Stephen A. reacts to 'cheap shots' on Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark | First Take

Welcome back to First Take.

Caitlin Clark left the Fever's loss yesterday to the Mercury after suffering a back

injury in the third quarter.

In her postgame comments,

Fever head coach Stephanie White also voiced frustration over two earlier plays involving Clark,

which she described as cheap shots.

Listen to this.

Number one, you got to call it.

It's absolutely egregious and utterly disrespectful.

And then number two,

you're coming in here aware of what happened two nights ago,

and that still happens?

Absolutely unacceptable.

Absolutely unacceptable.

And the reckless closeout that they actually reviewed,

and the foot still comes down on top of the defender's foot,

that wasn't upgraded?

Absolutely disrespectful.

We have a generational talent

and a developing NBA superstar who had two cheap shots right there

that weren't called.

And I just say again, absolutely unacceptable.

>> Stephen A, do you agree with Stephanie White?

>> Listen, I I don't I don't watch the WNBA extensively enough to say

whether I agree or disagree.

But I've often used the line, Shay,

that I'll share with you cuz I don't know

if I've ever used it

while you've been on the air with me.

If it walks like a duck and it quacks like a duck,

it ain't a damn mongoose.

I've said that many, many times over the years.

There is a flagrant level of resentment

that exist when it comes to Caitlin Clark.

And it has existed since she has arrived in the league.

She is the cash cow.

Just recently, a couple of days ago, I think,

we saw her and another player, I think it was Alissa Boston or whatever,

we saw them be the top two vote-getters for the WNBA All-Star Game.

So far, every time you turn around,

there seems to be something involving this girl,

and there's an elevated level of physicality that obviously compromised her availability last season,

where she missed a few games.

There is a palpable resentment towards this girl,

where you have people who are resent resent uh resenting of her star power

and her cachet,

and as a result, if they have an opportunity to go at her,

they're going to take it.

Now, Caitlin Clark is no innocent bystander in all of this.

She's a high-end competitor.

She can be very feisty.

Uh we saw from her college days where she can chirp

and talk junk at you,

which is why Angel Reese went at her

when they ultimately beat her for the national championship,

because she was chirping right back at her and trolling her.

That's where the real fame of Angel Reese rose.

We saw all of this.

In the end, there are people that undoubtedly respect her,

and you have an appreciation for what she's brought to the game in terms

of notoriety and what have you,

and I'll be the first to say that the Chiney Ogwumikes, the Andrea Carters,

and all of them, Monica McNutt's,

are far more qualified than me to speak on the issue,

because they see more of it than I do.

But with what I've seen, um you are able to say 1 + 1 = 2.

And there's been a level of resentment that has existed,

where I believe there's been a failure on the part of some people to

appreciate the mantra of a rising tide lifts all boats.

Ride this cash cow till the wheels come off.

They did it in the NBA with Magic Johnson,

they did it ultimately with Michael Jordan.

You know, that's how you do this.

You find somebody that just galvanizes folks

and ingratiates themselves with the public at large in such a way where everywhere

they go and whatever they do everybody wants to watch.

You don't resent that.

You feed off of it to build your own.

And I think that WNBA as a whole, that women's basketball as a whole,

and some, not most, not all,

but some WNBA players need to appreciate

that and gravitate to

that and grab hold of

that and ride that wave to your own ascension

as opposed to resenting it

and showcasing it the second you get an opportunity to whenever Caitlin Clark is

in your vicinity.

That would be my advice.

That's all I could say about that.

>> I didn't love

that this happened not once

but twice yesterday where there was basically a no call.

I thought Stephanie White did the right thing.

She should have gone off.

She needs to protect her superstar.

That's her right, completely.

I also do think the league should probably review this.

I don't have information on if they have started that process or not,

but I think that maybe would be a good call considering some of the

images that have come out from this.

Not calling anyone a dirty player,

but it did feel a little bit like a cheap shot.

So I agree with Stephanie >> Well,

the NBA If the NBA is going to review calls, you know,

send the WNBA can review calls

and act retroactively and make sure

that you hand down appropriate punishment where you deem necessary.

That's how you get able to police the league.

You don't just let the game end and say, "Okay, well, that happened.

There's nothing we could do about it now."

The NBA says, "No,

we'll revisit the situation

and we'll come back

and revisit you if the film shows us

that you're culpable."

And that's what the WNBA needs to start doing

because you are you're not the NBA.

You don't have an 11-year $77 billion contract.

You are building the league.

You just reached an incredible for collective bargaining agreement.

You understand they did a great, great job with that.

The league is growing and it's reaching some of its aspirations, no doubt,

but there's still a lot more work to be done.

Don't get in the way of the cash cow.

You don't sit up there and pave a way for her and don't compete.

Nobody's implying that.

But you certainly ride

that tidal wave of popularity

and use it to your advantage to build the game,

not compromise and hurt the game by taking her out whenever you get the

opportunity to do so.

That's not smart.

That's not smart at all.