Caitlin Clark has undeniably obtained a harsh reception from many WNBA gamers throughout her rookie yr. 17% of the whole flagrant fouls(5 out of 30) this season have been dedicated in opposition to the Fever rookie. Whereas most of those fouls got here in live-game conditions, on June 1, Chicago Sky veteran Chennedy Carter took issues a bit too far when she hit Clark from the again earlier than an inbound go.
Again then, on the Run It Again pod, girls’s hoops legend Nancy Lieberman had boldly declared that she’d have punched Carter within the face if the latter had tried one thing like that along with her. This prompted quite a lot of backlash in opposition to Lieberman as a result of many thought she was publicly saying that Clark ought to have punched Carter after the incident.
On The Stephen Smith Present, the 66-year-old defined her place on the matter, which she thinks was broadly misconstrued. She mentioned that she was simply saying what her private response can be in such a state of affairs. Lieberman by no means advocated for Clark to take an analogous route.
She argued that when Run It Again host Michelle Beadle requested her how she would have responded if she have been in Clark’s footwear, the 1984 WNBA Champion merely shared her genuine response to such a state of affairs.
She additionally underlined her New York roots to elucidate her mentality of returning the favor when dealing with violence. Lieberman told Stephen A. Smith,
“I’m doing Michelle Beadle’s podcast… She mentioned what would you do if any individual type of blindsided you want that. me, I’m straight from New York, straight from Rucker Park. I mentioned I’d have gotten up. I’d have walked as much as whoever did it to me, I’d have punched them within the face.”
Lieberman has adopted Chennedy Carter’s journey because the Sky Guard was a excessive schooler. The previous NCAA famous person wished that Carter was chosen within the 2024 All-Star staff as nicely for holding the Chicago Sky offense collectively singlehandedly. So she has no private vendetta in opposition to her.
Throughout a cellphone name with Sky HC Teresa Weatherspoon, Lieberman had defined her perspective as nicely. It wasn’t about Clark or Carter, however about her private worldview on the topic.
“I mentioned Spoon I didn’t say she ought to have punched Chennedy Carter in her face. I mentioned that is what I’d do if I’d have been blindsided. I’ve recognized Chennedy since she was in high-school right here in Dallas. She is a heck of a participant and may have been on the All-Star staff, however my remark about hitting her wasn’t about her,” she added.
Lieberman used this instance to point out that folks can a minimum of have an honest dialog even when they disagree. Nonetheless, Sheryl Swoopes refused to have a chat along with her and even broke their friendship when she was confronted about her disrespectful feedback relating to Caitlin Clark.
As per Lieberman, Swoopes must also hold her communication channels open if there’s a misunderstanding. Because the previous legends of the sport, it’s their job to make clear their stance after making controversial feedback as a substitute of refusing to have interaction when requested about the identical.
