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Recent comments made by Women's Basketball Hall of Famer Sheryl Swoopes about Iowa star Caitlin Clark have drawn scrutiny from basketball fans.
On former NBA All-Star Gilbert Arenas' show, "Gils Arena," Swoopes discussed the future of LSU's Angel Reese and Iowa's Caitlin Clark, along with the latter becoming the all-time leading scorer in NCAA women's basketball.
What Sheryl Swoopes said about emerging stars Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese
Sheryl Swoopes shared her thoughts on how Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark's game would translate from college to the WNBA.
The four-time WNBA champion cast doubt on both players' abilities to dominate from the start of their professional careers. She said about Reese:
"I think Angel will eventually be a good pro. I don't think Angel will come into the league immediately and dominate the way people think she will."
She added about Clark:
"Will Caitlin Clark be a good pro? Absolutely. Will Caitlin Clark come into the WNBA and do what she's doing right now? Immediately, absolutely not. Not gonna happen."
Swoopes also belittled Caitlin Clark breaking Kelsey Plum's NCAA women's basketball scoring record:
"If Kelsey Plum set that record in fours, well, Caitlin should've broke that record in four years.
"But because there's a COVID year, and there's another year, you know what I mean? So she's already had an extra year to break that record. So, is it truly a broken record? I don't know."
The largest flaw in Swoopes' take is that Clark has not taken her fifth year of eligibility yet, as she's still in her fourth season.
Sheryl Swoopes responds to backlash on comments about Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark
After fans were left upset by Sheryl Swoopes' comments, she responded on Instagram defending her opinion.
On the Baylor-Texas Tech broadcast on Sunday, she said about her relationship with Reese:
"A couple of weeks ago, I reached out to Angel and had a really good conversation with Angel over the phone and sent a message to Caitlin. She responded. She and I went back and forth.
"I won't share what she said, I'll leave that to her if she wants to share. But I will say, what I said to her was 'I made a mistake in saying it was your fifth year when it is your fourth.'
She added about Clark:
"I have nothing but respect for what she has done for the game. If she wants to share what her response was and how that conversation went, I'll leave that to her. But it was a really good conversation."
Caitlin Clark has yet to share what was said in their conversation.
Also Read: Is Caitlin Clark staying at Iowa in 2024? Analyzing the various alternatives for Iowa Star
