Caitlin Clark comments cause beef with Sheryl Swoopes, Nancy Lieberman

Caitlin Clark has generated plenty of conversations this year. Still, one that is grabbing plenty of people’s attention is what WNBA great Sheryl Swoopes has said about the Indiana Fever star.

Swoopes has spoken about Clark on several occasions, even being deemed a Caitlin Clark hater by some fans. Nancy Lieberman, a former professional basketball player who coached in the WNBA and NBA, was on the “Stephen A. Smith Show” to discuss Swoopes and Clark.

Here’s what you need to know:

Who is Sheryl Swoopes?

Sheryl Swoopes is a four-time WNBA Champion and three-time MVP, who played for the Houston Comets, Seattle Storm and Tulsa Shock. The 2016 Naismith Hall of Fame inductee was also a six-time WNBA All-Star and three-time WNBA Defensive Player of the Year. She averaged 15.0 points, 4.9 rebounds and 3.2 assists over 12 seasons.

Swoopes has also worked for ESPN, SEC Network and the Longhorn Network as a color analyst and play-by-play announcer.

Swoopes previously made negative comments about Caitlin Clark on a podcast with Gilbert Arenas prior to the WNBA season. Here’s a look at the comments that Swoopes ended up apologizing for due to some inaccuracies:

• “Caitlin Clark right now probably takes about 40 shots a game (and) when she comes to the league, regardless of what team she goes to that has vets on that team, she probably ain’t gonna get 40 shots a game.”
• “Kelsey Plum set that record in four years. Well, Caitlin should’ve broke that record in four years. But because there’s a COVID year, and then there’s another year, and — you know what I mean? She’s already had an extra year to break that record. So, is it truly a broken record? I don’t know. I don’t think so. But yeah, that’ll go in the record books … and I don’t think it should.”

The inaccuracies? Clark was shooting nowhere near 40 shots per game (she averaged 20.1 attempts a game for her Iowa career), and she only played college basketball for four years. The same number as Plum.

More Fever news:With Caitlin Clark and Kelsey Mitchell, opposing teams have to pick their poison

What did Sheryl Swoopes say about Caitlin Clark?

Sheryl Swoopes was on the “Queens of the Court” podcast with Jordan Robinson in July and claimed Caitlin Clark wasn’t as deserving of the WNBA Rookie of the Year Award as Chicago Sky’s Angel Reese but went on to add Indiana would still be a playoff team without Clark. Here’s what Swoopes said:

• “I think Caitlin (Clark) has done, I think, exactly what was expected of her with Indiana. The reason why they drafted her. What the expectations were, and I think she’s done just that.”
• “Is Indiana in the playoffs right now, without Caitlin? … When you look at the overall team, like the pieces that they have, without question, Indiana has better players than Chicago from top to bottom. No doubt about it.”

What did Nancy Lieberman say about Caitlin Clark and Sheryl Swoopes?

While speaking to Stephen A. Smith, Lieberman said she called Sheryl Swoopes to talk to her about the situation with Caitlin Clark.

“Facts matter,” Lieberman said. “If you did get ahead of this and said, ‘Hey, I made a mistake on my numbers,” then this thing is over and everybody respects you for your opinion. … Well she got upset at me on the phone.”

Lieberman said her relationship with Swoopes “pretty much is not happening at this point.”

“My life is going to be good with or without Sheryl Swoopes,” Lieberman said.

Swoopes responded on social media saying, “my life is good without you too (and him).”

Caitlin Clark WNBA stats with Indiana Fever

Caitlin Clark is averaging 18.7 points, 8.4 assists, 5.6 rebounds, 34.1% from the 3-point line and 89.7% from the free throw line.