Dan Dakich took a jab at Cari Champion on Thursday after the CNN broadcast journalist’s comments on Caitlin Clark‘s favoritism among the WNBA referees. The NFL insider retweeted an X post featuring an article covering Champion’s remarks.
He called out the CNN broadcast journalist for frequently going after Clark.
“Always worried about the lil white girl,” Dakich wrote.
Champion voiced her concerns about Clark and the officials on Wednesday’s episode of the “Flagrant and Funny” podcast. The CNN broadcast journalist recalled an incident from last season where Clark told a referee to open their eye. She then compared the incident to a technical foul Paige Bueckers received for clapping in an 86-69 loss to the Atlanta Dream on Friday.
“That type of blatant favoritism annoys the hell out of me,” she said (Timestamp: 26:00). “I don’t know if this is her fault, because I think it might be unfair for me to say that this is her fault. But at the same time, it’s like, why is she getting this special treatment? And it just is, yet again, another example of the league and its fans… being so precious with her.”
“I don’t like you”: Cari Champion calls out Caitlin Clark for not taking ‘responsibility’
Later, on the podcast, Cari Champion criticized Caitlin Clark for her behaviour towards the referees. She recalled Napheesa Collier calling out the referees during the offseason following the Lynx’s loss in the 2024 WNBA Finals.
She praised the Lynx star for criticizing the referees in an appropriate setting, which, according to her, is off the court. Champion then took shots at the Fever star and the league’s treatment of her.
“The more we get to catch these glimpses of Caitlin Clark, I am like, ‘I don’t like you. I don’t like how you behave on the court.’ The league is positioning you to be its superstar because you are, and with leadership comes certain responsibilities,” she said. (Timestamp: 27:10)
“If you don’t want that responsibility, I understand, but the way that you behave, this entitlement that you behave, the way that you were talking to your coaches, you and Sophie (Cunningham), you enjoy that right?”
Later, Champion said that if Clark wanted to play the villain, then she would be coming at her. The CNN broadcast journalist urged CC stans to recognize the Fever star’s desire to play the villain.
Caitlin Clark has had a great start to her season. She is averaging 23.8 points, 4.4 rebounds and 9.0 assists in five games on 43.2% shooting.
Edited by Avi Shravan