Sheryl Swoopes Calls Stephen A. Smith A ‘Coward’ After He Blasted Her For Comments Involving Caitlin Clark
Sheryl Swoopes is clapping back at Stephen A. Smith after the longtime ESPN host called her "insane" for her recent comments involving Caitlin Clark.
On Friday's installment of The Stephen A. Smith Show, Smith called out Swoopes and other members of the media for sipping "haterade" when it comes to Clark. He specifically referenced a recent episode of Swoopes' podcast, Queens of the Court, during which she discussed the red-hot Indiana Fever's rise in league standings. The WNBA legend credited several Fever players by name — but she failed to mention anything about their rookie phenom.
"No Caitlin Clark?" Smith said. "Respectfully, Sheryl Swoopes, do you have any idea how that makes you look? You have any idea how that serves to stain any kind of critique of Caitlin Clark, because that gives fodder to those who believe she's being hated on and ostracized to some degree? Do you realize that, Sheryl Swoopes, you're insane to do that?"
Swoopes took issue with Smith's tirade, so she fired back on Twitter / X on Friday afternoon.
"You talk about whomever and whatever you want to on your podcast. Correct? So why can’t I?" she wrote. "Also, did you listen to the ENTIRE episode? NOPE! I have a personal relationship with these players and they deserve recognition as well."
Stephen A. Smith accused Sheryl Swoopes of purposely ignoring Caitlin Clark in her "soliloquy" about the Indiana Fever.
(USA TODAY Sports)
But the four-time WNBA champ didn't stop there.
"Do you talk about them (or others in the league) and give them their props?" she wrote in a follow-up post. "I hope y’all take all of this energy to the polls and vote!"
She then accused Smith of not caring about the WNBA until Clark came along, posting "@stephenasmith BTW…you new to this, I’m true to this!"
And to conclude her social media rant, Swoopes added: "Not sure what he thought he was doing? … I’m ready to go on his show!! Coward."
Of course, she's not wrong to give credit to Clark's teammates for Indiana's success as well. But Swoopes' previous coverage of Clark, though, doesn't help her case. Back in February, she undercut Clark's accomplishments by sharing a series of lies and inaccuracies — falsely presenting how many years the former Iowa star played collegiate basketball, her age, the age of her opponents and how many times she shoots per game.
So it's not exactly preposterous that Smith would think Swoopes purposely omitted Clark from her comments about the Fever.
But hey, maybe he'll take her up on her offer to appear on the show. Then they can hash this out in person.