etc but a quick search on the old google machine will show you Clark is in her true senior season.
Another quick research into Kelsey Plum's career shows she played 139 games in her career, while Clark has played just 123 to this point and will pass the record in less time.
Now, I am a fan of Clark like most people and was annoyed to watch someone try to put any doubt on her records, so Swoopes irked me on that. It would have taken a second of research for Swoopes to learn the facts, which Thank God one of the people on the panel finally informed her, about the exact points and games played. For Swoopes to sit there and create a narrative like Clark's record should have any even inkling of a doubt by anyone is a joke. If you are going to be coming after people or trying to sway the public to your side, you better have your facts straight (Shoutout Jim Calhoun). She was CLUELESS. Absolutely clueless. And the more I think about this, the more I think there should be an outrage on Swoopes for the sense that a successful women's basketball player from the past should be trying to build up the current game not tear it down. What I mean by that is why is Swoopes trying to cause a storyline against Clark, or pit Plum and Clark against each other, instead of trying to say 'We have a player who is a magnificent talent about to break a scoring record and everyone should be watching her'? Isn't it Swoopes responsibility as an ambassador of the game to be informed about the current state and help raise the eyeballs on it? I'm baffled as to not only how Swoopes could be so misinformed, and uninterested in doing the right thing for the next generation.
Very weird for Swoopes to be so clueless on the situation, but even crazier for her to decide that her first instinct should be tear someone down instead of calling the situation fair. Rivalries are good in sports when they are organic and real. We want the Lakers to hate the Celtics and The Yankees to hate the Red Sox because it's real. This whole "I played before you so I naturally have to hate everything about you" thing is a reach to me. The minute Lebron does anything, or a current team like The Warriors has success, there's 584939321 clips of people from The Bulls saying they couldn't beat them. Let rivalries be organic.
Final word: Clark is a beast, enjoy the show.