Sheryl Swoopes was a three-time WNBA MVP and is part of the top 25 all-time team. There are few who can match her resume. In her postretirement years, which have coincided with sharp growth in popularity of women’s basketball, Swoopes has shifted to a media career in which she provides insight and analysis of the game for various media outlets. Her analysis has — of course — included covering the biggest sensation in women’s basketball history, Caitlin Clark.
The first time Swoopes’ analysis of Clark came into the crosshairs was during the 2023 NCAA Tournament when Clark broke Swoopes’ NCAA Tournament scoring record. Asked about the mark on a Women’s Sports Network podcast, Swoopes pointed out that Clark had broken the record in more games — six, rather than the five Swoopes played due to a since-discontinued first-round bye — but also paid respect, adding that “anybody who can put up back-to-back 40 point games, like that’s a baller.”
Things escalated after she appeared on Gilbert Arenas’ Underdog Fantasy podcast and claimed that Clark was in college for five years and took 40 shots a game, insinuating that she had more time to accomplish her record-breaking achievements, such as breaking Pete Maravich’s NCAA scoring record. She would go on to privately apologize to Clark in an X/Twitter DM, which she made public in recent days: “COVID year has me all confused … I also have nothing but respect for you and your game and appreciate your skill. Congrats on everything you have accomplished thus far. Be blessed.” Clark responded to the DM acknowledging Swoopes’ contributions to the game saying “I appreciate all that you’ve done for women’s basketball and for inspiring girls like me.”
Unfortunately for Swoopes, since those two sound bites have gone viral, any subsequent comments about Clark and the Indiana Fever have been perceived as shade or a genuine dislike of Clark. When discussing the Fever’s chances of making the playoffs on her Audacy podcast “Queens of the Court,” some on social media noticed that she didn’t give Clark any credit for the team’s surge after the Olympics break. She has denied that this was an intentional slight and said that she “loves (Clark’s) game” but it hasn’t stopped the speculation from continuing to escalate.
During one of Swoopes’ Dallas Wings assignments this season, play-by-play voice Ron Thulin mentioned that Clark was the winner of an Eastern Conference player of the week award. Swoopes didn’t acknowledge the award and continued to call the game she was witnessing on the court. There’s an argument to be made that these two incidents are totally innocuous. It is possible to analyze the success of a sports team by acknowledging the castmates that surround the star. It is also possible when you’re calling a live game to not react to everything a play-by-play announcer is saying to avoid ruining the flow of the game for viewers and to avoid missing key plays of the action on the court. There’s also no indication in her tone in both incidents that she is purposely dissing Clark.
Nevertheless, some fans have been irate on social media. Swoopes hasn’t helped matters either, as she has decided to respond on her social media feeds to insinuations that she has a problem with Clark. After Swoopes missed last week’s Fever-Wings game, which was called instead by longtime ESPN analyst Nancy Lieberman, there was considerable speculation that she was left off of the telecast — or asked off of it — due to antipathy toward Clark. Stephen A. Smith speculated as much on his podcast this week, which featured Lieberman as a guest. During the episode, Lieberman revealed that she is no longer on speaking terms with Swoopes after a conversation regarding the aforementioned Arenas podcast comments about Clark.
Clark has not publicly reacted to the Swoopes controversy, making this a one-sided feud, if even that. The situation lays bare a truism in sports television: viewers want ex-players to share their experiences and have some edge, but if the ex-player’s analysis becomes too persistent — or is perceived as such — accusations of bias quickly follow. It is a theme seen often in the history of sports television.
Bill Walton vs. Shaq
Shaquille O’Neal has always taken issue with his critics, whether during his playing career or thereafter. After bursting onto the scene in 1993, O’Neal still had no championship rings by the year 2000 and was starting to gain a reputation for postseason failure (having been swept five times in six years). On the cusp of what would have been the worst failure yet – a blown 3-1 lead against the Portland Trail Blazers in the 2000 Western Conference Finals — NBC analyst Bill Walton was not shy about putting the responsibility on the 28-year-old center’s shoulders in the lead-up to Game 7. “How does the MVP allow himself to be denied an aging, injury-hobbled (Arvydas) Sabonis? Where’s the youthful athleticism for Shaq? Where are the transition baskets and the lobs?” Walton went on to say that O’Neal had a history of not getting things done when things matter. The feud continued for years, and O’Neal took regular pot shots at Walton well into retirement. Since Walton’s death this year, O’Neal has admitted that he was sensitive and that Walton was giving him “the big man rights of passage.”
