Caitlin Clark is currently averaging 21.2 points and 8.2 assists per game, establishing herself as one of the WNBA’s best offensive engines. The Indiana Fever point guard ranks among the league leaders in production while also driving clicks, television viewership, and ticket sales.
However, former NFL linebacker Emmanuel Acho looked at that resume and saw a player that the league needs to leave behind.
Emmanuel Acho Faces Backlash for Suggesting the WNBA Has Outgrown Caitlin Clark
Acho used his “Speakeasy” podcast this week to argue that Clark’s massive media footprint actively harms the women’s game.
He claimed the WNBA had already squeezed every drop of necessary marketing value out of Clark and no longer required her services, deeming the controversies around her a “distraction.”
“The W, at this junction in time, would be better off without Caitlin Clark because she is a bigger distraction than she is an additive,” Acho stated.
Acho acknowledged that Clark brought massive audiences to the sport and her role in helping players secure new maximum contracts, increase revenue sharing, and exposure.
However, he went on to assert the league should willingly discard the primary catalyst for that financial boom.
“Now, people are watching. Now, we realize there’s talent in the W that’s actually even greater than Caitlin Clark,” Acho argued. “Caitlin got the necessary eyes there. But now that the eyes are there, we don’t necessarily need her anymore… With all due respect, if Caitlin disappeared from the W, she wouldn’t be missed.”
WNBA fans and analysts immediately ripped the jarring take from Acho, with one user stating, “This HAS to be rage bait. If Caitlin Clark left the WNBA, ratings would tank.”
Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy, who is a huge Clark fan, agreed.
“Nobody could be this stupid so I’m gonna give him a pass,” Portnoy wrote alongside a GIF that said, “That’s bait.”
Nobody could be this stupid so I’m gonna give him a pass. https://t.co/kEDxSTS50o pic.twitter.com/KxSIK2vy8P
— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) June 29, 2026
“I’m so disappointed in him! This is disgustingly sad! I can’t believe what I just heard,” another user wrote of Acho’s take.
“None else’s games are touching the millions in viewership really the W deserves to rot,” another user claimed.
“disgusting. vile. outrageous. our sports media landscape is an absolutely unhinged race to the bottom,” one Clark fan account commented.
disgusting. vile. outrageous. our sports media landscape is an absolutely unhinged race to the bottom
— let caitlin cook (@LetCaitlinCook) June 29, 2026
This wild take from the former Philadelphia Eagles linebacker arrives during a difficult stretch for Indiana.
The Fever are currently navigating life without Clark after a physical clash with the Phoenix Mercury last week during which the Fever star exited with a back injury.
DON’T MISS: Lisa Leslie Makes Feelings Clear on ‘the Face of the WNBA,’ and It’s Not Caitlin Clark
Clark sat out Saturday’s matchup against the Los Angeles Sparks at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, though the Fever rolled to a 111-87 win thanks to Kelsey Mitchell and Aliyah Boston shouldering the offense.
When healthy, Clark simply laces up her sneakers and initiates the Fever’s offense. But everything Clark does or is involved in seems to generate a conversation, and some people appear to be exhausted with the discourse.
