'Not my personality' - When Sheryl Swoopes made an honest confession to Dawn Staley about co-existing with women

The WNBA has come a long way since its early days. Players like Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese now have huge platforms, while legends like Sue Bird receive the recognition they deserve.

Sheryl Swoopes deserves a lot of credit for that.

She was one of the best players during her career, and while she didn't enjoy all the perks, she's finally getting what's due to her.

Swoopes had her fair share of controversies in the past. Known for her temper, she admitted during a 2022 episode of "NETLIFE with Dawn Staley" that she didn't always get along with her teammates.

"Listen, I've never been, like, from the time that I can remember, I've never been, honestly, just kick it with a bunch of women," Swoopes said (21:13). "And, to your point, women, like at times, we absolutely get moody. At times, we can be petty, we can be jealous of each other, there's so much that could go wrong."

She knew she was there to do a job, and that kind of mentality helped her and her teammates succeed.

"The fact that we were able to respect each other's individual talents but also just respect each other as being a woman, right?" Swoopes said. "And understanding what your interest might be off the court might not necessarily be mine, so, you go do you, and I'm going do me, but I think what made that work was that we understood when it was time to go to work and step on the court, nothing else mattered."

Sheryl Swoopes reacts to Caitlin Clark's latest achievement.

Sheryl Swoopes has often been critical of Caitlin Clark. However, she recently celebrated Clark being named TIME's Athlete of the Year.

“I don’t think I’m surprised," Swoopes said on Dec. 10, via 'Gila's Arena.' "I’m curious to know who the other candidates were, but the fact that that’s the very first WNBA player to ever win TIME Magazine Athlete of the Year, it’s pretty special. And my question is like, the criteria, is it based off her performance on the court? Yeah, she has a great year. Or was is it more about the impact that she had on the game this season?

“I think it’s great, not just for her. I think it’s great for the league. Everybody talked about the recognition that she brought to the W this season, so for her to be TIME Magazine Athlete of the Year, I think it’s really great for the league.”

Clark winning the award is a positive thing for the entire league and women's basketball community. Swoopes paved the way, and Clark is building on that legacy.