It all seems to have started when Caitlin Clark was still in college. Sheryl Swoopes expressed her thoughts on Clark’s records ever so often and ‘not enough appreciation’ hasn’t landed well. The pattern has only continued as Swoopes remains a target for critics, recently led by Stephen A. Smith. An extension of the same now sees Nancy Lieberman in the mix.

On the new episode on his podcast when Smith asked for Liberman’s view on ‘Swoopes’ coverage of Caitlin Clark,’ the Lady Magic spoke about her interaction with Swoopes after her factually incorrect remark on the Iowa star’s records. When Clark broke Kelsey Plum’s NCAA Division I career scoring record in her 4th year, Swoopes mistook it for 5 and stated that the Fever rookie should have been able to do it in equal time. That was seemingly when Liberman contacted her.

“I called her as a friend and I said, ‘you know you can say whatever you want. You can have your own opinion about anybody but you have to get the statistics right,'” she relayed. But Swoopes ended up upset with Liberman, causing a rift in their relationship. This led her to example her experience with Teresa Weatherspoon over her own remark that had a rather healthy turn.

Back in June, Lieberman was asked by Michelle, the host of Run It Back on FanDuel TV, to share her take on Caitlin Clark being flagrantly fouled by Chicago Sky’s Chennedy Carter. The broadcaster had responded saying, “I would have walked up to whoever did that to me and punched them in the face.” Her comment caught the attention of Weatherspoon, who called Lieberman to express her disappointment.

“We had a conversation, and I said, ‘Spoon, I didn’t say she should punch Chennedy Carter in the face,‘” she added, insisting that her comment reflected what she would have done if she were in Caitlin Clark’s shoes. Everything was settled then with an understanding on both sides. But the same wasn’t to be said with Swoopes. “I still think she was incorrect about what she did, and you know we all have to be professional,” she added.

Looking at the controversy from Swoopes’ lens

In August, during an episode of the Queens of the Court podcast, while sharing her opinions on the Indiana Fever’s unprecedented growth, Sheryl Swoopes overlooked Caitlin Clark. According to her, the upsurge in the Fever’s performance was due to Kelsey Mitchell, Lexie Hull, and Aliyah Boston. That was when Stephen A. Smith came into the picture.

“you know good and damn well, you had no business talking about the Indiana Fever without mentioning Caitlin Clark,” Smith had said. Swoopes had of course clapped back, saying, if SAS can talk about whatever and whoever on his podcast, she can too. And just as that was settling in, the remark by Liberman — whom she has known for about three decades — that read, “my life is good or great with or without Sheryl Swoopes,” following the rift in their bond, seemed to hit the nerve for the 4x champion.

A few hours after the interview aired, Swoopes took to her official Twitter handle. “Now here you go! I get what you’re trying to do with ya boy @stephenasmith, but it ain’t working. You know good and well what happened. And ditto… my life is good without you too (and him). You wanna go there?” she stated.

From Swoopes’ perspective, Smith and Lieberman’s perceptions are invalid. According to her, Smith did not listen to her full podcast and only focused on a small segment to criticize her. What do you think? Who’s correct? Comment down below!