Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese recently had identical answers claiming they didn’t care about their rivalry as much as everyone does. Outsiders do have a lot to say about the Caitlin Clark effect. WNBA legend, Sheryl Swoopes, is in the thick of the drama surrounding Clark. But, she’s not the first or last. LeBron James and Charles Barkley slammed any and all harsh treatment towards the Fever rookie. And the CC subject has left Gil’s Arena divided as well.

Clark has risen above all the friction and squashed a few beefs. But, Diana Taurasi, Lexie Brown, Skylar Diggins-Smith, Chennedy Carter, and Breanna Stewart were dragged for not being on board the Caitlin Clark hype train. And it’s just shown that the WNBA and NBA disagree on the subject.

#1 Sheryl Swoopes and Charles Barkley, two legends that contradict

The most recent, and possibly the ugliest, ‘beef’ between Clark and a WNBA vet surrounds Sheryl Swoopes. The Houston icon is the first WNBA player in history. She’s been there since the beginning of 1997 and has watched its steady growth over the years. 2024 marked a dramatic shift for the WNBA since Clark and Reese were selected. However, Swoopes has repeatedly shown indifference to Clark’s impact.

In contrast, Swoopes has come out in support of Reese. At the same time, she left out Clark when crediting Indiana Fever veterans for the team’s unprecedented commercial success. It gets murkier when Swoopes and Stephen A. Smith traded barbs on the subject. The latest developments include Swoopes allegedly not speaking about Clark’s honors, bowing out of broadcasting duties at Clark’s game, and sharing a supposed text exchange between her and Clark.

If we read too much into it, Charles Barkley might be right. Remember his rant during the playoffs? “Hey LeBron, you’re 100% right on these girls hating on Caitlin Clark. Y’all petty, girls,” he said in a lengthy rant that Ernie had to cut to go to commercial.

Chuck’s been in Clark’s corner since her time at Iowa. He claims that the WNBA players should be grateful to Clark for their ‘new’ private jets. Several WNBA players hit back at him that the jets and upgrades were in the works before Clark came in the picture. But it wouldn’t be the only time some veterans would be dragged for not being overtly supportive of Clark.

#2 LeBron James and Diana Taurasi enter the chat

King James relates to CC’s prodigious rise in an obvious way. He’s repeatedly voiced his support on his podcasts and X, shown concern for the pressure she faces, and called out haters. He enjoyed her recent record-breaking streak, calling her ‘cold’ for extending her three-point record.

He never namedrops the ‘haters’ the way SAS blatantly does. But, in the background of his commentary, fans created a fictional ‘feud’ between Clark and Diana Taurasi. Now CC is a known fan of the Mercury ‘villain’ who’s served a few ‘Welcome to the WNBA’ moments to rookies. Clark loves her unapologetic style.

Bueckers skipped the 2024 draft but Taurasi, a UConn alum, said that she would’ve picked the Huskies star over the point guard. Somehow that formed a beef narrative. Diana warned the rookie class that the league is a lot tougher than college which fans interpreted as jealousy towards Clark. They seemingly ‘squashed the beef’ when Indiana and Phoenix played against each other. But if you ask them, there was no friction and Taurasi stands by her opinion that the WNBA is a lot tougher than it looks.

#3 Gil’s Arena gets fractured

Clark is a big talking point of this crew. Gilbert Arenas, Rashad McCants, Kenyon Martin, and Nick Young are consistently on Clark’s side. But one of the few regular WNBA personalities, Lexie Brown can’t seem to please fans. Brown picked Paige Bueckers and UConn as her favorites to win the NCAA title, but she was criticized. She says both Clark and Reese have bright futures; she gets slammed for not picking sides. She criticizes Ice Cube for trying to poach Clark to the Big3, people seem to think she’s jealous she didn’t get a $5 million offer.

Brown once clashed with Arenas who thinks Team USA made a mistake leaving out Clark and Reese. Lexie believed that the veterans weren’t replaceable with the rookies. That sounded like Brown was diminishing Clark’s talent. It further gets complicated when she says that A’ja Wilson would have to stop playing if Clark has to win MVP this season.

In contrast, Rashad McCants is stopping short of wearing Clark’s jersey and waving a flag with her face on it while he steers the CC hype train. And if you’re not on board, he’s going to point it out.

Bonus: Play nice with Caitlin Clark

It looked like the peak of the Caitlin craze during one of the first matchups between Fever and Chicago Sky. Reese’s teammate, Chennedy Carter hard-fouled Clark but it left the WNBA and NBA divided. The latter claimed that WNBA players are taking out their jealousy in physical ways. WNBA reporters and former players claim that Clark need not be babied, and she’d toughen up soon. To her credit, Clark does bounce back and breaks a couple of records on the way.

She came back from the Olympics break with a vengeance too. Her presence on the court would rile up Indiana crowds that have grown since her arrival. So, there were a lot of eyeballs to see Skylar Diggins-Smith apparently bump Clark while leaving the court. It was not mid-game and not a foul. But, McCants called it one.

The debates about her are nothing but white noise to CC. She can sit back, pick up a few records on the way, and watch NBA and WNBA stars fight over her.