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Sheryl Swoopes continues to downplay Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark.
Swoopes, a four-time WNBA champion and three-time league MVP, received attention in February over her comments about Clark. Swoopes downplayed Clark’s college accomplishments at Iowa.
The 53-year-old Swoopes continues to argue against Clark’s achievements.
Swoopes spoke on “Gil’s Arena,” a show hosted by former NBA All-Star Gilbert Arenas. Swoopes argued why she doesn’t feel Clark’s rookie season with the Indiana Fever has been dominant.
“Those are helluva numbers. But to me, that’s not dominating,” Swoopes said.
Swoopes feels like Clark falls in comparison to A’ja Wilson, who on Sunday eclipsed the 1,000-point mark for the season. Wilson leads the league with 27.0 points and 13.1 rebounds per game.
Clark is averaging 19.5 points, 5.7 rebounds and 8.4 assists per game. Clark’s assists and 3.1 three-pointers per game both lead the league — but that’s not enough for Swoopes to regard as dominating.
Swoopes does not consider Caitlin Clark's 19.5 PPG, 5.7 RPG, and 8.4 APG this season to be "dominant"
She is the only player in WNBA history to average those numbers or better pic.twitter.com/VM1i5CayNL
— Clark Report (@CClarkReport) September 17, 2024
More must-reads:
- Analyst denies Caitlin Clark is the 'savior' of WNBA
- The Kelsey Mitchell-Caitlin Clark duo needs a nickname
- The 'First overall WNBA draft pick' quiz
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Angels, Orioles fill needs with this surprising trade
The Baltimore Orioles were looking to add a right-handed hitting outfielder during the offseason. The Los Angeles Angels, meanwhile, needed to add talent to a thin pitching staff. A trade between the two teams has begun the process of filling those holes on the roster. The Orioles traded pitcher Grayson Rodriguez to the Angels on Tuesday night. In exchange, the Angels sent outfielder Taylor Ward to Baltimore. This trade may provide a window into the expectations of both teams. Ward is slated to become a free agent after the upcoming season, a win-now move for a team looking to prove that a dismal 2025 showing was an aberration. Rodriguez, meanwhile, is under team control through the 2029 season. Angels, Orioles trade a possible win for both teams In addition to balancing out a lefty-hitting outfield, the 31-year-old Ward gives the Orioles a power element that they were lacking in the lineup. He produced a .228/.317/.475 batting line over 663 plate appearances, hitting 36 homers and 31 doubles. Although Ward is strictly a left fielder at this stage of his career, his powerful bat mitigates his lack of defensive versatility. Rodriguez missed the entire 2025 season due to a myriad of injuries. A consensus top-100 prospect from 2020-23, Rodriguez had begun to live up to expectations in 2024 before a strained right lat ended his season. He posted a solid 3.86 ERA and a 1.243 WHiP over 116.2 innings, striking out 130 batters with 36 walks. Rodriguez underwent elbow surgery in August and is expected to return to the mound in either March or April. This trade may end up as a victory for both sides. Rodriguez gives the Angels a needed starter to slot behind Yusei Kikuchi in the rotation and could establish himself as a top-of-the-rotation arm if he is fully healthy. Ward adds a dangerous power hitter to a solid lineup. Should the Orioles return to the postseason with Ward as a factor, he would be well worth the cost.
Islanders-Stars game ends with ejection, review and Patrick Roy screaming
The New York Islanders' 3-2 win over the Dallas Stars on Tuesday night ended with complete mayhem that included an ejection, Islanders coach Patrick Roy screaming and a replay review on what could have been a potential buzzer-beating game-tying goal. It is probably the most chaotic ending of the 2025-26 NHL season to date. Here's what happened. Mikko Rantanen ejected for hit that enraged Patrick Roy Things really started to pop off when Stars forward Mikko Rantanen was ejected for boarding Islanders defenseman Alexander Romanov with just 27 seconds remaining. Rantanen was assessed a match penalty for the hit, resulting in Roy screaming at him between the benches. Roy is no stranger to these sorts of altercations in his head-coaching career, and he has repeatedly gotten himself into verbal — and nearly physical — altercations with opponents. His first game as an NHL head coach with the Colorado Avalanche nearly resulted in him climbing over the glass to fight then-Anaheim Ducks head coach Bruce Boudreau. He has passion. But that was only the start of the crazy ending. Potential buzzer-beating game-tying goal overturned on replay review As the Islanders were attempting to cling to a one-goal lead, the Stars appeared to tie the game with a buzzer-beating goal that would have sent the game to overtime, completing a wild comeback that started with a goal just one minute earlier. The only problem: The goal was taken away when it was determined that Stars forward Jason Robertson interfered with goalie David Rittich. Robertson definitely makes contact with Rittich in the crease, and he is responsible for making every possible effort to avoid that. But it is also true that Islanders defenseman Ryan Pulock gives him a pretty good hit that sends him into the crease and into Rittich. The officials and NHL clearly did not think that was the cause of the interference and overturned the goal, securing the Islanders win. Goaltending interference can be a pretty subjective call. In this case, it did not favor the Stars.
