Photo: Gregory Shamus
Dan Beyer: "The fact that these people are taking down the person who took their sport to the only place they wanted it to go and still can't be happy with it, I've got a problem with that. Now not only are we not allowing Caitlin Clark to be included in the GOAT discussion, but we're putting up criteria in saying that she's got to win a championship, when we're just handing out that tile like free tickets to a concert. GOAT, GOAT, GOAT... but when it comes to Caitlin Clark, 'nope, gotta win a championship, sorry, those are the rules.' No, it's not the rules. Those are the rules that YOU made because you didn't want to see her succeed, or you had a problem with the success that she was having. That's my message. The ones that wanted us to pay attention to the sport and grow the game so much couldn't handle it when someone finally took it to a level that it needed to be."
Monse Bolanos: "I think this is jealousy. It's not that they hate her, in fact, they do appreciate what she's done. But this Caitlin Clark sensation went from zero to a million and people weren't expecting it. For somebody so young, and out of Iowa, to take over the sport, nobody was expecting that. She came kind of out of nowhere and completely changed the discussion of college basketball. It's hard for these gatekeepers because they've tried for years and years to push this sport, traveling internationally to play in order to make money, and all of a sudden this girl in college has made more money and got more attention than they ever got in 20 years. It's a natural form of jealousy, but deep down, they're very happy."
Dan Beyer and Monse Bolanos discuss Caitlin Clark's impact on women's basketball in light of Iowa losing the National Championship Game to South Carolina. Dan rips into "gatekeepers" of the sport who insist on moving the goalposts in order to not recognize Clark as one of the all-time greats of the sport, refusing to acknowledge her tremendous impact on the growth of the game. Monse explains why jealousy is the primary motivation behind the attempts of former players to sully the legacy of Clark as she moves on to the WNBA.