Pat McAfee has issued a groveling apology after he bizarrely called Caitlin Clark a ‘white b****’ live on national TV on Monday while offering a strange defense of the Indiana Fever star.
McAfee noted how other rookies – like Angel Reese and Cameron Brink – had also boosted the profile of the WNBA but said their impact is tiny compared to Clark’s.
He also brought up a number of statistics comparing the three rookies to illustrate that Clark is in a league of her own. But while doing so, he called her a ‘white b****’, which seemed completely unnecessary.
Taking to X later on Monday, McAfee posted: ‘I shouldn’t have used “white b****” as a descriptor of Caitlin Clark.
‘No matter the context.. even if we’re talking about race being a reason for some of the stuff happening.. I have way too much respect for her and women to put that into the universe.
Pat McAfee bizarrely called Caitlin Clark a ‘white b****’ while live on national TV on Monday
The TV host posted a groveling apology to Clark, saying he has ‘way too much respect for her’
That was Guess Which WNBA Rookie#PMSLive #Journalism https://t.co/c3qhIbrk2e pic.twitter.com/SrQwC3Ejpv
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) June 3, 2024
‘My intentions when saying it were complimentary just like the entire segment but, a lot of folks are saying that it certainly wasn’t at all. That’s 100% on me and for that I apologize… I have sent an apology to Caitlin as well. Everything else I said… still alllllll facts.’
Clark, the WNBA’s No. 1 overall pick, has dominated the headlines in recent days after being brutally fouled by Chennedy Carter of the Chicago Sky.
The Indiana Fever star was knocked to the ground by Carter towards the end of the third quarter of their win on Saturday and it has sparked a debate about the treatment of Clark since she turned pro.
Clark has constantly been the subject of rough treatment from opponents during her rookie season amid claims of jealousy from other players at her explosive impact on women’s basketball.
McAfee, who was at the Fever-Sky game and saw the incident unfold, gave an passionate defense of Clark on Monday and said she alone had been the driving force behind the WNBA’s surge in popularity.
Speaking on his ESPN show, McAfee said: ‘I would like the media people that continue to say “this rookie class, this rookie class, this rookie class” – no, just call it for what it is.
‘There’s one white b**** for the Indiana team who is a superstar and is it because she stayed at Iowa, put an entire state on her back, took a program from nothing to a multiple-year success story?
‘Is it because she would go on to break the entire points records in the history of the NCAA, not just the women’s record by Kelsey Plum, but also Pete Maravich’s.
‘Is there a chance that people just enjoy watching her play basketball because of how electrifying she is, what she did, what she stood for, how she went about what she went for, maybe.
‘But instead we have to hear people say that we only like her because she’s white and she’s only popular because the rest of the rookie class is doing what they’re doing.
‘Well that’s a bunch of bulls*** and we think the WNBA, and more specifically their referees, need to stop trying to screw her over at every single turn.
Clark has dominated the headlines after being brutally fouled by Chennedy Carter on Saturday
Clark was inexplicably bodychecked to the ground by Chicago Sky’s Chennedy Carter
‘What you have is somebody special and we’re lucky she’s here in Indiana.
‘Once again, I respect the way Chennedy Carter goes about her business. I was on the floor – they were telling her to relax after that thing while they were reviewing it.
‘Turns out it was flagrant, even though those WNBA refs are looking for Caitlin to respond in this situation. The refs were probably looking at Caitlin and waiting for her to give them a nasty look so they could tee her up.
‘It has been not just the players. It has not been just the players that have been like ‘not in our league’ it is also very clearly the refs and I think if you hear the media talking about it it’s the same thing.’
McAfee’s comments didn’t go down well with fans on social media, though.
One wrote: ‘Why a woman got to be a B**ch ???? As much as you “support her” you couldn’t think of anything else to say??? Yo whole point was not valid and then you proceeded to call her out her name… ewwww’.
Another commented: ‘So it’s okay if people call your daughter a white b****? Here’s a quarter—go buy some class.’
