Emmanuel Acho is stirring the pot with some scorching comments aimed at Caitlin Clark.
The retired NFL linebacker turned sports analyst unloaded on the Indiana Fever superstar during a recent episode of the "Speakeasy" podcast.
The comments follow a brutal stretch for Clark. The WNBA handed Phoenix Mercury forward Alyssa Thomas a one-game suspension after she made contact with Clark's throat during Wednesday's game.
Acho did not hold back with his unfiltered take.
"The W at this junction in time would be better without Caitlin Clark because she is a bigger distraction than she is an additive," he said. "Caitlin Clark has gotten the WNBA over the necessary threshold they needed. Now people are watching. Now we realize, oh, there's talent in the W, talent that's actually even greater than Caitlin Clark."
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Acho went further, arguing Clark's presence in the league has run its course.
"But now that the eyes are there, we don't necessarily need her anymore," he added. "Caitlin did what only Caitlin could do, and we don't necessarily need her to do anymore. Thank you, Caitlin . We can take it from here."
He saved his sharpest words for last, and fans wasted no time calling the take insane.
"Unless we can take off our gloves for Caitlin Clark and stop trying to act like she's a messiah, the WNBA could and would be better off without Caitlin Clark," he declared. "At least without this version of everybody coddling and caressing and catering to Caitlin Clark."
“And this is why you’re not on TV anymore. Absolutely insane take,” one fan said.
“This guy is not very well thought out. Totally disagree. Caitlin retires, and the attention on the WNBA takes a nose dive,” another wrote.
“Yeah right, Caitlin leaves this league viewership falls off like crazy, Indy games attendance is top in the league all these other teams can barely pack a few rows of fans,” a commenter added.
“Mr. Acho, I am following you for years mostly on YouTube and had a great opinion about your work. But on this topic, you missed the point completely. Basically you are saying to kill the golden goose instead to solve the problems of the WNBA that are now clearly exposed?” a fan asked.
“This guy is clueless, CC is the golden goose and needs to be treated as such..like her or hate her, she's still her,” one said.
“If she was never in the WNBA the players would still be making 75K a year instead of the 750K+ they make now,” replied another.
Safe to say, Acho is not finding many takers for his thank-you-and-goodbye take on Clark.
