A’ja Wilson FURIOUS After Stephen A. Smith PRAISES Caitlin Clark’s Performance At FIBA World Cup!

A’ja Wilson FURIOUS After Stephen A. Smith PRAISES Caitlin Clark’s Performance At FIBA World Cup!

We know what she brings to the table. But people wanted to hate because why? You had a bunch of players in this league that watched this this this young white girl come along and take the league by storm and they resented it because they saw the marketing prowess that she had. They ignored the fact that you got chartered flights because of this girl.

 They ignored the fact that ratings were going through the roof because of this girl. Instead, they resented it because they said, “Yo, we were doing stuff long before Caitlyn Clark got here and y’all wasn’t paying attention then. But now the young white girl comes along and y’all want to sit up there and shower all of this praise and all of this attention that was earned before she ever came along.

” The resentment is understandable, but it’s not about Caitlyn Clark. It’s about what she represents. My point is, grow up. Who cares if you’re Magic and Bird? That didn’t stop Jordan from coming along and doing what he did. >> Aa Wilson missed the FIA World Cup. Caitlyn Clark went to Berlin and came home with a gold medal.

 And now one of Stephen A. Smith’s oldest arguments about Caitlyn suddenly looks a whole lot stronger. She automatically and instantaneously improved the conditions. Attendance is still lagging. WNBA is still losing money compared to what you would hope it would earn. But clearly things are on an upward on an upward trending trajectory.

 It’s improving and she has everything to do with it. Attendance for Indiana Fever Games. Are you kidding me? MWNBA draft games on ABC, ESPN, television ratings, she’s directly responsible. And people were resenting her for it like she was the cause of the problems that they had for the lack of recognition.

 No, she just happened to be born white. Because remember what people said when Caitlyn was left off Team USA back in 2024. They said the people demanding her inclusion were talking about ticket sales, television ratings, and popularity instead of [music] basketball. Steven A kept pushing back on that. His point was simple. Caitlyn was already producing against WNBA players, and acting like putting her on the national team would have been some kind of charity roster spot never made sense.

>> They must think we stupid, y’all. [laughter] Asia Wilson and Becky Hammond continue the foolishness in terms of her skipping out on Team USA because we know she did not want to be in the shadows of the Clark show, baby. She did not want to be in the shadows of Caitlyn Clark. >> Well, two years later, Caitlyn finally got her opportunity on the World Cup stage.

 And what did she do in her very first game? 14 points, 11 assists, three-pointers, zero turnovers, plus 30 in 25 minutes against China. That is one heck of a way to answer an old argument. And sitting at home while all of this was happening was Aza Wilson, one of the greatest players in the world, who had withdrawn from Team USA only days before the tournament began because of health concerns.

 [music] Wilson later explained that she simply did not feel physically right and did not want to put on a USA uniform if she could not [music] give the team 100%. Right here you can already see it. Asia Wilson’s facing backlash from some fans after reddrawing from team USA. Asia Wilson just quit on the United States of America.

 Too scared to share the spotlight with a guard from Indiana. more. >> But once Caitlyn started producing, you already knew where the conversation was going. Because Caitlyn didn’t slowly ease herself into international basketball against China, she checked into that game and immediately started controlling it.

 Watch those first few possessions after she comes off the bench. The ball starts moving faster. [music] She gets into the paint. Defenders turn their heads. Shooters suddenly have space in the corners. [music] Caitlyn had four assists in her first four minutes on the floor. FIA itself called the performance record-breaking. [music] Her 11 assists were the most ever by an American player making her women’s World Cup debut.

 And FIA said Clark became the first player since the statistic began being tracked in 1994 to record at least 10 assists in a World Cup game without a turnover. Caitlyn Clark hasn’t spoken against anybody. She hasn’t assisted in denying anybody else the privileges they deserve. If anything, she’s tried to provide assistance.

 A rising tide lifts all boats. She’s trying to be the rising tide that lifts the boats. The third most watched Fibo Women’s World Cup ever. Up 158% from the 2022 Women’s World Cup final. Up 750% from 2018, up over 100 near uh over 158% from 2022. Big numbers. And then as we already went over the semi-final against Spain, 938,000 viewers.

