Caitlin Clark Support Gets Shannon Sharpe Backlash for “Losing the Argument”

Caitlin Clark took college basketball by storm but is finding it quite challenging to adapt to the WNBA landscape. The Indiana Fever star has also been surrounded by controversies. Recently, she discovered that she would not be traveling with the women’s team to the Olympics. While it is not surprising for a rookie to be overlooked in favor of senior players, many, including Shannon Sharpe, felt she should have been selected, sparking all sorts of reactions.

Taking to X, formerly known as Twitter, Sharpe stated that Team USA has been dominating the Olympics basketball. However, considering that the league has a new face in Caitlin, whom fans want to see play, in Sharpe’s view, the WNBA and Team USA should be taking advantage of this opportunity.

“They’ve won 7 str8 gold medals and women’s hasn’t been talked about like this until CC showed up,” Sharpe’s tweet read.

The sportscaster, however, has attracted a lot of criticism for his take. The majority argue that Sharpe is missing the point regarding her snub, asserting that she is undeserving and that women’s basketball is already popular at the Olympics, making his stance incorrect.

One fan, in particular, pointed out that both Sharpe and Stephen A. Smith had ample opportunity to discuss and take an interest in women’s basketball, but didn’t do so until Clark emerged. Moreover, a few highlighted that popularity is not the criterion for selection, with one user noting that the criteria for selection in both men’s and women’s games should be based on merit.

Several critics also called Shannon out for giving opinions on a subject he isn’t an expert in, with a few knowledgeable voices stating that Clark isn’t ready. See for yourselves:

Another chimed in and added,

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Others said,

However, the argument that she is a rookie who doesn’t deserve the opportunity to go to the Olympics has no ground if we look at the previous record of rookies being picked for the event.

Sharpe Points Out Massive Flaw in Anti-Caitlin Clark Narrative

Ever since Caitlin entered the WNBA and professional women’s basketball, the narrative has been mostly against her. All the retired and current women’s basketball players have been justifying the treatment meted out to her by others. So it wasn’t surprising that they were also defending the decision to snub her for a place in the Olympic lineup.

The argument being made is that, as a rookie with no experience, she has to earn her spot. Senior players, who have been playing together for a while and made their mark, should be deserving of the spot. However, Shannon Sharpe pointed out a flaw in this narrative. He stated that they always take the first overall pick in the WNBA draft for the Olympics.

It has happened all but once. The same is true for NBA rookies like Magic Johnson, Christian Laettner, etc. In the WNBA, Chamique Holdsclaw, Breanna Stewart, A’ja Wilson, Rebecca Lobo, Diana Taurasi, and Candace Parker have all made the team as rookies.

Clark has been struggling in the WNBA so far. Being snubbed in favor of players who were less deserving than her should be reason enough to rise and show the league why she was 1st overall pick in the draft.