Pat McAfee dived headfirst into the fallout of Caitlin Clark’s eventful weekend by using brazen commentary to describe the Fever rookie’s importance to the league, calling her “one white bitch for the Indiana team who is a superstar.”
The ESPN personality — who was in attendance for Saturday’s game, when Chicago Sky veteran Chennedy Carter hip-checked Clark in what was later upgraded to a Flagrant 1 foul — kicked off the discussion Monday on “The Pat McAfee Show” about in-game rivalries before pivoting to where the recent “evolution of success and popularity in the WNBA” stems from amid a stacked rookie class that includes Angel Reese, Cameron Brink and Kamilla Cardoso.
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“I’m not going to say anything about the athletes on the court. Athletes are going to be athletes, if they think they can get in your head by bodying you or talking s***, they’re going to do what they’re going to do,” McAfee said.
“But I do have a message for the sports media or the ex-WNBA players, there seems to be this notion, and maybe we’re wrong on it, that this whole evolution of success and popularity in the WNBA is because of this entire rookie class. I think there’s a chance Chennedy Carter of Chicago, whenever she’s going to Caitlin, you see [Sky rookie] Angel Reese get all jacked up about it and celebrating, I think that’s because she thinks Angel Reese deserves more credit than what she’s getting. Caitlin’s getting all this credit and you hear a lot of sports media, ‘This is an entire class, this rookie class is the reason why this is happening it’s the next generation,’ well that’s fun.”
McAfee then pivoted to a presentation-like game called “Guess Which WNBA Rookie,” which featured an array of slides highlighting TV ratings and game attendance and included the mugs of Clark, Reese and Brink, who plays for the L.A. Sparks.
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The segment continued to veer off the rails with McAfee’s unabashed comment about Clark.
“I would like the media people that continue to say, ‘this rookie class, this rookie class, this rookie class.’ Nah, just call it for what it is, there’s one white bitch for the Indiana team who is a superstar, and is it because she stayed in Iowa and put an entire state on her back and took a program from nothing to a multiple-year success story?” McAfee said.
“Is it because she would go on to break the entire points records in the history of the NCAA … Is there a chance that people just enjoy watching her play basketball because of how electrifying she is, what she did, what she stood for, how she went about going for what she went for, maybe. But instead, we have to hear people say that we only like her cause she’s white and she’s only popular because the rest of the rookie class is doing what they’re doing. Well that’s a bunch of bulls–t and we think the WNBA, more specifically, their refs, need to stop trying to screw her over at every single turn.”
Indiana coach Christie Sides said the team has been sending controversial plays of Clark “getting hammered” to the WNBA for review.
McAfee’s comments were later condemned Monday as they made the rounds on social media, with The Athletic’s Nicole Auerbach calling it “beyond unacceptable.”
“Yooooooo this is where we are at??? I’m so confused …” broadcaster Cari Champion posted on X.
McAfee issued an apology Monday afternoon on X, revealing he sent Clark an apology as well.
“I shouldn’t have used ‘white bitch’ as a descriptor of Caitlin Clark. No matter the context.. even if we’re talking about race being a reason for some of the stuff happening.. I have way too much respect for her and women to put that into the universe,” McAfee posted.
“My intentions when saying it were complimentary just like the entire segment but, a lot of folks are saying that it certainly wasn’t at all. That’s 100% on me and for that I apologise … I have sent an apology to Caitlin as well.”
This story originally appeared on the New York Post and has been reposted with permission