A former NBA player has responded to WNBA legend Sheryl Swoopes’ latest jab at rookie sensation Cailtin Clark and likened it to his time in the NBA.
In her most recent Clark attack, Swoopes claims that her Fever teammates do not like playing there because of the negative attention from her fans.
“There’s a lot of other sh*t going on that other players are like ‘This ain’t where I want to be,'” Swoopes said on Gil’s Arena. “So you have players that are very significant on this Indiana Fever team that are like, ‘I don’t think this is where I wanna be this year.'”
Former NBA player Sam Dekker responded on X and used an example from his time playing with James Harden on the Rockets to dismiss Swoopes’ idea.
Being on the Rockets with Prime Harden was the best shit ever. We were on National TV all the time, won a ton of huge games in awesome moments, and he made the game incredibly easy for guys like me. I don’t believe for a second that the team dislikes it. https://t.co/IthvMtW6Up
— Sam Dekker (@dekker) September 18, 2024
“Being on the Rockets with Prime Harden was the best s—t ever. We were on National TV all the time, won a ton of huge games in awesome moments, and he made the game incredibly easy for guys like me. I don’t believe for a second that the team dislikes it.”
Swoopes also furthered her Clark hater narrative on the same podcast by saying she isn’t dominating the league as a rookie.
“To me, what Caitlin’s been able to do in a short period of time has been very impressive,” she said of Clark’s improvement after the All-Star break. “… I still don’t think she’s dominating, but she’s a different player than she was in the first half of the season.”
With the final WNBA season game coming to a close today, this is what Clark has achieved so far:
— League leader in APG
— League leader in 3P
— 1st in PPG by a rookie
— 1st in FGM by a rookie
— 1st in APG by a rookie
— 1st in SPG by a rookie
— 3rd in RPG by a rookie
— 4th in BPG by a rookie
— 1st rookie w/ a triple-double
— Broke single-season AST record
— Broke single-game AST record
— Most PTS by a rookie ever
— Most AST by a rookie ever
— Most 3P by a rookie ever
— Most ASG fan votes ever
READ MORE: Five-Time Lakers Champion Makes Interesting WWE Comparison