ESPN’s Jay Williams Hits Back at Those Upset By His Caitlin Clark Criticism: ‘Please Stop With the Race Baiting Sh*t’
ESPN analyst Jay Williams accused his critics of “race baiting” for the backlash he’s received for his recent comments about women’s college basketball star Caitlin Clark.
Williams has faced the wrath of the internet this week when he claimed the University of Iowa senior wasn’t the greatest women’s player of all time. Although she recently broke the all-time scoring record, Williams argued that to enter the “GOAT” conversation, she has to win national championships. WNBA stars Breanna Stewart and Diana Taurasi, for example, four and three national championships, respectively, during their tenures at the University of Connecticut.
In response to those comments, some on the internet have accused Williams of refusing to give Clark credit simply due to the fact that she’s white. On Wednesday, Williams doubled down during ESPN’s broadcast of the men’s game between LSU and Kentucky.
Jay Williams on Caitlin Clark (again):
“I hear people talking about GOATS. For me, I’m like, “OK, you wanna be a GOAT. Fine. There’s level of greatness. You gotta win championships to be GOATS…Championships. That’s how we measure greatness overall.” pic.twitter.com/1inUByFmtc
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) February 22, 2024
Later that night, he took aim at the “keyboard warriors” in a video posted on Twitter.
“Please stop with all this race baiting shit,” Williams said. “Please. Ain’t nobody out here trying to do that. It’s just hoopers. Now, the comment of great — [LSU star Angel Reese and Clark] are both great, OK? We were talking about levels of greatness and immortality and in the pantheon of greatness. There are levels to greatness with [championships]. That’s how I think about it.
“You think about differently? Fine. But the only thing I’m gonna say is to all you keyboard courageous people that wanna call me a bum or try to make fun of my career, none of y’all could hold me. None of y’all. Ninety percent of y’all didn’t even pick up a basketball. You can’t even dribble the rock. You can’t even shoot. So, let’s stop being tough guys on the keyboard. Just because you disagree with somebody doesn’t you call their game a bum when you know that’s not the case.”
Though Williams professional career was cut short due to a motorcycle crash in 2003, he’s widely regarded as a legend in college basketball. Averaging 19.3 points per game and six assists per game in three seasons, Williams led Duke to a national championship in 2001 and was a two-time All-American. He was also named the AP Player of the Year for his performance in the 2001-02 season.
Watch above via Twitter
