Although Gayle King and Robin Roberts have achieved great success in their careers, not everyone considers the TV regulars significant stars.
Viewers see King regularly as one of the anchors delivering daily news on CBS Mornings alongside Tony Dokoupil, Nate Burleson, and Vladimir Duthiers.
Meanwhile, Robin is on ABC, co-anchoring Good Morning America with Michael Strahan and George Stephanopoulos.
Despite working on competing networks, the two women are friends and sometimes show up at the same events.
They recently attended the WNBA Playoffs in Brooklyn, New York, for the New York Liberty versus Las Vegas Aces game.
However, some sports fans reacted sourly after the morning show anchors were called “stars.”
Gayle and Robin enjoyed a courtside view at the Liberty’s WNBA playoff game
Gayle shared an Instagram carousel post from the WNBA game at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center. In her first photo, Gayle and Robin sit courtside with singer Alicia Keys and New York Liberty co-owner Clara Wu Tsai.
Additional slides feature the Liberty mascot, Ellie the Elephant, and dancers, Robin and Gayle cheering with Wu Tsai, and a video of many fans cheering after the home team’s victory.
“Why are we all smiling? Because we’re all BIG @nyliberty fans and they won game two of the semifinals last night! Great time with Clara Wu Tsai, @aliciakeys, @robinrobertsgma, and @bigellieliberty 🏀🗽,” Gayle captioned her IG post.
Another photo of Gayle with Ellie popped up on the mascot’s official Instagram page.
“An iconic courtside linkup with @bigellieliberty & @gayleking 😍,” a caption said as photos showed Ellie cozied up to Galye in the nearby seat.
Seated to the right of Ellie was former NBA and New York Knicks star Carmelo Anthony.
Fans called out a post labeling King and Roberts as ‘stars’
An ESPN SportsCenter video on Facebook (shown below via X) featured various celebrities attending the WNBA Playoff Game. Among them were Gayle, Robin, Carmelo, actor Jason Sudeikis, retired WNBA legend Sue Bird, and her wife, retired soccer star Megan Rapinoe.
“The stars are out in Brooklyn for Aces-Liberty Game 2 🤩,” the video post’s caption said.
However, many fans reacted to the Facebook video and caption, seemingly questioning who the stars were in the video.
“I have no clue who any of them are!” one SportsCenter commenter wrote.
Another said, “Are they B list? I don’t know who any of them are.”
“Were they paid to be there,” a commenter asked about the people attending the WNBA game.
“Where are the stars?” one commenter asked.
Another echoed those sentiments, asking, “Are the stars in the video or you just letting us know there are some there?”
WNBA experienced a TV ratings boost during the recent season and playoffs
According to Forbes, rookie Caitlin Clark may have significantly boosted interest in the WNBA, including game viewership, ratings, and attendance.
Fellow rookie Angel Reese also gained a following since joining the league, but many fans often argue that Clark has given the WNBA a more significant boost.
Robin interviewed Clark for GMA when Clark was attracting attention at Iowa for achieving the all-time points record in NCAA men’s and women’s basketball. Clark led her team to the playoffs in her rookie season, but the Connecticut Sun swept them in two games.
The New York Post reported that ratings dropped for the WNBA Playoffs after Clark and her team’s exit.
According to the WNBA’s recap, 14,321 fans attended Barclays to see the Liberty take a 2-0 lead over the Aces, putting the reigning champs in a must-win game at home.
That game will take place in Las Vegas on Friday evening, so there won’t likely be a similar post featuring stars, including Gayle and Robin unless they fly out to Nevada.