ESPN’s Monica McNutt has unleashed her latest anti-Caitlin Clark rant, this time making false claims about how the WNBA rookie of the year is chosen, all in an attempt to deny Clark the honor.
Appearing on ESPN’s Get Up, McNutt claimed that Clark does not deserve the WNBA Rookie of the Year award. In her opinion, that honor should go to the Chicago Sky’s Angel Reese.
“My rookie of the year is going to go based on the standings,” said McNutt. “And the Sky right now are in the playoffs. So, you’d have to give the nod in my mind to Angel Reese,” McNutt said.
“My rookie of the year is going to go based on the standings. … And the Sky right now are in the playoffs. So, you’d have to give the nod in my mind to Angel Reese.”
—@McNuttMonica on the WNBA ROTY race between Reese and Caitlin Clark pic.twitter.com/65CnhbObrL
— Get Up (@GetUpESPN) July 5, 2024
McNutt’s thesis appears to be that the Sky have a better record than the Fever, so Clark doesn’t deserve consideration for ROTY.
But is that really the case? For one thing, Reese’s team has one fewer game (7) in the W column than Clark’s Indiana Fever (8). However, the Sky has played fewer games, 19, to the Fever’s 21.
Also, as Outkick noted, the number of games won doesn’t even matter because the number of games won or playoff standing has not been a factor for ROTY awards in the past. Last year, for instance, the Fever’s Aliyah Boston, who is black, won the award even though her team had the third-worst record in the league.
There is no indication that McNutt opposed that award.
The same has been true of the NBA. This year, the Spurs’ Victor Wembanyama won the award despite the Spurs finishing among the five worst teams.
Then there is the icing on the cake against McNutt’s concept: Clark’s Fever have beaten Reese’s Sky in two of their three head-to-head matchups this year..
Finally, ESPN’s own statistics show that Clark has better stats than Reese. Clark has averaged 16 points to date, while Resse has averaged only 13.2. Clark has 7.1 assists to Reese’s 1.9. And Clark has nearly the same number of steals, 1.3 for Clark versus 1.4 for Reese. The only big difference is the number of rebounds Reese has (11.8) compared to Clark’s 5.7.
However, Reese’s lead in that category is largely due to her being far closer to the basket than Clark because she plays an entirely different position.
So, in the end, it makes one wonder why Monica McNutt is so constantly on the lookout for ways to tear down Caitlin Clark. Why does McNutt hate Clark so much after she nearly single-handedly brought more fans to the WNBA than Angel Reeses or anyone else ever has?
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