CFP rankings: SEC in great shape after third reveal
The third College Football Playoff rankings of the 2025 season were released on Tuesday night with Ohio State, Indiana, Texas A M, Georgia and Texas Tech making up the top five. The Bulldogs and Red Raiders each move up one spot with Alabama falling down to 10th after a 23-21 loss to Oklahoma on Saturday. Ole Miss, Oregon, Oklahoma, Notre Dame and Alabama round out the top 10. The Big Ten and SEC continue their dominance by claiming eight of the top-10 spots, but the SEC looks to be in the best position of any league with five teams in the top 10, even with Alabama's second loss of the season. Alabama clings to playoff spot as SEC's outlook only grows stronger Here is a look at what the 12-team bracket would look like as of Tuesday: The biggest takeaway from this week's rankings is the position the SEC finds itself in. Texas A M, Georgia and Ole Miss appear to be in excellent shape, while Oklahoma and Alabama still find themselves in the projected field. Texas was the biggest loser, falling seven spots to No. 17 after its loss to Georgia. Even for Alabama, which suffered its second loss on Saturday, it could still find itself in the SEC Championship game depending on how everything plays out over the final two weeks, which could only strengthen its case even more. Miami remains the highest-ranked ACC team at No. 13, ahead of No. 16 Georgia Tech and No. 19 Virginia. With the five highest-ranked conference champions guaranteed to make the 12-team field, Miami would inherit the 11-seed as things currently stand. Following South Florida's loss to Navy, Tulane moves up to No. 24 and the 12th-seed as the highest-ranked Group of Five team. No. 11 BYU would be the first team out following the third reveal. There are two ranked matchups this weekend as No. 8 Oklahoma hosts No. 22 Missouri and No. 15 USC takes on No. 7 Oregon. With only two weeks of regular-season play remaining, time is running out to add quality wins to resumes, something each of these two games will certainly do. Assuming there are no more hiccups, the SEC has a realistic shot at getting five teams in the field. Week 12 presented an opportunity for other teams to move up, but after Texas A M completed its remarkable comeback over South Carolina and with Alabama remaining in the top 10, that does not bode well for the rest of the field.
Former Heisman winner has bold take on James Franklin, Virginia Tech
It makes sense for the Virginia Tech Hokies to be excited about the addition of James Franklin as their new head coach. Franklin was fired by Penn State for failing to live up to the championship expectations in Happy Valley. For a program looking to get back on its feet and reestablish itself in this new era of college football, though, Franklin is a home run hire. Virginia Tech now has a bona fide head coach who can win games and recruit at a high level. Let's not talk about winning "the big one" for now. Right now, the Hokies just need to get back into that conversation, and Franklin is great for them in that regard. Getting into the conversation is one thing. Staying there is another, and it's worth noting that one college football commentator, former Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Robert Griffin III, thinks this will be the move that helps put VT back in that stratosphere. “Virginia Tech will become an ACC contender year in and year out with James Franklin as Head Coach,” Griffin said on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. James Franklin will need time to turn things around at Virginia Tech It's one thing to be excited about this move for the Hokies because it is a big-time hire for them. To say that they'll be a contender "year in and year out" is a bit of a premature statement at this moment, though. Franklin can absolutely get them there, but it's going to take time for him to rebuild this program. The Hokies have pledged to put $229M into the athletics budget over the next four years, and you can bet a ton of that is going to go to Franklin so that he can hire good coaches and attract players with big-time NIL deals on the recruiting trail and in the transfer portal. The Hokies haven't had a 10-win season since 2016, though, so even in this era when quick turnarounds are possible, giving Franklin a year or two of cushion would be smart. His getting VT to the top of the ACC every season is an idea that also flies in the face of the reputation that he earned at Penn State. Sure, the ACC is in no way as stacked as the Big Ten, but Clemson, Florida State and Miami are huge brands with a ton of money and momentum behind them that won't be going anywhere. Though Franklin did get PSU into the inaugural 12-team College Football Playoff last season, it's worth remembering that he was 4-21 against AP top-10 opponents at Penn State and 1-18 against top-10 opponents from within the Big Ten. That's a .160 winning percentage against AP top-10 teams, and that's not going to get magically better just because he's coaching in the ACC now. If he's going to get Virginia Tech back into the college football limelight, it's going to be much harder than just showing up when "Enter Sandman" starts playing. He's certainly talented enough of a coach and recruiter to do it, but let's pump the brakes and let him get settled into his new office before we start talking about Virginia Tech once again being a top program.
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