Michele Tafoya claims 'jealousy' led to Caitlin Clark's shocking WNBA player vote: 'It's so dumb'
One of those who voiced their opinion was Michele Tafoya, the ex-NFL reporter, who believes Clark's peers are "jealous" of her.
Tafoya made an appearance on OutKick's "Don't @ Me with Dan Dakich," where she furthered her thoughts on the matter.
"I thought we were turning a corner here, Dan," she said to Dakich. "I thought we saw her teammates having her back. I thought we were maybe settling down with this obsession of Caitlin Clark.
"It really feels almost like a hatred toward her, but it's clearly a jealousy. She's got that great State Farm commercial where everything's better from the logo – terrific ad, very smart. So, America loves her, the fans clearly love her, the media likes her. But the players can't stand her."
Clark, a WNBA All-Star Game captain along with the Minnesota Lynx's Napheesa Collier, finished first in fan voting and fourth in media voting among guards.
But Tafoya, like many others, couldn't believe Clark was so far down the list. Some believe it could be because she's struggled in recent games with her jumpshot, while others spoke about her playing just nine of the Fever's 16 games so far this season due to injuries.
Tafoya didn't want to hear it.
"Ninth-best guard in the league? Don't try to give me the excuses of, 'Well, she's been struggling lately,' or, 'She missed some games with injury.' Come on, this is insanity and I think it's an activist vote by the women of the WNBA, who simply cannot stand her success. It's so dumb and it's so childish," she said.
Paige Bueckers, Dallas Wings rookie and first overall pick in this year's WNBA Draft, was ranked the top guard from three phases of voting: fans, media and players. She was second in fan rank, fifth in media and fourth among players.
The Atlanta Dream's Allisha Gray, one of the WNBA All-Star starters, finished first in media rank and player rank, while players like Seattle's Skylar Diggins, New York's Sabrina Ionescu and Natasha Cloud, Washington's Brittney Sykes and more finished above Clark in terms of player rank.
Clark is averaging 18.2 points, 8.9 assists, five rebounds and 1.6 steals over 33.3 minutes per game this season. Only the Phoenix Mercury's Alyssa Thomas – who could be among the 12 All-Star Game reserves, which will be selected by the league's head coaches and announced this Sunday – has more assists per game (9.3), and she's touched the hardwood in 12 contests this season.
Clark also received 1,293,526 votes from the fans.
While Clark has been integral in the rise of the WNBA's popularity since breaking rookie and league records last season with the Fever, there have been many contentious moments with game opponents.
This season, a physical altercation broke out against the Connecticut Sun, during which Clark was hit in the face and shoved to the ground during a play. Later in the game, Clark's teammate, Sophie Cunningham, retaliated against Sun guard Jacy Sheldon in another scuffle that led to ejections.
And, of course, Clark was the center of national sports conversation after instances against the Sun, Chicago Sky and others.
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