Stephen A. Smith Presses Napheesa Collier Against Caitlin Clark but Gets a Different Reaction in Return

The WNBA season is just months away. Excitement is building. Anticipation is high. Last week, the league dropped its national TV schedule. And just like that, controversy exploded. Why? The reigning champs, New York Liberty, got fewer nationally televised games than Caitlin Clark’s Indiana Fever. Napheesa Collier has some thoughts, and Stephen A. Smith, some comparisons.

The Fever is set to have a total of 41 of their 44 games nationally televised for the upcoming season. The reigning champs, New York Liberty? Just 32. Naturally, it sparked outrage. The basketball world wasn’t happy. To weigh in, ESPN turned to the Minnesota Lynx forward for her thoughts on the issue.

When Molly Qerim asked if it’s fair that the Fever have more nationally televised games than the Liberty, here’s what Collier said: “I mean, obviously, people want to watch Caitlin [Clark] play, and so you have to put people on TV that people want to see. But at the same time… to not have the defending champs on TV more, I think it’s kind of crazy.” She further added, “It doesn’t have to be where you’re taking games away from Indiana, but I think you can raise the level of TV games for the other teams as well.”

The Caitlin Clark Effect is turning women’s basketball into a game-changer, sparking economic growth, creating new opportunities, and shifting the way people perceive professional women’s sports. There’s no doubt about the fact that most of the new WNBA fans only want to watch the 2024 ROTY play. The numbers don’t lie! Since Clark’s arrival in the W, the viewership has increased by 374% and the ticket sales by 48%. To make the league’s decision clearer further, Fever averaged 1.18 million viewers compared to 394,000 for all other games. The numbers tell the story and Phee is in line with them.

But A. Smith, ever the Clark supporter, pressed Collier further on her answer. “Why is that an issue?” he asked her. The ESPN analyst went on to compare this to the time Magic Johnson and Larry Bird saved the league from the declining viewership and the time Michael Jordan took it to a whole new level. “The NBA locked in everything they could around this guy,” he adds— why not follow the example that has proven to have worked?

Was he trying to stir up more controversy? Or was he genuinely curious about why it seemed unfair to give the person responsible for the WNBA’s new growth more attention? That’s something we’ll never know. But Collier had a response– clam, thoughtful, and one that definitely won’t stir up any controversy!

“I don’t think it’s an issue. I do think Caitlin is a star, and like I said, people want to see her… you need to put on TV the players that people want to see. But kind of what I said before, I don’t think raising the level of the other teams has to mean bringing down Caitlin or the Indiana Fever. They should have those amount of games on TV, on primetime, but I think other teams should also have more than what they have,” she added.

But fans of other WNBA teams do have a reason to be upset.

The Las Vegas Aces and Minnesota Lynx? Only 33 and 21 of their games will be televised. Then there’s Angel Reese’s Chicago Sky–just 24 nationally televised games. And the Atlanta Dream, fresh off adding Brittney Griner and Brionna Jones, will only have 23 games on national TV. Collier never suggested the Fever shouldn’t have their games televised. She simply wanted more TV time for the other teams as well.

Caitlin Clark’s popularity has skyrocketed to the point where Colin Cowherd is suggesting a separate Caitlin Clark TV package!

Colin Cowherd suggests the WNBA could capitalize further on Caitlin Clark

The 61-year-old analyst has frequently praised Caitlin Clark for the impact she’s made in women’s sports. After the schedule dropped in, Cowherd suggested that the WNBA should fully capitalize on Clark’s ratings dominance.

“If I was the WNBA, I would have considered a separate television package to a network on just Caitlin Clark games,” Cowherd said. “I would’ve had two packages. The WNBA package, and then a separate, let’s say 15 to 18 game Caitlin Clark package for, you know, it could be HBO it could be Fox it could be anybody. I would’ve sold a separate Caitlin Clark package.”

via Imago

Out of the 22 regular season games that averaged over one million viewers last season, Caitlin Clark played in 19. That’s not all! Her final game of the season, Game 2 of the Fever’s first-round series against the Connecticut Sun, set a record. It averaged 2.54 million viewers! The most-watched WNBA game ever on ESPN.

It’s clear that the reason for the Fever having more nationally televised games than Liberty and the Aces is solely down to one player–Caitlin Clark. Fans are hoping the Fever will make a strong postseason push in the upcoming WNBA season. But will it happen?