Support for Caitlin Clark but Harsh Sha’Carri Richardson Treatment Lands Shannon Sharpe in Trouble for Resurfaced Comment

For sports stars Sha’Carri Richardson and Caitlin Clark, fate has dealt them a bitter blow, causing them to miss their first Olympic berths at critical career points. Sha’Carri Richardson missed the 2021 Olympics due to a failed drug test. Now, the Paris Olympics-bound USA women’s basketball squad, which will be hunting an eighth gold in a row in Paris, sidelined Caitlin Clark for not “checking more boxes” compared to the other 12 selected players.

Sentiments have been hurt. Although the official team was not announced then, the Indiana Fever rookie confirmed the news to CBS News on Sunday and confessed, “I think it’s just a little more motivation. You remember that.” Meanwhile, popular sportscaster Shannon Sharpe was dragged into controversy for his differing opinions on Sha’Carri Richardson and Caitlin Clark missing their Olympic opportunities. Apparently, he couldn’t be more biased, per the NAACP President.

Hypocrisy much, or?

NAACP president Bishop Talbert Swan pointed out the dichotomy in an X post. Smashing the USA Basketball authority’s decision headed by Selection Committee Chair Jen Rizzotti, Sharpe presented his sympathetic vote of support toward Caitlin, “Name a more popular woman basketball player right now than Caitlin Clark.”

But when it came to discussing Sha’Carri Richardson missing her Olympic berth back in June 2022, Sharpe had a fiery X response, “She could’ve competed. She didn’t qualify to compete. Stop the bulljive antics. Train hard. Sports aren’t sympathetic. You do or you don’t.”  

Yes, considering how Sharpe vouched for Clark’s popularity, one can’t deny how she singlehandedly attracted an average viewership of 2.45 million which has been the most ever in the history of the league. But is that all that is needed to book an Olympic berth? Rizzotti highlighted just that after the roster was announced on Tuesday.

She told reporters, “Because it wasn’t the purview of our committee to decide how many people would watch or how many people would root for the US. It was our purview to create the best team we could for [coach Cheryl Reeve].” 

Consider the following facts.

• The most experienced of the selected list of candidates, 5x Olympic gold medalist Diana Taurasi, will make her sixth Olympics appearance in Paris. If the team handles the pressure to be on the same winning streak they helped register since the 1996 Summer Olympics, the 42-year-old will become the most decorated team sport athlete in Olympic history!
• Led by a coaching team that locked Team USA for gold at the 2022 FIBA Women’s World Cup, for the first time in Olympic history, the selection committee has chosen a roster that doesn’t have a single player aged below 26!
• Years of experience is one but the committee ensured that each of these players has had winning experiences as well. Nine out of the 12 selected players are athletes who have won at least one Olympic gold in the past. In fact, all of them have either earned an Olympics or World Cup gold.

Despite what many consider a brutal snub, the 22-year-old, who is averaging 15.6 points per game, is choosing to stay motivated. When CBS reporters arrived at the Fever’s practice gymnasium at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in downtown Indianapolis, Clark responded, “I think it just gives you something to work for. It’s a dream. Hopefully one day I can be there. I think it’s just a little more motivation. You remember that. Hopefully, when four years comes back, I can be there.

“I’m excited for the girls that are on the team… I know it could have gone either way of me being on the team or me not being on the team.”

Backtracking to the Tokyo Olympics 2021, Sha’Carri Richardson had to face suspension for violating WADA rules by consuming banned substances. But several big names such as Serena William’s husband Alexis Ohanian came out in support of Richardson, saying, she “can smoke all the weed she wants.” This was around the same time she had an emotional downturn owing to her mother’s demise. Despite her grief, she competed in the 100m US Olympic trial race and won.

However, according to Sha’Carri Richardson’s fans, this does not justify Shannon Sharpe belittling the reigning world champion’s supporters. Consequently, people quickly expressed criticism of the former football tight end in the comment section.

Sha’Carri Richardson’s fans grill Shannon Sharpe for the ‘offense’ 

When the Dallas sprinter won the Women’s 100m final on Day 2 of the 2020 U.S. Olympic Track & Field Team Trials, the post-race interview is where she revealed that her mother had died last week. The race wasn’t over for Sha’Carri at the finish line; it was over when she ran over to hug her grandmother and father. Whether it would have been appropriate for Sharpe to weigh each case based on its own merits, we can’t say. But he certainly lacked empathy. One fan vehemently added, “This is why I never liked him….” and that was just the start for Sharpe. 

Another comment read, “Mind you Sha’Carri was(still is) the most popular track athlete at that time! He is a joke.” She is also the reigning 100m world champion, a title she earned at the 2023 Budapest World Athletics Championships after making her comeback from the suspension, clocking in her personal career-best time of 10.65 seconds.

A track and field fan yielded it as “moving the goal post when it comes to Caitlyn Clark but had no problem dismissing Sha’Carri Richardson fight to be on the Olympic Team.” The comment stirred strong emotions, highlighting that this year, Sha’Carri Richardson defeated five-time Olympic champion Elaine Thompson-Herah in her first 100m race. 

All such incidents directed fans to think of Stephen A. Smith, the television host, as the prime culprit. The fan’s comment read, “Ngl he doesn’t have any backbone whatsoever all he does is echoe what Stephen A says.” Incidentally, Stephen A. Smith once criticized Noah Lyles after the latter questioned the NBA players’ use of the title ‘world champion.’

It’s well-known that Sha’Carri Richardson holds a close bond with Noah Lyles. That incident might have influenced Smith to encourage Shannon Sharpe to criticize Sha’Carri Richardson. However, these situations are distinct, and both athletes have the prowess to prove themselves.