Barstool Sports owner Dave Portnoy has called out Caitlin Clark‘s critics after ESPN analyst Monica McNutt’s latest comments.
During Sunday’s All-Star Game coverage, McNutt claimed that Clark should care more about the wider WNBA sisterhood.
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The Indiana Fever guard is the league’s biggest star and is held to a higher standard because of her off-court impact.
As the WNBA continues to grow, many believe she should be more vocal about the issues surrounding women’s basketball.
However, Portnoy believes Clark already shows more support for the league than should be expected of her.
Photo by Geoff Stellfox/Getty Images
Dave Portnoy thinks Caitlin Clark deserves more respect
Dave Portnoy is fed up with people demanding more of Caitlin Clark, given that she has always been a role model for the WNBA.
Clark never gets involved in any controversy about her standing in the game and just promotes the sport as best she can.
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“The Caitlin Clark stuff continues to go off the rails,” Portnoy ranted. “Caitlin Clark hasn’t asked for any of this. Caitlin Clark has never said she’s the face of the league…
“She plays a style of basketball that I hadn’t seen a female play. That’s why I fell in love with her.
“All she has done is elevate the league and the game. She got them the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA). She got them to fly private. She’s argued for player [salary] increases behind closed doors.
“The NBA asked her to do the three-point contest. She said, ‘No, I won’t do that. I’ll do the female version first.’
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“All she has done is advocate for the WNBA. Whenever she’s asked, she says thank you to the players who came before her. She wants to succeed in this league.
“She has basically been treated like dirt… she doesn’t owe anybody anything. She always takes the high road.”
Not everyone needs to be a fan of Clark’s, but she continues to be disrespected by her WNBA peers and the media.
She has had an enormous positive impact on women’s basketball, and this deserves to be celebrated rather than scrutinised.
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