Stephen A. Smith believes President Donald Trump could spark investigation into Caitlin Clark WNBA treatment

Just days after the Wall Street Journal published an opinion piece about Caitlin Clark and her civil rights, ESPN analyst Stephen A. Smith is distancing himself from the discourse a bit. Smith was wrapped up in a similar headline suggesting the WNBA should be investigated for its treatment of Clark.

He clarified Thursday on First Take, noting essentially that he believed it’s not out of the realm of possibility such an investigation takes place, perhaps even at the behest of the president. But advocate for that he did not, he said.

“Well listen, here’s the deal. You have a lot of people in America out there, because when I saw that article I commented on my show, the Stephen A. Smith Show on YouTube, talking about Caitlin Clark and how a case can be made on her behalf if folks were to get involved by the level of physicality that she’s been exposed to and how people are portraying her as being victimized,” Smith said. “An argument could be made about that.

“Well Sports Illustrated, to a higher degree FOX News came out and put that caption up that FOX News posted: ‘Stephen A. Smith suggests support for federal investigation into WNBA for treatment of Caitlin Clark.’ No, I’m not advocating for it. I’m not supporting it. That is inaccurate. That’s not what I’m saying.”

Caitlin Clark has been wrapped up in controversy after controversy, seemingly through no fault of her own. The latest seems to be a complaint that she’s missing time due to injury that may not have happened had she not been a physical target of much of the league.

Could an outside party get involved? Possibly in an investigation into those claims?

“What I’m saying is the present administration in the White House, with some of the things that they’ve been willing to do in the past in terms of going at the institutions, in terms of highlighting stuff like Trump did in the past with Colin Kaepernick in the NFL, this is not something that’s beyond reproach,” Smith said. “This is not something that he is unlikely to speak about.”

That was the main point Smith seemed intent on making. That the president pushing for an investigation is a real possibility.

“If he gets involved and that base gets involved, because somehow, some way they embrace victimhood on the part of Caitlin Clark it could be a problem,” Smith said.

He also explained why he believes some of the WNBA has an issue with Caitlin Clark. He pointed to a teammate as evidence the issue is real, too.

“Her teammate Sophie Cunningham has said it’s been excessive,” Smith said of the contact Clark routinely faces. “Rebecca Lobo, our analyst here at ESPN, says every player gets a foul. Dick Vitale, the great Dick Vitale, accused players of being jealous. Geno Auriemma, national champion coach, the Hall of Famer, one of the all-time greats at UConn, not her coach, but this man said he has seen her receive treatment that (Michael) Jordan didn’t even receive.”

Smith wrapped up by discussing the level of Clark’s fame relative to her peers. That’s essentially the dividing line that is causing much of the issue.

“So when you have people pointing to that and they’re highlighting how things are going on in the WNBA, maybe because of animus, jealousy, et cetera, et cetera, you can’t rule out the possibility that the administration may get involved,” Smith said. “There is a senator, and I forget his name, who sent the letter to the WNBA requesting an answer as to why Caitlin Clark seems to be receiving unfair treatment from the referees. She missed no games last year. She’s missed 17 games this year. When she has missed games, go look at the ratings, the numbers. They plummet. Even though there was over two million viewers for the WNBA All-Star weekend, there was a 36% drop in the ratings compared to the previous year when she played.

“She’s a cash cow. She’s box office. And you do have a lot of people that have come across, not everybody, but have come across as resenting it for that. Because you have a lot of ladies in the WNBA who rightfully believe they did so much to help build this league that they resent the fact that people want to act like they don’t matter nearly as much as she does. What they’re forgetting, however, is that the audience determines that. Where the audience lies, who they’re interested in seeing matters.”