Some of the most-discussed moments of the 2024 ESPYS on ABC Thursday came from host Serena Williams’ segment discussing women’s sports alongside her sister Venus and Abbott Elementary producer and star Quinta Brunson. That segment, full of playful tips on how to enjoy women’s sports just like any other sports, wrapped up with a shot at Kansas City Chiefs’ kicker Harrison Butker and his previous controversial commencement speech at Benedictine College. But, before that, there was an apparent shot (although not by name) at Pat McAfee for the time he called Caitlin Clark a “white b—-” during his show on ESPN:
In a discussion on women’s sports and what you can call female athletes with Quinta Brunson at last night’s ESPYs, Serena and Venus Williams seemed to bring up Pat McAfee on Caitlin Clark. “Just don’t use the b-word.” “Never use the b-word.” “You know who you are.” pic.twitter.com/bNY9BGCON2
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) July 12, 2024
As the above clip shows, this was part of tips for new fans on how to properly enjoy women’s sports. That included lines like Brunson’s “Do you like sports? Well, these are sports, and when talking about the players, you can describe them the same way you describe any player.” They then went through appropriate terms including “athlete,” “champion,” and even “dumba–.” Brunson said “That’s right, you can call them dumba—-, because sometimes those dumba—- are being dumba—-, and that’s the beauty of sports. Call them whatever you want.”
Then Serena said, “Just don’t use the b-word.”
“Yeah, never use the b-word,” Venus added.
“You know who you are,” Serena continued, to quite a few laughs from the audience.
The segment then went on from there, eventually including the “We don’t need you” shot at Butker.
Beyond the b-word lines, the discussion from the Williams sisters and Brunson around this also has some relevance to those infamous June comments from McAfee (which he did later apologize for, both to Clark and publicly). The larger thrust of McAfee’s comments there (which were in praise of Clark) was a complaint about people praising the WNBA rookie class as a whole while Clark was well out ahead of them in terms of increased ratings and jersey sales. And that included specific shots at Angel Reese.
“I think there’s a chance Chennedy Carter thinks Angel Reese deserves all this credit,” McAfee said at the time.
He then later said, “I would like the media people that continue to say, ‘This rookie class, this rookie class, this rookie class’. Nah, just call it for what it is—there’s one white b—- for the Indiana team who is a superstar.”
And the Clark-Reese conversation (which has developed further dimensions since then, including with Reese’s WNBA double-double record and Rookie of the Year discussion involving both) got brought up at the end of the above clip. There, Brunson said “Also, you’re allowed—listen to this—you’re allowed to like more than one player at a time.” That got applause, and she said, “Hold up, no, wait for what I’m about to say—even if they’re both women.”
“Right, you can like me and Venus,” Serena added.
“You can like Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese,” Venus replied.
“What a concept,” Brunson noted.
McAfee’s point on Clark providing higher ratings boosts and jersey sales than any other WNBA rookie remains true. And that’s part of the “marketing” discussion that sprung up around Clark’s omission from the U.S. women’s Olympic basketball team. But his “one superstar” line hasn’t aged well.
The pure on-court comparisons between Clark and Reese have been much closer (although they remain tough given their different positions and on-court roles). And some experts (including ESPN’s Neil Paine) are currently projecting Reese over Clark for Rookie of the Year. And Reese’s record and accomplishments for many other WNBA rookies this year have spoke to the merits of “rookie class” discussion.
Beyond that, it was interesting to see an apparent specific shot at ESPN’s $85 million man McAfee (who had his own shot-taking monologue at last year’s ESPYs) from the stage of ESPN’s awards show. It’s not the biggest shot in the world, of course; McAfee wasn’t mentioned by name, and he has apologized for the b—- comment and said he won’t do that again around a female athlete (he’s used it elsewhere). Thus, criticism of the use of that term isn’t out of line with his subsequent comments. But this did feel pointed, especially with the “you know who you are.” And that’s notable to see on an ESPN/ABC broadcast with how much of a priority that company puts on McAfee.
[Awful Announcing on X/Twitter]
