Nancy Lieberman exposes Sheryl Swoopes, reveals details of heated phone call over Caitlin Clark disagreement: "She got upset with me"

Nancy Lieberman took over Sheryl Swoopes’ job of analyzing the Dallas Wings’ home game against Caitlin Clark’s Indiana Fever on Sunday. The Wings’ pregame report had Ron Thulin working with Lieberman, while ShaVonne Herndon was named the sideline reporter. This led many to wonder on social media regarding the reason for Swoopes’ unavailability.

Neither the WNBA nor the Wings have released a statement on Swoopes’ removal. In clips that were uploaded on Sunday, Lieberman was seen on the "Stephen A. Smith Show" talking about a conversation that she had with the former three-time WNBA MVP.

"I called her as a friend and said, ‘You can say whatever you want, you can have your own opinion about anybody but you do have to get the statistics right. Facts matter.’ You might like Boston [and] I might like the Yankees. It’s okay to have a difference of opinions," said Lieberman.

"She got upset with me and I was like, ‘Sheryl, I’m not doing anything to hurt you.’ … Our relationship is pretty much not happening at this point."

Lieberman called Swoopes after the latter’s quote about Caitlin Clark on “Gil’s Arena” became viral. Swoopes said in the podcast that Clark played five collegiate seasons and took 40 shots a game to become the NCAA women’s career scoring leader.

The figures were wrong as Clark was with the Hawkeyes for four years, where she averaged 20.1 shots to break Kelsey Plum’s 3,527-point record. Iowa’s superstar didn’t stop there as she also toppled "Pistol Pete" Maravich’s landmark stat of 3,667 points. She ended her collegiate career with 3,951 — the most in Division 1 for men’s and women’s basketball.

According to a Yahoo Sports report, Swoopes reached out to Clark to apologize, saying she got confused because of the “COVID year.” She added that the Fever rookie could share their conversation if she wanted to.

Recently, Stephen A. Smith called out Swoopes for overlooking Clark’s impact on the Indiana Fever. In Swoopes' "Queens of Court" podcast, the former Houston Comets superstar mentioned a few Fever players who have been playing well; and her list did not include Clark. Smith ripped her for this on his show as she conveniently left out the one who had been carrying the team.

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Sheryl Swoopes claps back at Nancy Lieberman and Stephen A. Smith amid the Caitlin Clark issue

Swoopes responded to Smith for calling her out because of what she said in her podcast. She emphasized that she has a "personal relationship with these players and they deserve recognition as well."

Following Smith’s interview with Lieberman, Swoopes came out to defend herself.

“Now here you go! I get what you trying to do wit ya boy @stephenasmith but it ain't working. You know good and well what happened. And ditto...my life is good without you too(and him). You wanna go there?,” Swoopes said on X (formerly Twitter).

Clark and the Indiana Fever are headed to the playoffs, and her first postseason performance in the league will be one of the biggest headlines. As for the standoff between Smith, Lieberman and Swoopes, it remains to be seen how it will play out while the rookie continues to hold the spotlight.