After making a controversial dig at Caitlin Clark as she neared the women's all-time NCAA scoring record, Sheryl Swoopes said she spoke to the Iowa star about her comments − thanks to LSU's Angel Reese.
The three-time WNBA Most Valuable Player was on the broadcast for Sunday’s game between Baylor and Texas Tech, where she said Reese helped facilitate a conversation between her and Clark.
"A couple of weeks ago, I reached out to Angel and had a really good conversation with Angel over the phone and sent a message to Caitlin. She responded. She and I went back and forth,” Swoopes said. "I won’t share what she said, I’ll leave that to her if she wants to share. But I will say, what I said to her was, 'I made a mistake in saying it was your fifth year when it is your fourth.'
Swoopes then gaves Clark her flowers for what she has done in her college career.
"I have nothing but respect for what she has done for the game. If she wants to share what her response was and how that conversation went, I’ll leave that to her. But it was a really good conversation," Swoopes said.
Swoopes' conversation with Clark came after the viral comments she made a few weeks ago on former NBA player Gilbert Arenas' YouTube show, prior to Clark breaking Kelsey Plum's scoring record. On the show, Swoopes stated inaccurate stats about Clark, most notably saying she is a fifth-year, 25-year-old player still in college when she's actually in her fourth year and only 22. Swoopes also said Clark takes "about 40 shots a game" when Clark actually takes fewer shots per game than Swoopes did when she was in college.
She also commented on what she thought of Clark's transition to the WNBA, after previously saying on the show months ago that Clark's popularity will be good for the league.
“Will Caitlin Clark be a good pro? Absolutely. Will Caitlin Clark come into the WNBA and do what she’s doing right now immediately? Absolutely not. Not going to happen,” Swoopes said.
The comments drew backlash on social media and among Iowa fans, some of whom wore shirts that said "Don’t Be A Sheryl" to the Feb. 8 game against Penn State.