Caitlin Clark’s teammate Erica Wheeler had a great response when asked what the star rookie is like, providing the perfect answer to Sheryl Swoopes claims about her
Caitlin Clark’s teammate Erica Wheeler had an immaculate response to Sheryl Swoopes’ claims that the star rookie’s teammates would want to leave the Indiana Fever because of Clark.
Swoopes has consistently criticized Clark and downplayed the 22-year-old’s accomplishments in her rookie year, regardless of how she performed. Her latest criticism of Clark comes from her appearance on the “Gil’s Arena” podcast with former NBA star Gilbert Arenas.
During the podcast, Swoopes explained how the attention Clark has brought to Indiana potentially could have rubbed her teammates the wrong way. And while Swoopes’ concerns could be valid, the basketball legend did explain that there was no basis for her assertion.
“There’s a lot of other —- going on, that players are like ‘This ain’t where I want to be,'” she said during her appearance on the podcast. “You have players that are very significant on this Indiana Fever team that are like, ‘I don’t know if this is where I want to be.'”
Swoopes added: “I’m not in the locker room. I don’t know. I’m not even on the team.”
However, Wheeler sees the situation differently. Speaking with reporters during shootaround, the Fever veteran made it clear how Clark has impacted her teammates and how different she is away from the cameras.
“All we do is have fun with Caitlin Clark, who never takes anything serious,” Wheeler revealed. “I tell people all the time she’s really a kid at heart. And then also, Christie and the coaching staff, they’re lighthearted so they’ll allow us to have fun
Erica Wheeler made it clear how much the Indiana Fever enjoy Caitlin Clark’s presence on the team (
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“But there’s moments when we need to be serious and we are serious. But a majority of the time, we’re having fun because we kind of understand the outside world was really trying to get inside this building – we just didn’t let it. And having fun is a great way to kinda keep that out.”
Despite sharing that her claim is baseless, Swoopes instead focused on Aliyah Boston and Kelsey Mitchell, believing the added pressure on Boston would cause her to leave and the thought of better pastures would be enticing for Mitchell, a free agent, to leave.
“So what happens when Aliyah ain’t playing well again?” Swoops said regarding Boston’s slow start to the season. “So, as a player, do you want to continue to stay in a situation where you keep yourself vulnerable to all of the hate that you know is going to come to you if you’re not playing the way everyone thinks you should be playing?”
