Anti-Caitlin Clark ESPN Pundit Moves Rookie Of The Year Goalpost To Favor Angel Reese

Last month, we told you about an increasingly long list of women riding their disdain for Caitlin Clark to relevancy. ESPN host Monica McNutt is one of those women.

She first criticized Stephen A. Smith on "First Take" for paying too much attention to Caitlin Clark as opposed to lesser-known players. "Stephen A., respectfully, with your platform, you could’ve been [talking about the WNBA] three years ago if you wanted to."

McNutt's criticism of the media's interest in Clark landed her on "The Daily Show" with Jon Stewart, where she dishonestly claimed there is no truth in the narrative that black women in the WNBA have an out of Clark.

"My larger point in the conversation was the tenor and the prevailing narrative that has been created around this season's WNBA play is that it's the league vs Caitlin Clark — and that's just absolutely false," McNutt told Stewart.

She did not address players like Chennedy Carter or Angel Reese purposely flagrantly fouling Clark on the court, or DiJonai Carrington and A'ja Wilson belittling Clark's success as a product of "white privilege."

OutKick asked McNutt over the phone why she disregarded the above examples, to which she hung up immediately. She didn't want to comment on her grift. 

In fact, she's still grifting nearly a month later. 

On "Get Up" Friday, McNutt weighed in on the WNBA Rookie of the Year race. Obviously, she sided with Angel Reese over Clark. But it was her faulty reasoning that drew a reaction. 

According to McNutt, voters must consider team records when deciding on the award. "My rookie of the year is going to go based on the standings," said McNutt. "And the Sky right now are in the playoffs. So, you'd have to give the nod in my mind to Angel Reese."

First, Reese's Sky have fewer wins this season (seven) than Clark's Fever (eight.) The difference is that the Fever have played 21 games, with a .381 percentage, while the Sky have played 19 games, with a .389 win percentage.

The Angel Reese wins more games argument is weak. A) it might not hold by the end of Friday. B) Clark has won more games.

Second, team records are rarely a deciding factor in Rookie of the Year honors. 

Clark's teammate Aliyah Boston won the award last season, despite the Fever having the third-worst record in the league. Yet McNutt had no problem with Boston winning.

In the NBA, Victor Wembanyama just won Rookie of the Year despite the Spurs finishing in the bottom five of the league. By McNutt's calculation, she should have argued in favor of Thunder forward Chet Holmgren over Wembanyama. She didn't.

The Sky also loaded up with two top-seven picks in the first round, drafting Kamilla Cardoso third and Reese seventh. Reese is in a better situation than Clark – who, to this point, has been the better player.

The oddsmakers agree. At DraftKings, Clark is -550 to win the award. Reese is second at +350.

Unfortunately, for Clark, none of McNutt's ESPN colleagues have shown the backbone to challenge her factually-challenged Clark criticism. Nearly every ESPN pundit commenting on the WNBA is black and wouldn't dare upset Black Twitter by defending Clark over Reese.

There wasn't room for one white woman on that crowded desk, huh?

While not impossible for Reece to catch Clark – OutKick betting guru Geoff Clark explained how – the former will likely need some added media pressure to win the award. Which we don't rule out.

In 2023, Joel Embiid won the NBA MVP award over more deserving Nikola Jokic after Kendrick Perkins challenged voters to prove they were not racist. Do not be surprised if a similar racial narrative is shaped around the Clark-Reese Rookie of the Year race. McNutt might even be the one to levy the challenge. 

She is already trying to move the goalpost, by citing team winning percentage, to influence the race in disfavor of Clark. She understands that perpetually undermining Clark is best for her brand. 

Hating on Clark is good business. Without doing so, hardly anyone outside niche women's basketball circles would've heard of McNutt, Reese, Carter, Carrington, Elle Duncan, or Chiney Ogwumike. 

So it continues.