WNBA legend Sheryl Swoopes has offered some rare praise of Caitlin Clark over her Nike deal after previously questionable remarks about the Indiana Fever star.
Clark was named Rookie of the Year after a fine first season in the WNBA, having left Iowa Hawkeyes as the all-time top scorer in NCAA points to break Swoopes’ record. She responded by falsely claiming that Clark had played for five years in college and produced over 40 shots each game to nab the NCAA record.
Swoopes also sparked controversy by suggesting Clark had in fact not dominated during her rookie season with the Fever, despite the acclaim coming her way.
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Yet as Las Vegas Aces superstar A’ja Wilson celebrated the release of her new Nike signature shoe, ambassador Swoopes managed to reserve some praise for Clark over her own contract.
“I feel so lucky to be a part of the Nike basketball family for more than 30 years now. And I love to see how the brand continues to champion women’s basketball and the athletes who play it,” she said.
Caitlin Clark stole the show in the WNBA last year (
Image:
Getty Images)
Swoopes followed that up last week when she appeared on the ‘In Case You Missed It With Khristina Williams’ podcast. She added: “What really excites me today about where we are is it’s not just the things that the women are getting on the court. You have all these women and brands who are saying, ‘We see you, we hear you, we need you’
“So you have the Angel Reese’s, the Caitlin Clark’s, the DiJonai Carrington’s, the Rickea Jackson’s, the A’jas doing things that we only could dream of. And my very first Nike contract when I signed in [’95] was like $175,000. Which then I was like, ‘Oh my god, I’ve made it’, right?”
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“And today to see a player like an A’ja and a Caitlin Clark signing a $20 million contract. Like, I don’t even know what to say about that, because I never thought that I would see this day when we started the W back in ’97, where we’re sitting here actually talking about… these million-dollar contracts that female basketball players are now signing.”
Clark signed a record-breaking contract for the WNBA with Nike in April last year, believed to be worth around $28m over eight years. Under Armour and Adidas were also in the running for Clark’s signature before she penned the contract with Nike.
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