 Carol Lawson even admitted afterward, “I thought Caitlyn was terrific.” Think about that for a second. For years, every conversation about Caitlyn Clark seemed to come with another excuse attached to it. She sells tickets, but what about the basketball? She brings viewers, but what about experience? She can shoot, but can she play with an entire roster full of stars? Then she walks into her first World Cup game, comes off the bench against China, scores [music] 14, creates another pile of points with 11 assists, and does not turn the ball over

once. At some point, the basketball has to be allowed to speak for itself. And this is exactly why Steven A’s old argument has aged so well. Back when Caitlyn was left off the Olympic roster, Stephen A pushed back when people tried to act like Clark’s entire case was based on popularity.

 He pointed out that she was averaging around 16 points per game at the time and producing numbers comparable to guards who actually made the team. His message was basically, look at the numbers. Don’t pretend she was averaging five points per game and somebody wanted to hand her a uniform because she was famous.

 When we put our young guns in there, you know, it looked a little bit different. Um, and then you have the veterans that the slow down and execute when we needed to do that. So, I I felt like there was a perfect combination um of players. And I think for C, you know, being able to learn from those veterans.

 You know, FIA is different. Um, you know, World Cup and Olympics is different. It’s not the WNBA. Um, >> being able to sit and learn. They should have been able to sit and learn from her. They could learn a thing or two from the GOAT. For real. What are you talking about? She did. Oh, she can sit and learn. And what? What? Nothing better than on the job training.

She should have been out there more. She should have been out there more. And the fact that you her coach and you was there, you did nothing but just watch her sit on the sideline. I feel like Cara Lawson was kind of just saying, “Yeah, yeah, I’m getting a lot of these ideas from Stephanie White. This her plan.

” What? We can’t trust this lady coming back. All I know is on Friday that ball better be in Caitlyn Clark hands. Now, fast forward to Berlin. Nobody has to argue about whether Caitlyn can play at this level anymore. We watched it. And that puts Aha Wilson in a very [music] interesting position because her absence became one of the biggest stories surrounding this entire American roster before the tournament even started.

 [music] USA Basketball announced shortly before the World Cup that Wilson and Kelsey Plum would both miss the competition for health reasons. Wilson’s absence was especially noticeable. We’re talking about a four-time WNBA MVP and one of the most dominant interior players of her generation. Without her, Team USA suddenly had more space for younger names to take on larger roles.

 Caitlyn Clark, Paige Bucher, Angel Ree, and Caitlyn immediately became one of the faces everybody was watching. Wilson eventually addressed all the attention surrounding her decision when she returned to the Aces. [music] She said it was a major decision, but insisted the choice was about taking care of her body.

 Wilson explained that she was not simply resting for the playoffs. She said she did not feel well enough to give Team USA everything she had. That is Wilson’s explanation and she was very clear about it. But that did not stop the Caitlyn Clark comparisons from pouring in. >> I asked Asia if she used like the paper break to maybe like I don’t know get in the film room with you or like spend extra time in that area and she said no that she actually just kind of like took a break like rest.

 Did you kind of mandate mandate mandate that like just sit down somewhere and relax or what was you guys process like that? >> I don’t tell Asia what to do. Asia comes always ready to play. So, whatever she’s doing, I don’t worry about um she always knows how to take care of her body and um be ready to play. Um you know, >> wait a minute. Wait a minute.

 Her back would y’all said her back was hurting so bad you didn’t even bother to call and check on her to see how her back was feeling. Me make sure she was getting treatment to make sure her back was good for when y’all got back. That’s why I’m not buying this whole back thing. She was out parlaying, partying, kicking it, concerts, probably was in uh nightclubs kicking it, which is cool, but don’t say it’s because of your back.

 Because look at what happened without Wilson. Caitlyn got her chance. And even when her scoring disappeared at [music] different points during the tournament, her ability to create offense kept showing up. Against the Czech Republic, she had seven assists. Against Hungary in the quarterfinal, she finished with nine assists [music] in only 20 minutes.

 Then came Spain, and this is where things got strange. Team USA was in a World Cup semi-final in Berlin on September 12th. Spain was hanging around. The Americans could not pull away. The game was tied at 58 entering the fourth quarter. Caitlyn finished with only one point. She played 17 minutes, shot zero for three, and recorded just one assist.

 And immediately, people started pointing at that box score. See, maybe Carol Lawson was right to keep her minutes limited. Except basketball does not work like that. You cannot celebrate her historic game against China as evidence when it supports one side of the argument and then pretend her role has nothing to do with rhythm when the next game goes the other way.

 And it was sisters resentful of her. Be resentful of the system. Be resentful of the folks, primarily the white folks who basically disenfranchised y’all all of these years before she came along. who denied you the acclaim and the allure and the profit she richly deserved. BUT YOU DON’T TAKE THAT OUT ON CAITLYN CLARK. Not her. SHE’S THE ONE THAT ASSISTS YOU.

