The basketball community was shocked to learn that Caitlin Clark won’t participate in the WNBA’s All-Star Three-Point Contest and the Skills Challenge. When Colin Cowherd learned about this news, he was infuriated. Despite being in the top five in three-point makes, her name was not included in the list. Cowherd lashed out at the WNBA for missing out on an opportunity to bring millions of eyeballs to what could have been their marquee event. However, he had misjudged a huge detail.
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On his The Herd podcast, the 60-year-old was discussing the Rookie of the Year race between Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark. Then he segued into Clark’s WNBA record 19-assist performance against the Dallas Wings. He argued that this performance proves that the Golden Goose may have become the best playmaker in the world while also being the second-best three-point shooter.
Despite such a skillset, he was shocked that the 22-year-old wasn’t selected for the USA Women’s Basketball Team for the upcoming Paris Olympics. Then he was flabbergasted not finding Clark either in the WNBA All-Star Skills Competition or the Three-Point Contest. Thus, he accused the league of shooting themselves in the foot by not promoting their marquee athlete. He argued,
“So, is it the perfect place to put her in the Skills Competition where she is one of the best three-point shooters and she is a highly skilled player?… Pettiness, gatekeeping, insular, dumb? If you’re not gonna put her in the Olympics, where you are 0 for 1. Now, you are not putting her in the skills competition, she quadruped the ratings, nobody is gonna watch that Skills competition…”
Caitlin Clark sets WNBA record with 19 assists:
"She's paying for everything and you want her to pay her dues. It's really ridiculous." — @ColinCowherd pic.twitter.com/eHW6qqoybW
— Herd w/Colin Cowherd (@TheHerd) July 18, 2024
Cowherd recalled how the NBA made the best out of the Magic Johnson-Larry Bird rivalry. As per him, the league didn’t feel uncomfortable making them the center of attraction to boost their reach, which paved the way for both increased revenue and unprecedented ratings.
He lamented that the WNBA is failing to maximize Clark’s popularity in a similar fashion. Then he pointed out that the NBA also prompted a rookie Michael Jordan to participate in the Slam Dunk Contest. Then why couldn’t the WNBA get Clark to participate in its All-Star events?
Turns out that Cowherd missed out on an important part of the process. It wasn’t the WNBA who omitted Clark from the Three-Point Contest and the Skills competition. Clark herself refused to participate in these events.
AP National women’s writer Doug Feinberg reported that apart from Clark, reigning WNBA All-Star Three-Point champ Sabrina Ionescu also withdrew from the competitions. Thus, in this case, Colin’s outburst was largely unjustified.
However, it is unclear why she didn’t want to participate in an event where she could have a big chance to emerge on top. Does she want to relax after months of ceaseless narratives around her? After all, her Indiana Fever run had the toughest WNBA schedule. She played 70 straight games if we include her NCAA Final run. Maybe, she needs a break.
