Jon Stewart praising Monica McNutt’s basketball commentary is so awesome to see.
During Monday night’s latest edition of The Daily Show, returned part-time host Jon Stewart gave WNBA commentator Monica McNutt her flowers after she deflected why she was appearing on the program to Caitlin Clark mania.
McNutt joked that the only reason that she was appearing on the beloved Comedy Central political comedy program was that the hype surrounding Clark has become such a national topic of conversation.
Stewart quickly pushed back on that notion and effusively praised McNutt for what she brings to the table as a basketball commentator.
This is incredibly heartwarming after all the drama that has unfolded over the last couple of weeks. Sometimes, it’s just great to see someone as talented and empathetic as McNutt have a positive moment like this.
“I have been loving what you do,” Stewart told McNutt on Monday. “You are such a good basketball analyst and announcer… your voice, your knowledge, your passion has cut through it for me.”
You can watch the moment at around the 7-minute mark.
Amid all the pointless noise, seeing moments like this is just so refreshing. McNutt deserves all the praise in the world for how she’s handled her commentary on Clark and the league, and we’re glad Stewart gave her some kudos in such a kind, meaningful way.
Monica McNutt continues to be a leading voice of reason when it comes to Caitlin Clark and the WNBA.
Former WNBA star-turned-commentator Monica McNutt delivered the perfect summation of the controversy surrounding Caitlin Clark’s arrival to the league on The Daily Show this week.
McNutt joined returned part-time host Jon Stewart to discuss the fervor surrounding Clark’s WNBA debut, particularly McNutt’s appearance on ESPN’s First Take that went viral where she questioned the program’s commitment to covering women’s basketball in the past.
As Stewart inquired about the whole situation, McNutt did an excellent job of tying the entire Clark discourse with a bow while still highlighting the need for the conversation to continue to span past just one player.
“While Caitlin is fantastic and I think she’s going to have an incredible career in the WNBA, there were women who were worthy of coverage prior to her, and I will not be silenced when it comes to that,” McNutt told Stewart about her approach to covering the league since Clark’s debut.
"While Caitlin is fantastic and I think she's going to have an incredible career in the WNBA, there were women who were worthy of coverage prior to her, and I will not be silenced when it comes to that." – @McNuttMonica sets the record straight on the WNBA and Caitlin Clark pic.twitter.com/s7Kc3nHVv7
The distillation is this: Clark has done absolutely nothing to spark any of the discourse surrounding her arrival. She’s saying the right things, doing the best she can on the court and paving a promising future for herself and the Indiana Fever.
Outside of one avoidable hard foul that really wasn’t that big of a deal, the rest of the WNBA is treating her like they would a generational talent. The highly qualified women who cover the league are voicing the strongest opinions on the subject, too. It’s just the rest of the uninformed noise that makes it so occasionally intolerable.
We’d do well to keep listening to people like McNutt and judging Clark and the rest of the WNBA’s talented veterans fairly for what they do in games.
By now, we all know what it is when it comes to Skip Bayless. The dude will say just about anything as long as it gets people watching his show, which includes trashing his own co-workers.
You’ve probably seen the clip floating around the internet over the last day. It’s Antetkounmpo throwing a playful and unserious jab at Kevin Durant, who was set to make his debut for the Phoenix Suns soon after the recording.
Giannis said “how about we work out together sometime so I can teach you how to carry your own team.”
Giannis Antetokounmpo takes a shot at Kevin Durant. 🤣
It was absolutely hilarious and very clearly a joke. The dude even praised Durant immediately after as part of the bit.
That didn’t stop talking head types like Bayless and his co-host, Shannon Sharpe, from clipping the comment and digging in on it without any context.
Here’s the thing, though. Antetkounmpo was actually on the show to promote the Charles Antetkounmpo Family Foundation — a charity created in the name of Giannis’ late father. So, clearly, it meant a lot for him to be on the show. The jokes were really just a bonus.
So when Antetkounmpo was getting ripped for making a few jokes, Minhaj wasn’t having it. He addressed it on the very next show.
Minhaj essentially pointed out why Bayless and folks like him are the worst part of the media.
“That’s the vexxing thing I hate about being part of the media. It’s this [explective] clickbait, Instagram Reels, TikTok media grift. If I just snip out the right amount, oh baby, I can ride the wave…And the [explitive] part is, Skip is perpetuating the very reason why professional athletes don’t go on these shows. They’ve created a dynamic where you’ve got to go full Darth Maul in order to be an athlete that does media. ”
Minhaj has a point here. Athletes who do make media appearances have to be careful with their words, or else they’ll be parsed like Giannis’ jokes above and used as fodder for the next day’s media cycle. That’s why, whenever athletes do speak, it tends to be so bland.
But if you’re an athlete who does do media, you’ve got to have the most scorching hot take for anyone to pay attention to you. Kendrick Perkins, for example, argued on Wednesday that part of the reason Nikola Jokic might be the NBA’s current favorite for MVP is that he’s white — not because he’s the best player on the top seed in the West while averaging a 25-point triple-double.
So, yeah, Minhaj definitely has a point. But he also issued a challenge to Skip Bayless.
“I think … if Skip really cares about the athlete and the sport, then I think if he’s going to benefit off the grift then he should make a donation to the Charles Antetkounmpo family foundation. You’ve got to cleanse those pockets, baby.”
Sounds good to me. Pay up, Skip. It’s the least you could do after making such a mockery of what should’ve just been a fun highlight of the NBA season.
Giannis Antetokounmpo is arguably the best NBA player around right now, but you’ll probably never hear him profess such a statement himself.
When the Milwaukee Bucks star guested on The Daily Show on Monday, host Hasan Minhaj tried to get him out of this shell a little bit. Minhaj wondered aloud why Antetokounmpo was so nice, despite him carrying the mantel as one of the faces of the NBA.
The conversation would turn to Minhaj convincing Antetokounmpo to read off some scripted trash talk about some of the league’s biggest superstars. And while Antetokounmpo would initially deliver, his trademark politeness prevented him from selling his roasts of guys like Luka Dončić, Nikola Jokic, and Kevin Durant.
In fact, much to the joking chagrin of Minhaj, Antetokounmpo hilariously walked back his trash talk of his peers almost immediately in each instance:
Amazing. It’s one thing to joke about your fellow NBA stars for comedy. It’s absolute comedic gold when you can’t even stick with the punchline and have to laugh your way through a compliment.
Try as he might, Minhaj couldn’t convince Antetokounmpo to break free of his usual nice precedent. And that’s what made this segment so perfect.
Ryan joined Comedy Central’s The Daily Show on Wednesday night to explain why he’s felt compelled to speak out in support of Atlanta’s Black community.
Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan has never been one to make waves, but as people in Atlanta and around the country protest police brutality against the Black community. Ryan has decided to use his platform to help advance the cause.
Ryan joined Comedy Central’s The Daily Show on Wednesday night to explain what compelled him to get involved. Watch Ryan’s appearance, as shared by the Falcons’ Twitter account below:
"If you continue to try to do the same things we've done up until this point, you'll continue to get the same results."
