Normally, Dallas Wings fans might expect to hear Sheryl Swoopes on the call alongside Ron Thulin. That wasn’t the case Sunday night when women’s basketball legend Nancy Lieberman was on the call alongside Thulin.
Given that the Wings played the Indiana Fever and Swoopes has emerged as one of Caitlin Clark’s most outspoken critics, many viewers were left to wonder how deliberate that decision was, especially as it comes days after Swoopes went notably quiet during a discussion of Clark’s accomplishments.
While conspiracy theories ran wild, it was worth noting that Swoopes, Lieberman, and Fran Harris have been rotating the analyst role all season long. Plus, Swoops called a Wings-Fever game earlier this season and even interviewed the rookie phenom afterward.
Still, plenty of people watching at home couldn’t help but note how positive Lieberman was in her coverage of Clark.
“By far, she’s going to be rookie of the year,” Lieberman said during the game. “If anybody thinks she’s not, feel free to call me or hit me on Instagram or Twitter… She’s in the MVP conversation.”
“We should celebrate Caitlin Clark, not (tolerate) her,” Lieberman added. “Thank you Caitlin for uplifting the game and what you are doing for our league.”
Monday, Lieberman appeared on The Stephen A. Smith Show and discussed the situation surrounding her, Swoopes, and Clark. She also admitted her relationship with Swoopes has been damaged for a while over their differing opinions about the rookie.
Nancy Lieberman on the Stephen A Smith Show discussing how she called Sheryl Swoopes to discuss her comments on Caitlin Clark pic.twitter.com/bSIvI3TVvw
— correlation (@nosyone4) September 2, 2024
“I’ve known Sheryl, I’ve coached her, have a lot of respect for her,” Lieberman told Smith. “I called her when Caitlin was still playing at Iowa, and she had just broken [Pete] Maravich’s record… There was this quote by Sheryl that said… [Clark’s] records were illegitimate.”
“I called her as a friend, and I said, ‘You can say whatever you want. You can have your own opinion about anybody, but you do have to get the statistics right. If you did get ahead of this and say, ‘Hey, I made a mistake on my numbers,’ then this thing is over and everybody respects you for your opinion. You might like Boston. I might like the Yankees. It’s okay to have difference of opinions.
“Well, she got upset with me on the phone and I was like, ‘Sheryl, I’m not doing anything to hurt you. I’m just sharing. We’re talking.’ Our relationship pretty much is not happening at this point. I tried to talk to her at the Final Four. She didn’t want to talk to me. My life’s going to be good or great with or without Sheryl Swoopes in my life. I’d rather have her in it.”
Swoopes saw the clip and responded on X, saying she’s doing just fine not speaking to her fellow Wings analyst either.
“Now here you go! I get what you trying to do wit ya boy Stephen A. Smith but it ain’t working,” Swoopes wrote. “You know good and well what happened. And ditto…my life is good without you too(and him). You wanna go there?”
Now here you go! I get what you trying to do wit 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? https://t.co/puXmIfjy56
— Sheryl Swoopes (@airswoopes22) September 2, 2024
It probably doesn’t help matters that Lieberman made these latest comments on Smith’s show. Smith called Swoopes “insane” for refusing to credit Clark for the Indiana Fever’s rise earlier this season and she called Smith a “coward” in response.
It’s not very often you see a personal feud between broadcasters calling the same team spill out so publically (though it has happened before). We’ll be very curious to see what comes next, be it from Lieberman, Swoopes, or the Wings.
Also, as a reminder, the Wings and Fever are scheduled to play again on September 15 and the game will be broadcast locally in Dallas on Bally Sports Southwest. We can’t wait to see who they decide to have on as the analyst for that game.
