As the WNBA’s All-Star Weekend wrapped up, ESPN analyst Monica McNutt took a stand on Caitlin Clark and media criticisms of her.
Clark recently did an interview with ESPN’s Malika Andrews where she opened up on media narratives surrounding her exchanges with other players, referencing her encounter with Alyssa Thomas last month where Thomas hit Clark in the throat during a game.
“It gets frustrating,” Clark said in the interview, published Sunday. “When I walk out of the locker room, I shouldn’t be fearful of what the conversation is going to be. But it’s emotionally exhausting. It’s draining.”
McNutt was critical of Clark’s word choice.
“I thought the choice, the word of being ‘fearful’ of the conversation … is interesting. Because oftentimes, it seems …it’s the folks that are accused [of] doing something outside of the parameters of competition that are actually the ones that are fearful, when you look at their social medias,” McNutt said.
McNutt continued: “This is what I will say: Caitlin Clark is 24; she’s 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.”
Clark fans slammed McNutt online, with some even calling her the “female Ryan Clark,” referencing the often controversial ex-ESPN broadcaster who was laid off by the network last week.
Many also said McNutt should have been included in the ESPN layoffs, which affected over 100 employees.
Clark has long been a topic of discussion around the league, and not for purely basketball reasons.
The conversations have gone so far that Congress has gotten involved, as 11 Republican House lawmakers wrote WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert a letter demanding accountability from the league for physical play targeting the Indiana Fever star.
