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Indiana Fever’s Caitlin Clark has brought significant attention to the WNBA since being drafted. The former Iowa Hawkeyes star entered the league with high expectations due to her collegiate achievements. Gilbert Arenas, known for his bizarre takes, shared his opinion on the rookie sharpshooter.
Clark made a strong debut in the league, but she faced unwarranted criticism from some of her peers and analysts.
The vitriol towards Caitlin Clark has become more evident with each game. It escalated significantly on Saturday when Chicago Sky’s Chennedy Carter took a cheap shot at Clark, sending her to the ground. Adding to the drama, Carter's teammate Angel Reese, who has a past rivalry with Clark from college, cheered on the play from the bench.
Angry at Caitlin Clark
“Here’s the problem, I don’t know who it was, a reporter who said the narrative that the people on the WNBA don’t like her[Clark],” Arenas said. “I think they think our eyes don’t work. We can see how you’re talking about her, and the angry tone lets us know that you’re angry about it.”
During Monday's episode of ESPN's “First Take,” Monica McNutt also engaged in a heated debate with Stephen A. Smith, respectfully calling him out for not giving the WNBA the same level of attention over the years as he has this season.
McNutt countered Smith's claim of “First Take” discussing the WNBA the most by reminding him that he could have covered the league with the same intensity about three years ago.
Gilbert Arenas: People shouldn’t be mad at Caitlin Clark
“We played, we understand when someone gets too much power, too much money, they get handed all of these things without earning it, it pisses people off naturally,” Arenas shared, while also mentioning LeBron James and Victor Wembanyama as examples.
“We see it, we understand. You can’t fool us. We know that deep down she [Clark] is getting things she didn’t earn. You can’t be mad at her,” Arenas added. “It’s nothing she did, she just went out there, did what she did in college. People gravitated to the style that she has. It’s her style that people fell in love with.
“We’re not saying you bow down to her but the fact that you gotta take cheap shots, you can’t just play defense and stop her the way you want, the fact that you gotta do things out of your character and if this is not your character then you aren’t angry about the situation. That’s the difference.”
This year, the WNBA has received significantly more attention compared to previous seasons. The inclusion of Caitlin Clark and other rookies like Angel Reese and Cameron Brink has captured the interest of many fans, leading to increased viewership and engagement with the competition.
Gilbert Arenas’ worst take this year
Gilbert Arenas has been known for hot takes, and his comments on Caitlin Clark isn't actually the most head-turning one he made in recent days. The former All-Star also recently downplayed Stephen Curry’ and Nikola Jokic’s talents, saying “Jokic is not a generational talent, he's just a great basketball player. Curry was a great basketball player…generational is something that happens once every 20 years.”
Interestingly, Arenas places more importance on physical traits than statistical production when determining if a player is “generational.”
He emphasized physical traits “Somebody like Giannis (Antetokounmpo) is tweaking.” Arenas also added that to be considered a generational talent, one must be “a freak of nature.”
