Caitlin Clark has faced multiple hard fouls early in her WNBA career. Most recently, she was struck across the head by a Flagrant 1 foul from Chicago Sky rookie Angel Reese, who was the Indiana Fever’s No. 1 overall pick.

During a recent episode of Gil’s Arena, former NBA star Gilbert Arenas commented that Reese has embraced her role as a “bully” in the WNBA. WNBA legend Sheryl Swoopes, also a guest on the show, swiftly responded to Arenas’ viewpoint. Swoopes countered Arenas’ view on Reese, asserting instead that Clark is the real bully.

“She’s not a bully… If we’re talking about bullies, let’s discuss every time Caitlin pushes off when she has the ball,” Swoopes remarked. “Just putting it out there.”

This wasn’t the first instance of Swoopes making controversial remarks about Clark on Arenas’ show. Earlier in January, the three-time WNBA MVP and four-time champion had raised doubts about the legitimacy of Clark’s all-time NCAA scoring record.

Fever guard Caitlin Clark at Crypto.com Arena.

Swoopes mistakenly stated that Clark was in her fifth year at lowa, but the former Hawkeyes star actually set the record in four seasons.

“If Kelsey Plum set that record in four years, well, Caitlin should’ve broke that record in four years,” Swoopes said. “But because there’s a COVID year, and then there’s another year, you know what I mean? So she’s already had an extra year to break that record. So, is it truly a broken record? I don’t know. I don’t think so. But yeah, that’ll go in the record books. And, I don’t think it should be.”
Swoopes later retracted her comments and acknowledged her mistake.

Clark and the Fever are set to play against the Washington Mystics on Wednesday night.