Caitlin Clark leaves major college basketball as the greatest and greatest scorer of all time, but on Saturday she shined a spotlight on her predecessors, thanking them for paving the way to greatness.
Clark, the outgoing Iowa player expected to be the Indiana Fever’s No. 1 pick in Monday’s WNBA draft, appeared on “Saturday Night Live” to criticize segment co-host Michael Che. satirical news “Weekend Update”.
Che might have a problem with the success of NCAA women’s basketball and the unprecedented attention it has attracted, thanks in part to Clark’s star power.
The co-host denied Saturday that that was the case, but Clark reminded him of “that little apron joke you made” — a quip about how Iowa retires Clark’s No. 22 jersey so it can be “replaced by an apron”.
Clark was able to defend himself and then shoot well over Che’s head hitting him with the segment’s tradition of having a host read jokes to the blind – jokes they didn’t have. never read or which they never had time to prepare for.
“Netflix’s new flagship series is ‘Ripley,'” Che said of a drama about a con artist with a fascinating, high-level ability to avert disaster at the last minute. “Critics say it’s the hardest thing to watch on Netflix since the Michael Che special ‘Shame the Devil’.”
She had more where that came from, but when the time came to wrap up her appearance, Clark ditched the cheap clichés and got serious, thanking the predecessors and pioneers who paved the way to success.
“Thank you to all the great players like Sheryl Swoopes, Lisa Leslie, Cynthia Cooper, the great Dawn Staley and my basketball hero, Maya Moore,” Clark said.
“These were the women who broke down the door so I could come in,” she said. “So I want to thank them tonight for laying the foundation.”
Then she gave Che a signed apron.
