Nancy Lieberman Pleads for Caitlin Clark's 'Petty' WNBA Guard Peers to Stop Hating

Women's basketball icon Nancy Lieberman didn't mince words when talking about how Caitlin Clark is received by her WNBA guard peers.

2022 ESPY Awards held at Dolby Theatre Featuring: Nancy Lieberman on July 19, 2022. | IMAGO / Cover-Images

Most within the women's basketball community had hoped that the narrative about WNBA veterans potentially being jealous of Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (given her extraordinary star power) would be left behind in Clark's 2024 rookie season.

Alas, while there are dissenting opinions on whether players are truly jealous of Clark or treat her differently than they would any other player, there's no doubt that this is still a common talking about among the WNBA media space.

This is shown by a strong stance that women's basketball icon Nancy Lieberman shared during a July 13 interview with TMZ.

"This is what Caitlin Clark is. Don't hate her. If she happens to be the cash cow right now, embrace it, and don't be petty. She's the best guard in the league," Lieberman said to WNBA players, per a video from TMZ's YouTube account.

"[Clark's] numbers have proven it, her game has proven it. And I would really implore some of the guards to just, you know, celebrate each other. Don't tolerate each other," she added. "Angel Reese is amazing, she just broke another record! These are beautiful, intelligent, amazing athletes, and we should be supporting each other, not being jealous of each other.

"And Caitlin Clark, she'll get tougher, right? She'll get bigger, she'll get stronger... It's okay, we want everybody to raise their level of play for the next generation who's coming after you," Lieberman added.

She concluded by saying, "Stop nitpicking with each other. Just go out there and ball!"

It will be interesting to see how this sentiment is received by Clark's WNBA peers.