Shannon Sharpe has defended Caitlin Clark after the Fever rookie was unfairly attacked by a WNBA legend over the weekend.
At the end of the Fever’s 92-75 victory over the Storm on Sunday in Indiana, Clark was getting her home fans fired up when she was jostled by six-time All-Star Skylar Diggins-Smith – many accused her of intentionally colliding with her opponent.
And Sharpe subsequently defended Clark on his “Night Cap” podcast with Chad Johnson, urging the former Iowa star’s professional colleagues to “stop this nonsense.”
“Caitlin Clark is getting the crowd going. You see Skylar Diggins speeding up to connect with her,” he began.
“Stop it! Y’all mad because that corn-fed girl from Iowa is busting your ass… (She’s) cooking. Let her cook!”
Skylar Diggins-Smith (left) was caught colliding with Caitlin Clark at the end of Sunday’s game
And the Indiana Fever rookie star was subsequently defended by NFL legend Shannon Sharpe
After the move, Diggins-Smith was also sharply criticized by her fans on social media, who accused her of being jealous of Clark.
The former rose to national prominence at Notre Dame College and has had an extremely successful WNBA career.
However, after missing two seasons due to maternity leave (including 2023), she is averaging her lowest points per contest (13.8) since 2016.
Clark also faced some hostility early in the season from Sky’s opponent Chennedy Carter, who went out of her way to bodycheck her. Clark’s college rival Angel Reese was also seen cheering on the game from the bench.
Yet Clark is indeed “cooking,” as Sharpe said.
She had 23 points and nine assists to help the Fever beat the Storm. She has scored at least 20 points in five of her last six games.
During this period, she averaged 23.7 points, 47 percent field goal percentage, and 11.7 assists.
Diggins-Smith appeared to have intentionally collided with Clark at the end of Sunday’s game
Clark has been in top form lately, scoring over 20 points in four of her last five games.
Clark also broke the previous WNBA rookie assist record, surpassing Ticha Penicheiro’s 1998 record of 224 with 232 assists.
Still, they and the Fever (13-15) still need to add 12 games to that total.
They have won four of their last five games, with the month-long WNBA break appearing to benefit the team.
They will take another mini-break this week as they do not face the Lynx until Saturday.
