Pat McAfee dove headfirst into the fallout from Caitlin Clark’s wild weekend, using blatant comments to describe the Fever rookie’s importance to the league, calling her “a white bitch on the Indiana team who’s a superstar.”
The ESPN personality — who was present at Saturday’s game when Chicago Sky veteran Chennedy Carter slapped Clark in what was later upgraded to a Flagrant 1 foul — started the discussion Monday on “The Pat McAfee Show” about in-game rivalries before moving on to where the recent “evolution of success and popularity in the WNBA” originates amid a rookie class that includes Angel Reese, Cameron Brink and Kamilla Cardoso.
Embark on the NBA Finals | Dallas Mavericks x Boston Celtics | Every NBA Finals game LIVE on ESPN, available via Kayo. New to Kayo? Start your free trial today >
“I’m not going to say anything about the athletes on the court. Jocks will be jocks, if they think they can get in your head by giving a body or talking shit, they’ll do whatever they want,” McAfee said.
“But I have a message for the sports media or former WNBA players: There seems to be this notion, and maybe we’re wrong about this, that this whole evolution of success and popularity in the WNBA is due to all of this. newbie class. I think there’s a chance Chennedy Carter from Chicago, whenever she goes to Caitlin, you see [Sky rookie] Angel Reese gets all excited and celebrating, I think it’s because she thinks Angel Reese deserves more credit than she’s getting. Caitlin is getting all this credit and you hear a lot in the sports media, ‘This is a whole class, this rookie class is the reason this is happening, it’s the next generation,’ well, that’s fun.”
McAfee then turned to a presentation-like game called “Guess Which WNBA Rookie,” which featured a series of slides highlighting TV ratings and game attendance and included the mugs of Clark, Reese and Brink, who plays in the LA Sparks.
MORE COVERAGE
‘I love hate’: WNBA star’s bizarre reaction to cheap shot at basketball prodigy
‘Embarrassing’: Controversial cheap bid for basketball prodigy is criticized
The segment continued to go off the rails with McAfee’s blatant comment about Clark.
“I wish people in the media would continue to say, ‘this rookie class, this rookie gang, this rookie gang.’ No, just say what it is, there’s a white bitch on the Indiana team who is a superstar, and it’s because she stayed at Iowa and put an entire state on her back and took a program from nothing to a multi-year success story. ?” McAfee said.
“It’s because she would break every scoring record in NCAA history… There’s a chance that people just enjoy watching her play basketball because of how electric she is, what she did, what she stood for, how she He went after what he wanted, perhaps. But instead we have to listen to people tell us that we only like her because she’s white and she’s only popular because the rest of the new kid crowd is doing what she’s doing. Well, that’s a bunch of bullshit and we think the WNBA, more specifically its referees, need to stop trying to screw it at every turn.
Indiana coach Christie Sides said the team has been sending controversial Clark “gets beat up” plays to the WNBA for review.
McAfee’s comments were later condemned on Monday as they circulated on social media, with The Athletic’s Nicole Auerbach calling them “beyond unacceptable.”
“Yoooooooo, is this where we are??? I’m so confused…” broadcaster Cari Champion posted on X.
McAfee issued an apology Monday afternoon on X, revealing that it also sent an apology to Clark.
“I shouldn’t have used ‘white bitch’ as a descriptor for Caitlin Clark. No matter the context… even if we are talking about race being the reason some things happen… I have too much respect for her and women to put this out there,” McAfee posted.
“My intentions in saying this were complimentary, as was the entire thread, but a lot of people are saying it certainly wasn’t. This is 100% on me and for that I apologize… I sent an apology to Caitlin as well.”
This story originally appeared in the New York Post and is republished with permission
#unacceptable #ESPN #host #slams #calling #WNBA #superstar #white #bitch