ESPN commentator Monica McNutt criticized WNBA star Caitlin Clark for daring to speak out about the constant physical abuse she suffers on the court, hinted that she thinks Clark needs to shut up, and insisted Clark is somehow failing “the sisterhood” by standing up for herself.
McNutt — who is now being called the “female Ryan Clark” for her racebaiting — lashed out at Clark after the WNBA star spoke to ESPN’s Malika Andrews about how “exhausting” it is that the media focuses so much on certain aspects of her career, the New York Post reported.
“It seems like there’s always a moment like that in every season that I’ve played so far. And I think for myself, like I just try to navigate it the best I can. It gets exhausting,” Clark said of suffering a punch to the throat by Mercury player Alyssa Thomas. It gets frustrating… When I walk out of the locker room, I shouldn’t be fearful of what the conversation is going to be. But it’s emotionally exhausting. It’s draining.”
But McNutt dismissed Clark’s exhaustion and said that it her opponents who are really “fearful” of the conversation.
“I thought the choice, the word of being ‘fearful’ of the conversation… is interesting. Because oftentimes, it seems… it’s the folks that are accused [of] doing something outside of the parameters of competition that are actually the ones that are fearful, when you look at their social media’s,” McNutt exclaimed, insisting that it is Clark’s violent WNBA opponents who are the real victims.
McNutt then left no doubt that she blames Clark for everything.
“This is what I will say: Caitlin Clark is 24; she’s a shining star in the galaxy of the WNBA. But I do think, as she continues to matriculate through this league, there’s room for a little bit more accountability and self-awareness, in terms of her role in the larger sisterhood, if she sees it that way in the WNBA,” she said, while making it clear she does not know what the word “matriculate” means.
McNutt appears to believe that if Clark speaks out against the repeated physical attacks she suffers on the boards that she is racist for doing so and that she should simply shut up about it for the good of the “sisterhood.”
On the other hand, McNutt was not as dismissive of physical abuse last year when Clark herself was accused of committing a flagrant foul against black player Angel Reese.
Indeed, in that case, McNutt was seen accusing everyone of racism and proclaiming Reese as the victim over that incident.
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Facebook at: Facebook.com/Warner.Todd.Huston, Truth Social @WarnerToddHuston, or at X/Twitter @WTHuston