Let's give Sheryl Swoopes a break about Caitlin Clark after the latest non-controversy

Going back to Caitlin Clark's college days at Iowa, there has been a brewing perception that WNBA great Sheryl Swoopes isn't the biggest fan of the breakout of the Indiana Fever rookie guard.

While Swoopes said she was excited for Clark's WNBA debut, was very professional while interviewing Clark during the preseason and has apologized in the past for inaccurate comments about Clark's college scoring record, that hasn't stopped the criticism Swoopes has received, including a recent diatribe from ESPN's Stephen A. Smith.

Well, the controversy began anew on Tuesday evening during a segment from Swoopes' broadcast of the Las Vegas Aces and Dallas Wings game.

While her broadcast partner Ron Thulin talked about Clark and Minnesota Lynx superstar Napheesa Collier taking home WNBA Player of the Week honors, Swoopes went silent after Thulin's commentary and didn't discuss either honor before the broadcast went on to discuss the Aces-Wings game.

That prompted scrutiny that Swoopes was showing her bias against Clark to the point where she allegedly refused to even mention the Fever guard's accomplishment.

That absolutely feels like an assumption too far, regardless of whatever Swoopes' personal feelings about Clark really are. While we can't know for sure exactly why Swoopes didn't talk about the WNBA Players of the Week, she did share this comment from a fan on her Twitter (X) account about why she may have been silent in the moment. It's pretty understandable reasoning.

Swoopes was fielding lots of hate on her feed over the moment and even mentioned that it's the angry WNBA fans in her mentions that she understandably has a problem with, not Clark.

This whole controversy feels a bit exhausted by now, as it's very possible Swoopes just kept silent during the game broadcast as not to offend fans with any commentary on Clark that could even vaguely be perceived as negative. She's in a tough spot right now when discussing Clark, good or bad.

It's better in these situations to take people at their word and just let it go. If Swoopes is willing to come out and say she enjoys Clark's game and just doesn't enjoy the negative comments online, let's just listen to her and move on to something else. That's a pretty relatable stance to have, to be honest.

The problem doesn't seem to be between Swoopes and Clark; it seems to just be unnecessary noise coming from Swoopes' critics.

More WNBA!

Simone Biles traveled to Indianapolis to watch Caitlin Clark and the Fever take on the Sun

Caitlin Clark claimed the WNBA's rookie record for 3-pointers in a season with this great basket

Arike Ogunbowale isn't buying the Angel Reese-Caitlin Clark 'rivalry' narrative

This article originally appeared on For The Win: Let's give Sheryl Swoopes a break about Caitlin Clark after the latest non-controversy