WNBA fans were shocked last Saturday night when the Indiana Fever rookie Caitlin Clark was on the receiving end of a hard foul from Chicago Sky guard Chennedy Carter. Now, Clark is getting a message of support from the NBA Commissioner Adam Silver.
Silver Defends Clark
“As a fan, it’s nothing new in basketball that there’s sort of ‘welcome to the league’ moments, especially for heralded rookies,” Silver said, according to The New York Times. “Of course, I want to see Caitlin treated fairly and appropriately in the league. I would say it seems like she can take care of herself. She’s a tough player.”
“I think ultimately this is very healthy for women’s basketball in the WNBA,” he added. “It’s generating tremendous additional interest. In fairness to the other players and in fairness to commissioner Engelbert, this didn’t just start this year.”
This was a reference to the WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert. Silver went on to say that “certainly we are seeing an acceleration of it with Caitlin, but there are many individual stars who came into this league over the last several years.”
Related: Caitlin Clark Thankful For 4-Day Break Amid Targeting, Harassment
Clark’s History
Clark is the NCAA all-time leading scorer from the University of Iowa. Back in April, she was drafted by Indiana Fever as the number one pick. Since then, many have speculated that Clark’s fellow WNBA stars are jealous of the attention that she has received.
Carter’s hard foul on Clark last weekend only added credence to these claims. However, Silver was quick to caution against reading into that too much.
“I don’t want to make too big of an issue out of one particular play,” Silver said. “I think the burgeoning rivalries in professional basketball — you see rivalries among clubs but also between individual players too, and I think that can be ultimately good for the sport.”
Check out Silver’s full comments on this in the video below.
Related: Caitlin Clark Is ‘Being Targeted’ By Other WNBA Players, UCONN’s Geno Auriemma Warns
Clark’s Season So Far
Despite all of the discourse surrounding her, Clark has managed have a successful WNBA season so far.
Clark is only the third WNBA player to top 100 points, 30 rebounds and 30 assists in her first six games, according to The Associated Press. She also leads this year’s talented rookie class in scoring (17.6 points), assists (6.6), field goals (46) and free throws (42). Clark was even able to match Diana Taurasi’s 3-pointers total (24).
That being said, the Indiana Fever is still 2-9 for the season. However, Clark has hope that they will be able to turn things around.
“Hopefully, we’ll get our legs under us a little bit more, make a few more shots, we probably haven’t shot it as well as we would have liked,” she said earlier this week. “But I think overall, just our chemistry and how we’re working together will get better.”
Clark has brought more eyes to women’s basketball than ever before, contrary to the claims of Silver and Englebert. It’s sad that her fellow players don’t seem to appreciate this as much as they should. We applaud the NBA commissioner for standing by Clark, and we would encourage more big names in basketball to do the same!
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