Sheryl Swoopes vs Caitlin Clark: Entire timeline of WNBA's biggest discourse ever

Over the past year, Caitlin Clark has had her fair share of critics. Among those to speak out the most against her is Hall of Fame forward Sheryl Swoopes.

Swoopes first started taking jabs at Clark during her historic run in college at Iowa, and she has continued that through her first season in the WNBA. Despite all the negative outside noise, the rookie phenom continues to impress with her offensive abilities.

Seeing that Swoopes has used her platform on multiple occasions to criticize Caitlin Clark, here is a full breakdown of the one-sided feud.

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Sheryl Swoopes vs Caitlin Clark discourse timeline

#1 Swoopes jabs at Clark after her record is broken

The first time Swoopes spoke out against Caitlin Clark was back in 2023. It was centered around her NCAA tournament scoring record, which the Iowa guard had just broken.

While on a podcast, Swoopes was visibly upset and didn't want to give Clark her flowers. Instead, she pointed out that Clark got to play an extra game during her record-breaking run.

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#2 Swoopes comes at Clark over NCAA all-time scoring record

The second instance came as Caitlin Clark was getting ready to enter the WNBA with the Indiana Fever. Swoopes went on former NBA All-Star Gilbert Arenas' podcast to try and discredit another one of her historic feats.

By the time Clark's run at Iowa was done, she was the NCAA's all-time leading scorer for both men and women. Instead of applauding her for what she did, Swoopes went on the show and tried to make a case against Clark.

"She probably takes about 40 shots a game," Swoopes said. "If you have a 25-year-old playing against a 20-year-old, you should be killing them."

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#3 Swoopes calls Clark a bully for her style of play

During the WNBA season, Swoopes went back on Arenas' podcast and went out of her way to take a dig at Caitlin Clark. Arenas started off the discourse by talking about fellow rookie standout Angel Reese and her allegedly bully-like nature on the court.

Swoopes downplayed this remark and said it was Clark who was the real bully. She called out the Indiana Fever guard for allegedly pushing off defenders to create more space for her jump shot.

"If you want to talk about bullies, we can talk about every time Caitlin has the ball, she pushes off," Swoopes said.

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#4 Swoopes downplays Clark's ROY case

One of the biggest topics in the WNBA this season has been the Rookie of the Year race between Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese. Given her track record, it's not shocking to see that Swoopes feels the Fever guard doesn't belong in the conversation.

While on her Queens of the Court podcast, Swoopes stated that Clark shouldn't be favored for ROY because Indiana is a playoff team without her. However, before Clark's arrival, the Fever finished third from the bottom in the standings and are now a playoff team.

Swoopes also tried to make the argument that the Fever have a better roster than the Chicago Sky.

"When you look at the overall team, like the pieces that they have, without question Indiana has better players than Chicago from top to bottom," Swoopes said.

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#5 Swoopes refuses to credit Clark during Fever's hot streak

Since the WNBA resumed, the Fever has been one of the hottest teams in women's basketball. They've won six of their last seven games, thanks to strong performances from players up and down the roster.

During a later episode of her podcast, Swoopes credited Indiana for their hot streak to close the season. However, she mentioned all of the team's key players besides Caitlin Clark.

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#6 Swoopes refuses to credit Clark for her POW honors

The latest instance where Swoopes refused to credit Caitlin Clark came while she was serving as a color commentator for a Dallas Wings game. During the matchup, a graphic was put up about Clark receiving Player of the Week honors for the Eastern Conference.

Instead of saying anything about the Fever guard, Swoopes opted to stay quiet and let dead air fill the broadcast.