‘Calling any women a B**** is insane ….especially trying to give a compliment’, another posted.
One user wrote: ‘I’ve NEVER liked Pat McAfee…ever!! And today serves as a HUGE reminder why! For him to call Caitlin Clark what he did, and to say it with his WHOLE chest, on National TV is beyond unacceptable. ESPN better discipline him. And let’s not forget that NO ONE checked him. Disgusting’.
Earlier on ESPN, Stephen A. Smith offered his opinion alongside WNBA expert Monica McNutt, Shannon Sharpe and host Molly Qerim.
Smith is of the belief that there are WNBA players who are jealous of the attention that Clark has been getting – even before she entered the league – with the host saying that race may be a part of it.
‘There are girls – young ladies – in the WNBA who are jealous of Caitlin Clark. She is a White girl that has come into the league,’ Smith said.
‘She has bursted onto the scene. She hasn’t proven herself yet. It’s not even about them thinking they’re better than her because they probably know it at this particular juncture because they’ve been playing on a level she just arrived to.
‘Where the resentment comes in is the hard work, the commitment, the dedication, the pounding of the pavement, the being on the grind all of these years trying to uplift this brand that is the WNBA and is women’s professional basketball.
Stephen A. Smith believes that players in the WNBA are jealous of Caitlin Clark
‘All of their efforts were in vain until this girl comes along and takes the league by storm, takes the sport by form in college and has accomplished in a short period of time what they haven’t been able to.
‘One would think that folks would be smart enough to recognize and appreciate that about Caitlin Clark – piggyback off of that to their benefit and praise her and support her for it while competing on the court against her.’
Smith also contextualized the hip-check that Carter delivered on Clark, saying the Indiana star delivered an elbow that may have caused Carter to retaliate.
‘You do that to a person who is now the face of the WNBA, you know that there’s something a little extra to that,’ he continued.
‘Now, in fairness to her, I’ve seen a report where it showed Caitlin Clark elbowing her first and it was retaliatory – I get that part.
‘Let’s also remember that before she shoved, she hip-checked her from the back, from behind, she called her the B-word.… We get all of that. That’s in the heat of competition. We’re not going to overblow that.
‘What we’re going to do is give the level of appreciation that it deserves in terms of the venom and potential hostility that exists toward this “golden girl”, who happens to be white and how the WNBA is promoting her.’
Pat McAfee may have finally crossed the line at ESPN after calling Caitlin Clark something very unexpected, although Chennedy Carter called her something very close to that over the weekend.
McAfee was discussing Clark’s impact on the WNBA and was not criticizing the Indiana Fever rookie but still ended up branding her a “White B-.”
Interest in WNBA basketball has ramped up mostly due to Clark’s arrival, and Pat was calling other members of the media out for pretending as if the entire 2024 rookie class is responsible for all the new fans the women’s league has attracted this year.
“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,” he said on ‘The Pat McAfee Show’ on Monday.
We didn’t believe it either, but check out the video below:
That was Guess Which WNBA Rookie#PMSLive #Journalism https://t.co/c3qhIbrk2e pic.twitter.com/SrQwC3Ejpv
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) June 3, 2024
“why speak on caitlin clark or any young woman in the wnba this way?????” one fan asked.
“Only a white man can do what he just did,” another said.
“Pat actively trying to get ESPN to let him go at this point so he can go solo again,” another observed.
“Pat doing everything he can to get fired,” another comment read.
Caitlin Clark Can’t Catch A Break
Of course, we get his point. That isn’t to say that we agree with it, but was calling her such a name really necessary?
We also get who Pat McAfee is. The man says the wildest things imaginable for a living. But Caitlin Clark will feel like she can’t catch a break.
After winning two of her first 11 games in the WNBA on the back of a second straight national championship disappointment, multiple cheap shots, and endless criticism, she would expect someone praising her impact in the media to at least not call her a “White B-,” right?
