A simple stat became a much bigger conversation for WNBA analyst Zena Keita. After facing a wave of criticism for a mistake involving Caitlin Clark and Olivia Miles, she took to X to set the record straight with a public correction.
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It all started when a clip of Keita, during an appearance on The Athletic’s No Offseason podcast on July 20, claimed that the WNBA record for assists by a rookie during a single season was held by Miles, when in actuality, it was Caitlin Clark’s record. That exchange was clipped and posted to X by @BrickCenter_, which Keita responded to with another X post. But after serious backlash on that post as well, she posted further clarification on the matter.
“For what it is worth, I AM genuinely sorry for unintentionally sharing a bad stat. My producers and I should have caught that before posting and will do better moving forward,” she wrote on X.
“This was a simple misspeak. The stat was that she broke the LYNX rookie single assist record, not WNBA. I had done 2 podcasts before this one & simply misspoke. I am not racist, and I don’t hate CC. You can think whatever else past that, idc [I don’t care],” read her previous post on X, clarifying her stance.
The 2026 second overall pick, Miles, currently holds the Minnesota Lynx franchise record for most assists by a rookie in a season, not the WNBA record for the same. The previous Lynx franchise record was held by guard Noel Quinn, who made a total of 148 assists in 34 games during her rookie year of 2007. Miles currently sits at 228 assists over 37 WNBA games, which is 109 behind Caitlin Clark’s stellar 2024 rookie-year mark of 337 over 40 games.
In the clip that was reposted to X, Keita was bringing attention to Miles’ outstanding rookie season, where she has built a runaway case for the Rookie of the Year award. She especially praised the guard’s playmaking ability, as well as the leadership in being able to step into a team missing their best player for a significant part of the season.
“Olivia Miles has also made her mark this season, setting the all-time WNBA rookie assist record,” she said. “It’s kind of crazy to look at some of the numbers that she’s putting up in a single season. Six assists, over six assists. She has almost a two-assist-to-turnover ratio, which is good, right? When you think about having the ball in your hands that much, that young, and this is with a season that’s been majority without Napheesa Collier. It’s pretty impressive for her to have a ratio of two in her assist-to-turnover ratio.”
Keita’s response was meant to signal to fans that her mistake had nothing to do with race, after she was called out in the comments for burying Caitlin Clark’s achievement because of her race.
The Lynx still have four games left, but unless she goes on a record-breaking stretch, Miles is unlikely to overtake Caitlin Clark’s mark of 337 assists this season.