“We wanted to do something that was united as a collective, and I thought that it’s a very powerful moment and got the point across,” said Kelsey Plum when describing the ‘Pay Us What You Owe Us’ T-shirts. Thanks to the 2025 WNBA All-Star game, the attention of the world was recently on the women’s basketball league. The players used this to their advantage. From Plum and Caitlin Clark to Angel Reese and Paige Bueckers, all 2025 All-Stars came dressed in those T-shirts during the warmup leading up to the All-Star game between Team Clark and Team Collier. While the WNBA squad was united in their message, not everyone took it well. For those who didn’t, Richard Jefferson has a message.

The former NBA player turned ESPN analyst took to his official Instagram account to share a story with his 540,000 followers. He highlighted a post made by content creator Joey Vantes about the ‘Pay Us What You Owe Us’ message. Vantes didn’t hold back in criticizing Caitlin Clark and Co., saying that “If I were to open up a restaurant that loses money every single year for nearly 3 decades, should I walk into the investors meeting and say ‘Hey, bump me my check?’ No!!”.

Vantes thought that the players should be “crawling” on their knees and thanking the league for at least “keeping the lights on”. The content creator made it clear that he supports women’s sports and wants them to succeed, but doesn’t want the players to “skip the building phase”. He even used a Kevin O’Leary reference to make his point. Vantes had several supporters, but Richard Jefferson wasn’t one of them.

“Yiu [you] said a bunch of stuff but very little substance. What are they asking for? What are the percentages now? Why did the WNBA just expand? You see the valuation for the Valkyries?” Jefferson wrote on his Instagram story. “Wanna try again with information not analogies from Season 4 Episode 2 of Shark Tank from 2009? Il wait.” Well, that should have been the end of it. However, Joey Vantes responded back!

Highlighting Jefferson’s IG story on his own IG story, the content creator wrote, “😂@richardjefferson YOU OF ALL PPL KNOW THE TRUTH. OUTTA HERE BRUDDA.” Well, only time will tell whether this turns into a full-fledged feud. That said, Joey Vantes is not wrong in claiming that the WNBA is still in a ‘building phase’.

According to a New York Post article published back in October 2024, the WNBA potentially lost $40 million last year. Sure, it is better than the $50 million that analysts initially believed the WNBA would lose. Still, $40 million is not a small amount. Even sellout crowds for the Finals between the New York Liberty and Minnesota Lynx, and the ‘Caitlin Clark effect’ that reportedly brought in an increase in ticket sales and viewership, weren’t enough. Despite this, the NBA, which owns 60% of the women’s basketball league, is not giving up. As part of the new basketball media contracts, the WNBA will get up to $2.2 billion over 11 years starting in the 2026 season.

Joey Vantes makes a valid point, but so does Richard Jefferson. The WNBA is getting better year by year. TV ratings went up by 23%, ticket sales went up by 26%, and attendance increased by 13% halfway through the ongoing WNBA season. This affected the valuation of the Golden State Valkyries, which recently became the first $500 million women’s team in pro sports. According to Bleacher Report journalist Joseph Zucker, every WNBA team’s value is up more than 100% over the past 12 months. WNBA players reportedly receive just 9.3% of league revenue. Compare that to the NBA, where the players and owners split the revenue from TV deals, ticket and merchandise sales, etc., evenly at between 49% and 51% of basketball-related income.

It’s hard to justify a raise when the league is losing money. Still, Richard Jefferson believes that things are improving for the WNBA, and the players should be compensated accordingly. It makes sense that Jefferson would support the WNBA players’ viewpoint. The ESPN analyst has promoted the women’s league on several occasions. Whether it is an issue about pay or claiming that player rivalries are on the same level as the NBA’s, he’s there.

Richard Jefferson criticized a netizen over Caitlin Clark-Angel Reese rivalry opinion: “If you don’t know sports….”

The sport of basketball has brought about several big-name rivalries over the years. Magic Johnson vs Larry Bird, Michael Jordan vs Isiah Thomas, LeBron James vs Stephen Curry. Over the years, one rivalry in women’s basketball has been hyped up more than any other. It is Caitlin Clark vs. Angel Reese. It all began when Reese made a taunting gesture to Clark during the 2023 NCAA championship game, and it has carried on to the WNBA. Some have called it the modern-day Johnson-Bird rivalry, while others aren’t willing to place it on a high pedestal.

Back in September 2024, a social media user said, “It was a huge mistake for @Andraya_Carter @elleduncanESPN and @chiney to always mention Angel Reese when they spoke about Caitlin Clark. There’s was an obsession in the media to artificially tie them together as rivals when they never were. @Rjeff24 called that out yesterday.”

The post soon caught the attention of Richard Jefferson. In response, the 2016 NBA champion wrote, “You couldn’t be more wrong. Magic and Bird were forever tied together since college. Their rivalry started in college and continued thru the professional level. How many records did BOTH women break? Artificial? If you don’t know sports just say so”.

Despite the popularity that Caitlin Clark generated for herself in college, she never won an NCAA championship. Angel Reese played a major role in one of the championship losses when her LSU Tigers defeated the Iowa Hawkeyes back in 2023. Reese has also displayed contempt towards Clark off the court.

Fans might remember how, back in June 2024, Reese applauded from the bench after Chicago Sky guard Chennedy Carter knocked Clark to the floor on an inbounds play. Three days later, she refused to acknowledge the ‘Caitlin Clark effect’ and said that “the reason [more people are] watching women’s basketball is not just because of one person.”

The media sees a rivalry brewing and chooses to focus on them. Richard Jefferson or Joey Vantes? Whose opinion do you support more? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.