The WNBA is restarting following an exciting All-Star break, and teams are gearing up for Sunday’s trade deadline and the home stretch of the campaign. A lot of the coverage this year, predictably, has centered on Caitlin Clark Indiana Fever.
Unfortunately, the conversation surrounding Clark and Indiana hasn’t always been about basketball, something the former Rookie of the Year admitted to ESPN’s Malika Andrews can be “emotionally exhausting” for her.
After Clark’s honesty, Monica McNutt, another ESPN employee, said that although she understands how everything can weigh on Clark emotionally, she’d like to see more accountability from the Fever star.
“This is what I will say. Caitlin Clark is 24,” McNutt said. “She is a shining star in the galaxy of the WNBA. But I do think as she continues to matriculate through this league, there’s room for a little bit more accountability and self-awareness in terms of her role in the larger sisterhood, if she sees it that way, in the WNBA.”
“Women are just so powerful.”
McNutt received heavy criticism on social media from Clark’s supporters, with some even calling for ESPN to fire her amid last week’s layoffs at the Worldwide Leader. However, there’s one WNBA star who is letting McNutt know she’s loved what she’s seen from her.
“I think oftentimes women, they try to put us in a box, what we have to do and what spaces we can be in, what we can’t be in. I think you’re an example of it, being one of the focal points on ESPN all the time,” Atlanta Dream all-star Angel Reese told McNutt. “Like, you da girl. I be saying like, ‘OK, there it is, a Black queen right there.”
“But I just think it’s important just to have a voice. Be in these spaces and be confident. Um, when you walk into the room, have your shoulders back and know that you that girl. I think that embodies what a Barbie is: being able to put on so many different hats, change different clothes, and just knowing that we can do so many things. Women are just so powerful. We run the world. I love women. Women running the sport”
Reese was dominant in a comeback win over the Dallas Wings on Wednesday night, scoring 22 points and grabbing 12 rebounds. She’s clearly right about running the sport, and along with McNutt, will continue to inspire the next generation of young black girls.
