Coverage of the WNBA has continued to amplify over the last several months as the league has welcomed in a new rookie class and continuing overall momentum for women’s basketball. Early-season viewership of the WNBA has established new ratings records across six different broadcast networks and the end of a 16-year streak in which no game had averaged more than 1 million viewers. This season alone, three contests have reached such a figure, all of which have included former Iowa guard and No. 1 WNBA Draft selection Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever.
During a recent Fever game, Chicago Sky guard Chennedy Carter committed an off-ball foul on Clark that sent the rookie to the ground. One day after the game, the league upgraded the call to a Flagrant 1, which is deemed as “unnecessary and/or excessive content committed by a player against an opponent.” The situation was a subject of conversation on Monday’s edition of First Take on ESPN.
Commentators Stephen A. Smith, Shannon Sharpe and Monica McNutt gave their perspectives on the WNBA during the show on Monday morning. Show host Molly Qerim guided the discussion that spanned several different aspects of the situation. The conversation, however, evoked contentious sentiments towards the end when Smith lamented the means in which he feels they are discussing the game.
“We’re talking about them, maximizing their great potential, and because we bring that up and talk about what potentially might get in their way, which we do to men all the time, now we got to sit up here and watch every syllable,” Smith said. “I resent that, and I’ll leave it at that.”
Upon delivering his opinion, Qerim could be seen shaking her head in disapproval as McNutt acknowledged that she knew the show had to go to break. Even so, she took the time to contend the assertion Smith had raised head on. McNutt’s response has received praise across social media throughout Monday.
“Welcome to the world of being a woman, Stephen A., and how you have to dance about your word choice and you have to please anybody and everybody as you navigate your being,” McNutt said. “We are talking about the world’s greatest athletes.”
Smith interjected by asking McNutt about being a Black man, to which she replied that the show did not go there but perhaps should. Recognizing that there are many layers to the conversation, she anticipated that Sharpe would say that they know, and Smith would mention how he has talked about the WNBA on his program as well.
“You guys may not have said everybody, but the prevailing sentiment for folks that are just joining the WNBA and following women’s sports is unfair to the women of this league, to your point, who have laid the groundwork for Caitlin Clark to come in and now take it to the next level,” McNutt said. “That’s all I’m saying in these conversations.”
McNutt continued by explaining that Carter’s behavior is not an accurate portrayal of how the rest of the league feels about Clark. Earlier in the segment, Smith claimed that there was jealousy around the sport towards Clark. Yet the element of competition and physicality within the sport, McNutt argued, are points wherein Clark cannot be treated any differently just because she is a rookie. After completing her discourse, Smith asked McNutt who has talked about the WNBA and women’s sports more than First Take, ostensibly emitting frustration surrounding the discussion.
“Stephen A., respectfully, with your platform, you could have been doing this three years ago if you wanted to,” McNutt replied. The entire cast of the show was silent for several seconds before Smith replied with a purported sense of shock, seemingly taking umbrage to what had been expressed. He then questioned McNutt again about who does more than First Take, to which she answered that she was addressing Smith specifically pertaining to the power that he possesses in the business.
“You my girl, but you’ve missed a lot of episodes of First Take,” Smith said. “You’ve missed a lot. I’ll leave it at that.”
“Stephen A., three years ago you were not talking about the W at this level,” McNutt said. “Don’t do that, come on now.”
Sharpe joined the discussion by stating that nobody was discussing the league to the extent that it is now and that she was making Smith’s point. As the discussion was continuing on, Qerim recognized the need to get to a commercial break and started imploring the commentators to allow her to do her job.
“We’ve gone for 40 minutes straight,” Qerim said. “It was a riveting discussion. I have to get in a commercial break.”
