Stephen A. Smith drew a round of applause from the audience during Friday’s First Take after heaping praise on WNBA rookie Angel Reese ESPN Smith also called out Team USA for not selecting either Caitlin Clark (left) or Reese (right) for the Olympics Reuters Smith said he felt Reese ‘may be Rookie of the Year’ Getty
Joined on stage by co-host Molly Qerim and guest Chance The Rapper, Smith took a tangent from discussing the growth of women’s basketball to call out the US Olympic team.
“Marketability matters. Whether it was Caitlin Clark or Angel Reese now, I’m watching Team USA in the Olympics and it didn’t escape me that Puerto Rico and China or whoever else was playing was drawing over 20,000 but Team USA drew about 13,000,” Smith said.
“I said to myself, ‘Yo, that wouldn’t be the case if Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese were on Team USA.
“‘I bet you they would have had over 20,000 people in attendance.'”
The game in question was the US group’s opening win against Japan on July 29.
Their 102-76 win attracted 13,040 fans, which, through two rounds of group games, remains the lowest-attended game in the event so far.
On the plus side for the US, their second group game, an 87-74 win against Belgium on August 1, drew a crowd of 25,044.
Smith later added to his argument, specifically regarding Chicago Sky forward and All-Star Reese.
“Angel Reese, she may be Rookie of the Year, she’s special,” he said, prompting a round of applause from the audience.
Smith went on to call Reese “a walking double-double,” before returning to his earlier argument.
“Da***t stop apologizing, marketability matters,” he reiterated.
“And if you can have that girl on the team, make sure you do it, because that’s going to elevate the popularity of the sport and a rising tide lifts all boats.
“We’ve got to stop all that PC stuff. The girl should be on Team USA.”
Comments / 0