ESPN sportscaster Monica McNutt has found herself at the center of a storm following her latest comments about Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever.
McNutt has regularly shared her thoughts on Clark and the Fever, drawing backlash in September 2024 after saying that she thinks Clark deserves only 60% of the credit for the Fever securing a playoff spot.
Recently, the BBC sat down to interview McNutt and the conversation found its way to Clark and McNutt admitted that she can’t deny the impact Clark is having, as shown by the number of little girls who show up to watch her games.
When asked why that is, she said: “Caitlin represented, and again, some of this to me probably is not fair to her, because it was not anything that she said or was truly based on her personality, but she was a white girl from the middle of America.
“And so she represented a whole lot to a lot of people, whether that is truly what she prescribed to or not.”
Fans react to McNutt’s comments
Many fans took issue with these comments and the responses didn’t take long to come.
“Wait, so if a young black girl can look up to a black basketball player, it’s okay. But little white girls can’t do the same? Gotcha,” a comment on X read.
“Because surely there were no white boys who grew up watching MJ, Kobe or LeBron and took interest, we were only Larry Bird fans, apparently,” said another.
“This woman does nothing but give bad takes I have no idea why she is even on ESPN,” criticized a user.
Some people did choose to defend McNutt on this occasion.
“This statement isn’t coherently wrong if you take it past face value Would most people agree with Caitlin Clark’s fanbase is predominantly white whereas Angle Reese‘s fanbase is predominantly black?” a reaction read.
“What’s wrong with what she said? I don’t get it?” claimed another.
“But Monica is right, CC is a WHITE woman from the middle of nowhere Iowa. Most stars that come into any league come from bigger cities or schools; Iowa is neither. Younger girls attached themselves to CC because of how popular she got,” explained a viewer.
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