Comparing Caitlin Clark's controversy with Donald Trump, Stephen A. Smith weighs in on DiJonai Carrington's remark: "A divide"

Stephen A. Smith has spoken on the controversy surrounding Caitlin Clark and WNBA star DiJonai Carrington. The controversy stemmed from Clark's dismissive response when asked whether she was bothered by people using her name in the country's culture wars.

Carrington called Clark out for not speaking out against the behavior of those people as she tweeted:

"Dawg. How one can not be bothered by their name being used to justify racism, bigotry, misogyny, xenophobia, homophobia & the intersectionalities of them all is nuts. We all see the sh*t. We all have a platform. We all have a voice & they all hold weight. Silence is a luxury," Carrington tweeted on Thursday.

During Friday's edition of ESPN's First Take, Smith addressed these comments, referencing former President Donald Trump's divisive racial speech in relation to the Clark controversy.

"You have somebody that's a presidential candidate. What is his claim to fame? Make America Great Again. What have people interpreted that to mean? Make America White Again... what has that led to? A divide," Smith started.

The analyst also explained that DiJonai Carrington didn't mean to go after Caitlin Clark personally. Instead, she targeted the people using Clark's name to discriminate against others.

"When Carrington spoke up, I got where she was coming from. I certainly don't hold Caitlin Clark accountable for that. But what Caitlin Clark has to understand, is that it's not really you personally. It's you, the figure, it's you the prop per se that's been utilized to address a bigger point," Smith said.

He explained the importance of having someone addressing the things that matter to people, citing Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks' examples.

"And throughout history, we've seen a plethora of things transpire and take place when individuals had the light shine on them and it was orchestrated and plotted and planned because a bigger message and a bigger issue needed to be addressed. But the right person needed to come along to give us the license to address it."

Ultimately, he gave Clark flowers, calling her a wonderful basketball player. But he still admitted that nobody has experienced the same popularity in WNBA history as Clark.

"That is what your name has been spoken about, that's what Carrington was alluding to. That is what a plethora of people within the WNBA and within the world are alluding to today. There's still a lot of work to be done because things haven't changed nearly as much as we would like to believe," Smith stated.

Caitlin Clark rejects any bad comments against WNBA colleagues

On Thursday, Caitlin Clark sent a clear message to all the people using her name to 'push agendas' against her peers, making it clear that she doesn't support any of that.

"People should not be using my name to push those agendas. It's disappointing. It's not acceptable. This league is a league I grew up admiring and wanting to be a part of. Some of the women in this league were my biggest idols and role models growing up."

Caitlin Clark has been a sensitive topic in the WNBA in the past couple of weeks. Things don't appear to be changing anytime soon, as the race card, supporting or attacking Clark, surfaces every other week.