Caitlin Clark recently broke the WNBA rookie assist record against the Seattle Storm, but it also came with some controversy. Indiana Fever head coach Christie Sides and Storm head coach Noelle Quinn exchanged words on the sideline after Sides decided to keep her starters on the floor as the game was clearly already decided.
To add to the tension, Skylar Diggins-Smith bumped into Clark as she was heading to the bench. Though it may have been an accident, from the looks of it, it may have been intentional. Shannon Sharpe, who has defended Clark several times on ESPN, continued his support of the Fever guard on his Nightcap podcast with Chad Ochocinco.
“If I’m Caitlin Clark, I would’ve told Skylar Diggins, ‘Get your coat, your brim, and get on out of our gym. Get your coat, your hat and leave'…Y’all stop this foolishness,” Sharpe said. “Y’all see the woman speed up. Y’all see her — Caitlin Clark is getting the crowd going. Y’all see Skylar Diggins speed up to make contact with her. Stop this.
“Y’all mad because that cornfed Iowa girl busting y’all a–. Y’all said, ‘She’s too weak. She can’t do this.' She leads the WNBA in assists. She’s cooking — let her cook. Let her cook. Let that girl cook. She’s like a double-edged sword, Ocho, she cuttin’ a– left and right…Cut ’em up.”
As Clark has gotten more comfortable in her rookie season, her playmaking skills have been at a new level, and her scoring numbers have risen as well.
Caitlin Clark is leading the Fever with her strong play
Over the past few games, Caitlin Clark has been putting on a show and leading the Indiana Fever while doing so. Clark has scored at least 20 points in five of her last six games and is averaging 11.7 assists in that span. She currently has 232 assists this season, breaking the rookie record of Ticha Penicherio in 1998.
Clark is undoubtedly neck-and-neck with Angel Reese to win the WNBA Rookie of the Year, and it will come down to who has the better stretch down the second half of the season. As of now, whoever said Clark was all hype coming out into the league was lying, and Shannon Sharpe is calling those people out.
“It ain’t hype. Y’all keep talking s–t about the ‘Great White hype,' Ocho. Y’all said the same thing about Larry Bird. I remember, I’m old enough to remember,” Sharpe said. “They said the same thing about Larry Bird. Ain’t nothing hype. Ain’t nothing hype about Luka [Dončić]. Ain’t nothing hype about [Nikola] Jokić. I get it; we’re not used to seeing [this]… she’s saucy with that thing. Watching her in person twice — I’ve seen her against the [Las Vegas] Aces and I saw her at the All-Star Game — she is elite. She is the pinnacle at passing the basketball.”
Clark is indeed good at what she does, and it's gotten her team in the position to earn a playoff spot at the end of the season.
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