Skip Bayless claims WNBA not doing enough to 'protect' Catilin Clark

Skip Bayless is back with another hot take, this time about second-year WNBA star Caitlin Clark of the Indiana Fever. Since her rookie season last year Clark has been attributed with bringing an increased interest in the league, which set records both in TV ratings and attendance in 2024.

But Bayless argued that while that should have veteran players excited about the added exposure which can hopefully generate more revenue for the WNBA, he has seen the opposite. He pointed to perceived “jealousy” from other players in the league that he believes is preventing the league from fully taking advantage of Clark’s superstardom.

“The attitude I sense from so many other older WNBA players seems to be, ‘What are we, chopped liver? It’s not just her driving these ratings. What have we been doing all these years?’ Sorry, ladies, but compared to her drawing power, you are chopped liver,” Bayless said on his podcast. “You’re just going to have to accept that she alone is driving the ratings way, way above what all of you together were able to generate before she first set foot on a WNBA stage.

“So come on, ladies. Quit complaining about Caitlin Clark and just accept and embrace that she is the reason all of you ultimately will make far, far more money. But no, petty jealousy kicks in, takes over. Other teams are constantly complaining to the league office about all the publicity and all the credit that Caitlin Clark gets, even though she doesn’t do much on social media, doesn’t say much when she’s interviewed, just says all the right things, nothing but clichés and platitudes, nothing but respect for all of the older stars in the league. Caitlin’s actually pretty boring unless she’s playing basketball.”

Bayless pointed to Saturday’s contest between the Fever and defending champion New York Liberty, which came down to the final play in a 90-88 loss for Indiana. Clark had the ball with three seconds remaining and attempted to put up the game-tying shot before being blocked by Natasha Cloud.

Clark protested with officials that she was fouled on the play but to no avail. Replay didn’t seem to give a conclusive angle to tell whether Cloud had made contact with Clark’s arm.

Bayless sided with Clark that she was fouled on the play and that she “earned” that call because it was a Fever home game. He also insinuated that the WNBA was “afraid to protect” Clark by making the call for fear of how it might have been perceived by other players.

“What? No call? I mean, Caitlin Clark has at least earned that call at home in that moment,” Bayless said. “…Yet this league office is obviously deathly afraid of an open player revolt, just a revolution against Caitlin Clark, a mutiny against Caitlin Clark. So the refs are given the message. They’re clearly afraid to protect Caitlin Clark from the bully tactics and the excessive physicality inflicted on her.

“Heck, I don’t know. Maybe veteran refs are resentful of all the attention that Caitlin Clark gets. I don’t know. That’s the way it looked on Saturday. Talk about biting the hand that feeds you or letting defenders bite that hand.”

So far the Fever are off to a 2-2 start on the young season that includes just 1-2 in its home games. It was reported Monday that Clark suffered a quad strain and will miss at least two weeks. It’s unclear exactly when she suffered the injury.

Clark is coming off of winning Rookie of the Year in 2024 and currently has the second-best odds to win the MVP this season at +250. She certainly has gotten a lot more people talking about the league, whether the calls go her way or not.