Caitlin Clark's appearance on SNL's Weekend Update was even better than you'd imagine

Caitlin Clark’s brief post-collegiate tour has not been without a few stops on the way. Her most recent stop was on Saturday Night Live on the Weekend Update segment, hosted by Michael Che and Colin Jost.

Che is known for his snarky remarks and quick-witted humor in this segment of the show, and he wasted no time pulling punches against the Division-I college basketball scoring record-holder. 

“The University of Iowa announced that basketball star Caitlin Clark will have her jersey retired,” said Che. “And replaced with an apron.”

The echoes of laughs had many tones, some funny, others uncomfortable… but it made for an awkward intro. This is nothing new for Michael Che to comment on his views on Women’s Basketball and the WNBA. Not too long ago, Che was invited onto Ziwe’s show, where she asked him to name five WNBA players. 

He goes on to mention how he doesn’t watch but would love to be given a complimentary ticket from a team (such a great way of investing in the game) to learn more about the sport and culture. Well, as Ziwe said, “The Sport is Basketball” and there’s no mistake that Clark plays that sport and draws the exact crowd Che claims is nonexistent. 

36 TV slots, a jersey retirement by your soon-to-be alma mater, a graphic alluding to a rookie versus vet showdown, and arenas expanding their capacity to accommodate the influx of fans ready to watch you and the 2023 rookie of the year get to work are indeed something that someone must be watching. 

But back to the segment, Caitlin arrived to a cacophony of cheers in the crowd before mentioning Che’s running gag on women’s sports. So much so that he has a literal highlight reel of content dedicated to ragging on WBB. The segment continues with Caitlin making a few jokes for Che to read off the prompter, handwritten by the logo-distance shooter.

Che stifled through the prompts mentioning the upcoming draft for the WNBA, an actual professional league and not being whatever unwanted gift he gave to a handful of women at Purdue (yikes), a new Netflix series that's as difficult to watch as Michael Che’s latest standup (double yikes), and finally just telling him he needs to put pen to paper and be funnier.

The jokes truly write themselves, and Caitlin had one more up her sleeve. After shouting out the greats who came before her like Sheryl Swoopes and her hero, Maya Moore (whom she had the pleasure of meeting), she had one more gift for Che: an autographed apron. 

Donned in frills and the pinkest of pinks, Che accepts his gift… but not without one more rag, mentioning how he can’t wait to give it to his nonexistent girlfriend. 

It was a sigh of relief to get the last laugh this time and with just one day left before Clark seals her fate in the pros… I’m sure she and her soon-to-be new teammates will be the ones laughing much more at their projected successes, fanfare, and riches.