Getty WNBA star Caitlin Clark
Well before the current controversy — or controversies, maybe — surrounding WNBA rookie star Caitlin Clark, the league had been making progress in attracting audience and standing on its own two feet. In the early stages of the WNBA, after all, it was owned and operated by the NBA.
Still, the two leagues maintain close ties, and NBA commissioner Adam Silver takes a keen interest in the success of the WNBA. That’s why, when he was asked about the state of the WNBA and the recent tumult around Clark, who had been given a hard and almost uncalled-for foul from Chicago’s Chennedy Carter on June 1, Silver was ready with a message.
That’s life as a hyped-up hoops star, he essentially said. Get used to it.
“Obviously, it’s nothing new in basketball that there’s sort of ‘welcome to the league’ moments, especially for heralded rookies, but of course I want to see Caitlin Clark treated fairly and appropriately in the league,” Silver told reporters on June 6.
“I would say it seems like she can take care of herself. She’s a tough player. I think it may be lost on some people that are new to basketball, in terms of a little bit of controversy in the WNBA, what an incredible talent she is: two Final Fours, leading scorer in the history of college basketball. I look forward to watching her ongoing development in the league.”
Caitlin Clark’s Prominence Raising Societal Issues
Of course, one of the offshoots of Clark’s induction into the WNBA has been an onslaught of media attention that the league has not had in its 28 years of existence. That’s been welcome. Silver pointed out that in the early going of the league, he and former commissioner David Stern would implore media outlets to cover WNBA games and personalities.
Silver said that the hype around Clark has gone beyond basketball and raised a number of societal issues and issues within the league. Some veteran players are resentful that they’ve worked so hard to perfect their craft, and yet it’s an inexperienced rookie who is garnering all the attention. Even fellow rookie Angel Reese said as much.
There have also been issues of race and gender — is Clark treated differently because she is white? Because she is a woman?
“There’s also some larger societal issues at work,” Silver said. “There’s no doubt. I don’t want to hide from that. Some having to do with race, and they’re very apparent. I think sports historically has been a platform for people to talk directly about these issues. I don’t think we should hide from them.”
WNBA Attention a ‘Two-Edged Sword’
Finally, Silver addressed the be-careful-what-you-wish-for topic of the day, the fact that Clark and the WNBA were being talked about on the popular but rough-edged “Pat McAfee Show” on ESPN. McAfee termed Caitlin Clark a “white [expletive]” on his show, a comment for which he later apologized.
Silver said he accepted McAfee’s apology.
He went on: “I accept sort of in a free society, where there’s a lot of conversation, a lot of dialogue, and I think it’s for the WNBA, of course, it’s going to be a two-edged sword.
“Many of us in this room go back to David Stern, where we sat in meetings and he was pleading with some of the very reporters sitting her to cover the WNBA and women’s basketball. Now we’re being covered, and once you get covered in an extensive way, it’s a little bit of a product of how media works these days, that you’re going to see occasional statements that people aren’t happy with.”