Shaq vs. Javale McGee
For as much as O’Neal chafed at criticism by Walton, he has not been shy about dishing it out during his own media career. For years, O’Neal’s popular TNT segment “Shaqtin’ A Fool” focused inordinately on mistakes made by Javale McGee, a blooper-prone center for the Wizards and later Warriors. While McGee made his fair share of blunders, at times O’Neal seemed to stretch the concept simply to needle him. The feud escalated after O’Neal called McGee a “bumass” on social media. McGee responded saying O’Neal was an “old bastard” and from there, the pair engaged in a back-and-forth of escalating ugliness. O’Neal proceeded to threaten McGee with a physical altercation while McGee responded by referring to O’Neal with a derogatory term in the black community. McGee’s then-teammate Kevin Durant spoke up defending the center and reacting to the exchange, and the Warriors reached out to O’Neal’s employer Turner Sports.
Charles Barkley vs. Kobe
In 2006, the Kobe Bryant-led Lakers were eliminated from the playoffs by the Suns, blowing a 3-1 lead. Bryant, who was unusually passive in Game 7, had been criticized for hogging the ball and not getting his teammates involved by none other than Charles Barkley. During his analysis on TNT, Barkley discussed how he had a feeling the Suns were going to beat the Lakers “like a drum.” Barkley: “The truth of the matter is that he was very selfish … I know he doesn’t want to take any blame.” Bryant didn’t take too kindly to Barkley’s analysis and proceeded to text the former Suns star, cursing him out for three hours, according to Barkley. Bryant would go on to appear on “Inside the NBA” with Barkley and Smith later during the 2007 Playoffs and talk about the feud on live television.
Kirk Herbstreit vs. Florida State
When Florida State went unbeaten in 2023 but was still left out of the College Football Playoff, no college football voice received more hate from FSU fans than Kirk Herbstreit. The “College Gameday” analyst, who also makes appearances on College Football Playoff ranking shows, didn’t believe in the strength of the ACC compared to the SEC. During the penultimate rankings show, he said that “if the goal is to put the best four (teams in), how could you look at Georgia and regardless of the result say they’re not one of the best four teams?” Florida State fans proceeded to accuse Herbstreit of having been influential in the Seminoles’ omission from the CFP. He responded on “The Pat McAfee Show” saying “we all feel bad for the team. It’s not like there’s a conspiracy to keep Florida State out … I love their program, I love to see what they’ve been able to do to bring it back.” That has not changed the sentiments of Seminoles fans, who booed Herbstreit when “Gameday” was on-location from FSU’s opener this season in Ireland.
Skip Bayless vs. LeBron James
There may not be a more famous player/analyst beef than this one, though referring to Bayless as an analyst — as opposed to a provocateur — may be a stretch. Since James entered the league, Bayless has thrown invective toward him at every turn. After a run of subterranean ratings for his daily talk show “Undisputed,” Bayless recently left television and is rumored to be teaming up with Lil Wayne for an online show. James, who at 39 remains one of the league’s top players, has never directly responded to Bayless.
Deion Sanders vs. Tim McCarver
Colorado head coach Deion Sanders has a history of run-ins with the press. During his controversial attempt to play both for the MLB Braves and NFL Falcons, then-CBS MLB analyst Tim McCarver inveighed against Sanders for leaving the Braves in the middle of a playoff series. “How can he leave in the playoffs and go play in a football game?” McCarver pondered. “The way I look at it, that’s just flat wrong and I guess could be construed as a breach of contract.” After the Braves won the pennant and advanced to the World Series, McCarver was on duty for CBS in the winning locker room during the wild post game celebration and Sanders decided to douse him with multiple buckets of water. (This is how SportsCenter covered the incident.) Years later, during a “30 for 30” about his life, Sanders explained why he committed the act: “When your mama call you after a game and tell you how upset she was that this man is talking about you like his dog, where I’m from you handle it.”
The relationship between Swoopes and Clark has a long way to go before it reaches any of the aforementioned levels. The preceding feuds are a lesson in the thin line between constructive criticism and cheap shots, and the ways in which they can often be mistaken for each other.