 Caitlyn is a point guard. She needs the basketball. Her greatest skill is not standing on the wing waiting for somebody else to run the offense. It is controlling pace, getting defenders moving, throwing hit ahead passes, attacking the paint, and finding somebody the defense forgot about. That is what made the China game so much fun to watch. Four assists in 4 minutes.

 The ball was flying. Then against Spain, you could practically feel how different the game looked. [music] Team USA survived it 76 to 66 after finally pulling away in the fourth quarter. Briana Stewart led the Americans with 16 points and the defense held Spain to [music] eight points in that final period.

 Then came France for the gold medal. And there was Caitlyn again. France jumped on team USA and built a 14-point first half lead. For a moment, the building in Berlin started to feel very uncomfortable for the Americans. Then Caitlyn knocked down a big three before halftime. She ended up scoring 12 points in only 13 minutes, shooting four of five from the field and two of three from beyond the ark.

 12 points in 13 minutes. That is production. [music] Team USA came back and won 97 to 79. Gold medal secured. Fifth straight World Cup championship for the United States. And Caitlyn Clark had now played on the biggest international stage available to her and walked away a world champion. That is where the Stephen A conversation gets uncomfortable for Caitlyn’s critics.

 Because what exactly is left to argue? You wanted proof that she belonged with Team USA [music] talent. She gave you 14 points and 11 assists in her World Cup debut. You wanted to know whether she could play beside other stars. She broke a USA debut assist record while doing it. [music] You wanted her to contribute in a gold medal game.

 She scored 12 points in 13 minutes. And I know somebody is going to say, “Well, she only averaged 7.8 8 points for the tournament. Correct. [music] She also averaged 5.3 assists while playing just over 19 minutes per game. She finished the World Cup with 32 assists in 116 total minutes. That is why simply reading the scoring column misses so much of what Caitlyn does.

 And Steven A has been talking about another piece of this situation for a long time, resentment. [music] He has openly said that when one young player suddenly arrives and receives enormous attention, veterans who spent years building the league can naturally feel some type of way about it.

 His argument was never that every WNBA player hated Caitlyn. He specifically said it was not everybody and not even most players, but he believed there was some resentment around the attention she received. That conversation becomes especially interesting whenever AA Wilson’s name enters the picture because Wilson has every individual accomplishment you could possibly want.

 MVPs, [music] championships, Olympic gold, World Cup success, she does not need anybody to explain her resume. But Caitlyn brings a completely different kind of spotlight. When Caitlyn walks into an arena, cameras follow. When she plays internationally, American basketball fans who normally could not tell you when the women’s World Cup begins suddenly know the schedule.

 That attention is real. Stephen A once compared the opportunity around Caitlyn to the NBA benefiting from the Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, and Michael Jordan eras. His message was that when one player brings another wave of viewers into the sport, everybody has an opportunity to benefit from those new eyes.

 And Caitlyn just gave him more basketball evidence to go with the popularity argument. She did not go to Berlin and spend two weeks waving from the bench. She produced. She had rough moments, too. [music] The Italy game was ugly. Spain was ugly offensively. She turned the ball over four times against France. But that makes the strong performances more convincing, not less, because we actually watched her adjust during a real international tournament instead of playing against perfect conditions. She struggled.

 She responded, she helped win gold. And now, Team USA moves forward knowing something it did not officially know in 2024. Caitlyn Clark can play major senior international basketball. No projection needed anymore. There is film, there are numbers, there is a gold medal. And that brings everything back to Aha Wilson.

Wilson says her World Cup withdrawal was about her body. She said she did not feel 100% and did not want to short change Team USA. [music] Caitlyn took the opportunity that opened in front of her and made sure people remembered what she did with it. [music] That is the part Steven A was arguing about years ago.

 Give the young woman the opportunity and let basketball decide what happens next. [music] Well, now we have the answer. 14- 11 against China, nine [clears throat] assists against Hungary, 12 points in 13 minutes in the championship game, and a World Cup gold medal around her neck. So, I want to hear from you. After watching Caitlyn Clark’s first World Cup from beginning to end, do you think Stephen A.

 Smith was right all along about how Team USA handled her back in 2024? And when the next major international roster is selected, should Caitlyn Clark still be coming off the bench, or has she shown enough to run the offense from the opening tip? [music] Drop your answer in the comments. And if you want more Caitlyn Clark, WNBA, and Team USA news and controversy, subscribe to the channel because we’ve got plenty more