Barstool Sports chief Dave Portnoy took a brutal shot at Stephen A. Smith over the sports media personality’s controversial take on Caitlin Clark.
Clark and the WNBA were once again thrust into the spotlight Tuesday night when the Indiana Fever superstar found herself at the center of a number of on-court skirmishes.
In a tense clash against the Sun, Clark was jabbed in the eye by Connecticut’s Jacy Sheldon, who had previously been caught in a heated exchange with the Fever guard, before being slammed to the floor by Marina Mabrey in a violent moment which sparked outrage online.
However, Smith suggested Clark wasn’t entirely innocent in the shocking on-court outburst, which is just the latest in a number directed at the Iowa product.
‘Clearly, when it comes to Caitlin Clark, there’s some resentment, as I’ve articulated before. What people are missing, Monica, is that I have no problem with it whatsoever,’ Smith told Monica McNutt during Wednesday’s episode of ‘First Take’.
‘Yes, there’s resentment… this is much ado about nothing! In the heat of competition, tempers flare! Last time I checked, women got tempers just like men do. It ain’t a problem! It ain’t a problem at all! It ain’t no big deal at all! I love it, personally.’
Dave Portnoy (R) called out Stephen A. Smith (L) for his take on the Caitlin Clark brawl
The Indiana Fever star was poked in the eye before being shoved to the ground by her rivals
‘Caitlin Clark being that golden goose, that rising tide that’s lifting all boats, I stand by my past proclamations that there’s resentment towards her because of that. But I want to take it a step further: There’s also resentment towards her because she instigates resentment towards her sometimes.’
But a furious Portnoy, who had expressed his outrage at Mabry Tuesday night, took issue with Smith’s version of events as he used a ‘Jeopardy!’ reference to shut down the ESPN analyst.
‘I’ll take things that never happened but ESPN always pretends did for 100 Alex. Less solitaire. More facts @1stephenasmith,’ Portnoy wrote on X in response to a clip of Smith’s take.
The American businessman further rubbed salt in the wound by taking a dig at Smith’s courtside game of solitaire.
Smith, who earlier this year signed a $100million ESPN contract, was caught playing the card game on his phone during the NBA Finals, where he was working for the network last week.
Clark had been prodded in the eye by Sheldon during the second quarter of the Fever’s 88-71 win. When the Indiana superstar reacted angrily to being struck by Sheldon, the latter’s teammate, Mabrey, raced over and slammed her to the floor in a violent moment which sparked outrage online.
Somehow she avoided an ejection from the game despite the shove being unprovoked, much to the dismay of WNBA fans – including Portnoy.
The Barstool founder called for ‘jealous loser’ Mabrey to be kicked out of the league over her attack on Clark.
Clark slammed onto the court after the violent nudge by Marina Mabrey
Portnoy has called for Connecticut Sun star Mabrey to be banned from the WNBA
‘Marina Mabrey is a jealous loser punk,’ Portnoy wrote on X Tuesday night. ‘Asks to be traded on every single team she’s on until she’s on worst team in the league and completely irrelevant unless she’s cheap shorting Caitlin. Go play in rec league where nobody gives a s*** about you.’
‘Imagine not kicking Marina Mabrey out after she assaults the face of the league? Just a common tech? Sick league @WNBA Also shouldn’t have been a tech on Caitlin since that girl got in her face after gouging her eyes.’
The Barstool founder’s outrage didn’t end there, as he later posted a long rant, further coming to Clark’s aid.
Portnoy called out the league’s commissioner, Cathy Engelbert, WNBA referees, and some of the franchise owners for letting the league get to a place where players putting their hands on Clark as much as they have has become the norm.
Partway through his lengthy rant, Portnoy once again turned his focus to the Sun player, adding: ‘Then bang, Marina Mabrey… who if you don’t know who that is, she’s been on 32 different teams in two years, she cries, whines, leaves one team, goes to another, demands a trade… she’s an irrelevant journeyman. She runs up to Caitlin after the whistle and f***ing slams into her and knocks her down. An obvious ejection!
‘Marina Mabrey look in the mirror. The reason that you have any money before the end of your career is number two two. Nobody even cared who you were until she got into the league. So cheap shot her like that, what are you? Dumb?
‘More importantly, the league, the refs, you’re going to let people take cheap shots like that over and over and over at the face of your league? The future of your league? The most important player in your league? How do you not eject her?’
The WNBA came out Wednesday and admitted that Mabrey should have faced harsher punishment for her part in the on-court skirmish.
Mabrey’s technical has been upgraded to a flagrant 2, which would have brought about an ejection had it been dished out on the night.
