Sheryl Swoopes was pulled from Sunday’s Indiana Fever vs Dallas Wings matchup by NBA TV.
Swoopes was removed as sports analyst because of her unprofessional behavior toward WNBA Rookie of the Year and possible MVP Caitlin Clark.
Swoopes, 53, confirmed that she would not be working the game at College Park Center in Arlington, Texas.
“Not today Satan,” she replied to a fan on X.com before the Fever’s 100-93 win over the Wings.
ITS CONFIRMED. Sheryl Swoopes was supposed to call the Fever game yesterday, but because she cannot act like a professional commentator, she was replaced by Nancy Lieberman. Swoopes has some vendetta against a 22 year old girl who has done nothing but revere her. Her legacy is… pic.twitter.com/7YLXObD0cM
— Ken Swift (@kenswift) September 2, 2024
Swoopes was replaced by WNBA icon Nancy Lieberman. Lieberman, 66, had high praise for Clark during Sunday’s broadcast.
“What Caitlin Clark is doing for the game is generational. As a baller to a baller… I wanna say thank you to you, Caitlin Clark, for lifting our game up. You and so many great players, what you’re doing is going to make all these women multi-millionaires one day. Like Tiger [Woods] did. Like Michael Jordan did. And we shouldn’t hate on her. We should celebrate her.”
"What Caitlin Clark has done for the game is generational."
Hall of Famer Nancy Lieberman spoke about Caitlin Clark's impact on the league. pic.twitter.com/JpjkB9ZaYQ
— Indiana Fever (@IndianaFever) September 1, 2024
Swoopes faced backlash from Clark’s fans after she defended Diamond DeShields’s hard foul on Clark during the Indiana Fever’s 100-81 win over the Chicago Sky on Friday.
Swoopes tweeted in support of DeShields after the game.
Says everything you need to know about Swoopes and her agenda when this is a tweet instead of a phone call. pic.twitter.com/tiBfLN7esF
— Ken Swift (@kenswift) August 31, 2024
During a February appearance on former NBA player Gilbert Arenas’ YouTube podcast, Swoopes incorrectly said Clark was a 25-year-old beating up on 20-year-old players in college.
Swoopes also claimed 22-year-old Clark needed 5 years to break the NCAA’s all-time scoring record due to the COVID pandemic.
Near the end of the video below, Swoopes suddenly realized that Clark broke the scoring record in her 4th year at Iowa.
A clip of Sheryl talking about Caitlin Clark went viral. But I see yall tried to bury this one
If ANYBODY else was this loud and wrong with misinformation yall woulda lit this app on fire. But since its about CC yall pretended it didnt happen. Nasty ?? pic.twitter.com/jKvRRIMfF9
— Future Of The Retro (@TraeK_) February 4, 2024
A Reddit.com user wrote: “I do not remember a single instance of an announcer being pulled from a game due to a beef or even perceived beef with a player. This is wild.”
A user on X.com said it would be a shame if Swoopes tarnished her WNBA legacy by hating on Clark who has nothing but respect for her elders.
Swoopes (pictured in Miami in July 1996) was the first player signed to the WNBA when it launched in 1997. She is a WNBA champion, a 3X WNBA MVP, a Women’s Basketball Hall of Famer and an Olympic gold medalist.
Wait this is legit @airswoopes22 ? I always thought of her as a credible legend. I’m embarrassed for her. Totally amateur and very telling about her goals
— BadgerBro614 (@BBro614) February 5, 2024
I'm glad someone said what I was thinking. So obvious. Few will remember Sheryl Swoopes for what she did as a basketball player. By the time she's done beclowning herself, every Google search of her name will return results for Caitlin Clark. Lol
— The One (@Dixon_Sider_) August 31, 2024
Sheryl Swoopes is a strong, smart Black woman. If you #CaitlinClark fans think you're gonna "white mob" her into place where you feel more secure?
It ain't gonna happen ?.
She's built for your bullshit.
You can try all you want. She'll be here & so will her supporters. #WNBA pic.twitter.com/9OI25OoX8C
— GC4* (@GodzChild4eva) September 2, 2024
