Caitlin Clark is leaving major college basketball as an all-time great and top scorer, but on Saturday she put a spotlight on her predecessors, thanking them for paving her road to excellence.
Clark, the exiting Iowa player who is expected to be the No. 1 overall pick by the Indiana Fever in Monday’s WNBA Draft, appeared on “Saturday Night Live” to rib Michael Che, co-host of satirical news segment “Weekend Update.”
Che may have an issue with the success of NCAA women’s basketball and the unprecedented attention it has drawn, thanks in part to the star power of Clark.
The co-host on Saturday denied this is the case, but Clark reminded him about “that little apron joke you did” — a quip about how Iowa is retiring Clark’s No. 22 jersey so it could be “replaced with an apron.”
Clark was able to defend and then shoot way over Che’s head by hitting him with the segment’s tradition of having a host read jokes blind — jokes they’ve never read or had time to prepare for.
“Netflix’s top new show is ‘Ripley,’” Che said of a drama about a con man with a riveting, high-wire ability to avoid catastrophe at the last minute. “Critics say it’s the hardest thing to watch on Netflix since Michael Che’s 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 shots and got serious, thanking the predecessors and pioneers who cleared the path to her success.
“Thanks 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 are the women that kicked down the door so I could walk inside,” she said. “So I want to thank them tonight for laying the foundation.”
Then she gave a signed apron to Che.
