Caitlin Clark Defended by Linda Cohn, ESPN Legend Rips 'Stupidity' of WNBA Players' All-Star Voting

Former SportsCenter anchor Linda Cohn called out the "stupidity" of the All-Star voting returns from WNBA players after Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark was 11th in the balloting.

Clark is an All-Star for the third time after her weighted score was third among guards. However, there was a large disparity between were her peers voted her and where fans (second) and the media (third) placed her.

"Her numbers and all the other votes got her in as a starter despite that stupidity by many WNBA players who had a vote," Cohn said. "Unbelievable. Use your brains. … Why do WNBA players continue to bite the hand that feeds them?"

Clark is averaging 21.4 points and 8.2 assists this season, and her 34.4 percent clip from beyond the arc matches her record-setting rookie campaign.

She wasn't the only guard who wound up much lower in the player vote than the other two categories.

Los Angeles Sparks star Kelsey Plum was 12th despite putting up career highs in points (23.9) and assists (6.4) so far. Azzi Fudd, the No. 1 overall pick was fourth in the fan vote and 28th on the player side. The Las Vegas Aces' Jackie Young, an All-Star in each of the last four seasons, only got up to 14th.

Rather than an anti-Clark "agenda," the results of the All-Star voting could've come down to game theory more than anything else.

Players around the league will have been very confident that Clark would get the votes from fans and the media to send her into the All-Star Game. Therefore, some may have seen this as an opportunity to elevate a different star who needed the help.

That's basically why legendary NFL coach Bill Belichick wasn't a first-ballot Hall of Famer despite hitting every necessary metric to qualify.

In addition, the voting process for this year's All-Star Game may have been flawed to say the least. ESPN's Alexa Philippou reported 85 of the 180 players eligible to vote actually submitted a ballot.

A group of Sparks players didn't receive a ballot altogether due to miscommunications with the team.