Last week, Jay Williams turned some heads when he suggested Caitlin Clark, who became the all-time women’s college basketball points leader, is not yet “great.”
Williams reasoned that she does not have a national championship to her name.
He doubled down on his take earlier this week.
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Guard Caitlin Clark of the Iowa Hawkeyes listens as the crowd cheers after she broke the NCAA women’s all-time scoring record during a game against the Michigan Wolverines at Carver-Hawkeye Arena Feb. 15, 2024, in Iowa City, Iowa. (Matthew Holst/Getty Images)
“We were talking about ‘greatest,’ and in my interview we talked about GOATs,” Williams said while calling Wednesday’s LSU-Kentucky men’s game. “For me, I’m like, you wanna be a GOAT? Fine. There’s levels of greatness. You gotta win championships to be GOATs.
“So, when people want to don her as the greatest of (all time), I’m like, ‘Let’s slow down.’ I’ve seen Diana Taurasi. I’ve seen Breanna Stewart. And you can sit there and tell me all day long, ‘Well, she’s played with other great players.’ OK, great. Championships — that’s how we measure greatness overall.”
Much of the criticism has come with people pointing out that Williams is Black and Clark is White. But that has nothing to do with his opinion, Williams says.
“Please stop with all this race baiting s—,” Williams said in a video he posted to X, formerly Twitter. “Please. Ain’t nobody out here trying to do that. It’s just hoopers. Now, the comment of great, [Angel Reese and Clark]. Are both great, OK? We were talking about levels of greatness and immortality. And, in the pantheon of greatness, there are levels to greatness with [championships]. That’s how I think about it.
ESPN’s Jay Williams broadcasts a game between the Gonzaga Bulldogs and the USC Trojans during the Legends of Basketball Las Vegas Invitational at MGM Grand Garden Arena Dec. 2, 2023, in Las Vegas. (Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
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“You think about it differently? Fine. But the only thing I’m gonna say is to all you keyboard courageous people that wanna call me a bum or try to make fun of my career, none of y’all could hold me. None of y’all. Ninety percent of y’all didn’t even pick up a basketball. You can’t even dribble the rock. You can’t even shoot. So, let’s stop being tough guys on the keyboard. Just because you disagree with somebody doesn’t mean you need to call their game a bum when you know that’s not the case.”
Caitlin Clark of the Iowa Hawkeyes celebrates after breaking the NCAA women’s all-time scoring record during the first half against the Michigan Wolverines at Carver-Hawkeye Arena Feb. 15, 2024, in Iowa City, Iowa. (Matthew Holst/Getty Images))
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Clark became the NCAA’s all-time women’s scoring leader last week, and she is just 74 points away from surpassing “Pistol” Pete Maravich for the NCAA’s all-time record. If she continues to average 32.4 points per game, she’ll break it on March 3, Iowa’s final regular-season game against Ohio State in a battle of top-five teams.
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