Caitlin Clark is getting a lot of attention. The main point of discussion around her is the physicality she has to face in the WNBA. In a recent game against the Sky, Chennedy Carter shoved her before Clark fell to the ground due to a competitive play by Angel Reese. Most of the NBA athletes and media personalities have come forward to defend Clark, and a narrative popular in the mainstream balling world is that her opponents are jealous of her.

Notably, Clark has been getting a lot of popularity because she was the NCAA Queen, breaking Pete Maravich’s legendary record. Coming into the WNBA, the Indiana Fever had complete sellout games, something they didn’t have last season. The New York Liberty recorded around $2 million in revenue due to ticket sales in the contest against Clark.

Monika McNutt negates that WNBA athletes are jealous of Caitlin Clark

Sports analyst Monika McNutt recently came forward to voice her opinions on the whole narrative in ESPN’s Get Up on Tuesday. As per her, Clark is not being targeted, she is only facing tough competition from her opponents, which is a normal thing in a basketball match. The clip of the same was uploaded on Shon Tare’s YouTube channel and went viral within a few minutes.

“I don’t know why we’ve separated competition from a basketball league right? The respect that she’s been given on defense greeny rightfully so she was fantastic coming out of college. She’s been highly touted coming into the league. She’s going to be the key to the Indiana Fever success and she’s going to be a tremendous pro and have a successful career. But competition is still at the root of this thing and when you look across the league, she… while I agree with Rebecca she probably is… is… she is garnering a different level of defensive attention but there are other rookies have had similar moments that had you like woo Angel Reese and Elissa Thomas, Cameron Brink and if we go way back you could talk a little bit about what Candace Parker experienced in her rookie year and so Caitlin Clark is going to be fine she has been great for this league but the idea that she is being targeted I just cannot buy into that at all that,” McNutt stated.

via Getty

Notably, Clark is not the only one who is facing difficulties in the WNBA. Even Angel Reese and Cameron Brink are having issues in playing their natural NCAA game. The popular names of the NCAA were on everyone’s radar and now they have entered the league, opponents are always cautious because they know the potential of the rookies if they come in beast mode. And not only the Fever are recording full houses.

The Chicago Sky, thanks to Reese and Kamilla Cardoso, have also sold tickets for their entire arena multiple times. Reese, who averaged a whopping 18.6 points per game with 12.3 rebounds per match in the NCAA, only averages 10.6 points per game with 8.9 rebounds per contest. Similarly, Brink has also experienced a decline in her averages. She had one game where she smashed 21 points against the Dallas Wings but then had multiple single-digit games after being noticed. Reese also dismissed the narrative and voiced her opinions on her importance recently in an interview.

Angel Reese speaks her mind on Caitlin Clark

Reese and Clark’s rivalry is nothing new. It started with the NCAA 2023 Finals when Reese did the You can’t see me move against Clark, defeating the Hawkeyes by a 102-85 margin. So the recent narrative that puts her as jealous of Clark is something that Reese countered with her statements ‘It all started from the National Championship game. I’ve been dealing this with two years now. And understanding that, yeah, negative things have probably been said about me but honestly, I’ll take that,”  Reese stated, as per Daily Mail .

She also added that the game is being watched by fans not only due to Clark but also because she has contributed to the high WNBA viewership. ”yeah, the reason why we’re watching women’s basketball isn’t just because of one person. It’s because of me, too,” she noted. Reese was known as the Bayou Barbie during her time with the LSU and even her personal life was under a lot of limelight, even during tough times. Such is the aura of Angel Reese.

Now that people are also coming forward to dismiss the jealousy narrative against Clark, hopefully, Reese, Brink, and Clark will concentrate on the upcoming games and the three rookies might elevate their stats and also give the big WNBA guns a tough time. Stay tuned for more such updates, and to follow what Shaq’s ex-agent, Leonard Armato, had to say about the marketing genius, watch this video.