A rift in the friendship between a pair of women’s basketball legends may be beyond repair in light of comments made by both Nancy Lieberman and Sheryl Swoopes over the past 24 hours.
Differing opinions about the impact current star Caitlin Clark is having on the game has driven a wedge between the Hall of Famers, with Lieberman saying the two no longer have a relationship anymore.
“My life is going to be good with or without Sheryl Swoopes,” Lieberman said Monday in an appearance on ESPN personality Stephen A. Smith’s podcast.
Later that evening, Swoopes fired back on social media saying, “my life is good without you too (and him).”
The disagreement, Lieberman told Smith, goes back to comments Swoopes made in February on former NBA star Gilbert Arenas’ podcast in which she downplayed Clark breaking the NCAA career scoring record.
Swoopes incorrectly stated that Clark had benefited from an extra year of eligibility due to the COVID pandemic when she passed Kelsey Plum as the all-time women’s Division I points leader. Lieberman said she called Swoopes as a friend to let her know about the error.
“Well, she got upset with me on the phone,” Lieberman told Smith. “And I was like ‘Sheryl, I’m not doing anything to hurt you. I’m just sharing.’ And so our relationship pretty much is not happening at this point.”
Lieberman also called out Swoopes for not even mentioning Clark on a recent episode of her own podcast despite praising several other members of the Indiana Fever for the team’s hot streak since the Olympic break.
However, Swoopes countered the impression she has anything against Clark, even going so far as to post screenshots of an apparent text exchange between the two from February on her X account Monday afternoon.
In the exchange, Swoopes admits she “made a mistake on what this year is for you. Covid year has me all confused…Lol! I also have nothing but respect for you and your game.”
Clark responded by saying she had “no hard feelings” toward Swoopes and adding, “I appreciate what you have done for women’s bball and for inspiring girls like me …”
