The silence was deafening when Monica McNutt left Stephen A. Smith speechless after she gave a piece of her mind on ESPN’s First Take a few days ago. The incident initiated a domino effect that took a huge shape, with Smith later calling McNutt’s comments ‘highly offensive’. Moreover, it has also become a focal point of several narratives, including the league going against Caitlin Clark.

Now, as for the 22-year-old rookie, she is a competitive athlete who knows how to calmly respond in thought situations. However, it’s the media that seems to have lost its mind over the competitive treatment she is receiving in the league. Clearing out the air on these difficult narratives, Monica McNutt broke her silence and laid down the facts.

Monica McNutt had to set the record straight

In a recent episode of The Daily Show, basketball analyst Monica McNutt engaged in an insightful conversation with the host, Jon Stewart. The topic revolved around the above-mentioned viral moment related to the realm of sports reporting. The said conversation took place over Chennedy Carter’s shove on Caitlin Clark in the late third quarter of last week’s Indiana Fever vs. Chicago Sky game.

Setting the record straight, McNutt stated, “My larger point in the conversation was the tenor and the prevailing narrative that has been created around this season’s WNBA play is that it’s the league versus Caitlin Clark. And that is just absolutely false. It is unfair to the women that have been there building this league to this moment so that Caitlin Clark’s popularity could take it to the next level. And I just kind of needed to put my foot down a little bit.”

Further elaborating on her disagreement with Smith, and the impact posed by players prior to the Caitlin Clark era, she said on The Daily Show, “It was a little bit of a challenge, right, to gentlemen that I admire in terms of what they’ve built. I need three years. I need you to kinda have jumped in when Sedona Prince went viral for calling out the NCAA. I need you kinda to be here as this league has seen its best viewership year to year. Now, yes, it has absolutely been taken over the top this year. But this has been a snowballing effect to get to this moment.”

In 2021, before the March Madness was set to take place, Oregon’s Sedona Prince posted a video on her social media showing the difference in weight rooms at the men’s and women’s NCAA Tournaments and stating, “If you’re not upset about this problem, then you’re a part of it.” Overnight, the video went viral amassing more than 1.3 Million views. Also, it caught the attention of notable basketball entities like A’ja Wilson, Stephen Curry, and Layshia Clarendon, who were outraged at witnessing the disparities.

Similarly, there have been several players who have worked on their game and contributed towards building the league to its current position. Talking about the same, McNutt resorted to a conclusion that, “Caitlin is fantastic, and I think she’s gonna have an incredible career in the WNBA. There are women that were worthy of coverage before her arriving. And I just will not be silenced when it comes to that.” Meanwhile, let’s take a look at what Caitlin Clark had brought to the table as a WNBA rookie.

The booming Caitlin Clark effect

It is undebatable that with Caitlin Clark’s prominence, the league has also received newfound attention and attracted major investments. Per WNBA reports, since Clark has set foot into the W, it has seen some major upsides. The attendance has significantly shot up to 156% in comparison to the last year. In addition, more than half of all the league’s games are selling out. As a result, the WNBA arenas are witnessing 94% capacity.

Sports networks, including ABC, ESPN, etc are averaging 1.32 million views on this year’s televised games. These numbers have taken a triple leap in comparison to last year’s average of 462,000. Similarly, the W’s social media has garnered 157 million video views within the first week of the season only, making it an all-time high.

Moreover, W’s online merchandise store touched the single-season sales record in just the first month. Simply put, the WNBA is enjoying its rising era.

Stay tuned for more such updates, and to follow what Shaq’s ex-agent, Leonard Armato, has to say about the Reese-Clark rivalry and more, watch th