A pair of NBA legends with 17 All-Star game appearances between them are putting the WNBA on notice – players need to be treating Caitlin Clark a little better.
Thanking her, even.
Eight-time NBA All-Star small forward Rick Barry and nine-time All-Star shooting guard George “The Iceman” Gervin discussed Clark’s treatment during a recent episode of the “Krause House” podcast.
Barry, who played 15 years in the league, kicked off the conversation by addressing the spate of flagrant and hard fouls the Indiana Fever rookie has had to endure this season.
“I think it’s reprehensible what they’re allowing some of these players to… anybody that is doing something flagrant to this young lady for what she’s brought to the game should be suspended and fined big time for doing that,” he said.
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Legends Call For Caitlin Clark To Be Shown Some Respect
Barry is referencing the fact that a significant percentage of documented flagrant fouls in the league this season have been at the expense of Caitlin Clark.
Five out of the 30 flagrant fouls called in the WNBA this season have involved Clark as the victim. That equates to 17%. Of those, 80% have come at the hands of Angel Reese and her Chicago Sky teammates.
That doesn’t even take into account hard fouls that don’t get elevated to flagrant, or extremely brutal picks she has been dropped with throughout the year.
Gervin, who played 14 years in the NBA, responded by noting players in the women’s league should be lauding Caitlin Clark for what will almost assuredly be bigger paychecks in the future.
“They don’t know the value that she’s bringing for all of them,” Gervin said. “They’re flying private planes now; they weren’t flying private before she came. They’re on major networks now. They weren’t doing that [before Clark]. She reminds me of Tiger Woods for golf — he changed the paycheck.”
“So why ain’t somebody — unions — making this an issue for these girls to say, ‘Man, we need another Caitlin Clark if we’re going to be able to get all these benefits’ because they didn’t have it before she got into the league,” he added.
High praise from some incredible sources.
Rick Barry and George “Iceman” Gervin DEFEND Caitlin Clark against the WNBA. pic.twitter.com/xqrnXHqE8L
— Joy De’Angela (@joydeangela) September 12, 2024
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They Actually Complained About Not Getting Enough Money
If Gervin and Barry thought some of the grievance-filled players were going to give Caitlin Clark her flowers, it might stand as one of the rare instances that they missed their mark.
These ladies clearly don’t know her value. The league and the media are constantly trying to reduce her individual accomplishments to those of the entire ‘rookie class’.
And when it comes to revenue, they couldn’t even appreciate her for that.
Earlier in the season, it was announced that the WNBA was quadrupling revenue via a $2.2 billion media rights deal. Clark becoming must-see television and delivering a never-ending stream of television ratings may have been a major factor in that deal.
Just a little bit.
And they still whined about being “undervalued”.
WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert recognized the effect Clark was having on the game a while ago.
“We’re obviously marketing around all of our players, but I think Caitlin’s lifting everybody,” Engelbert said.
Now maybe the players can get on board and simply play good solid basketball going forward. Everybody would benefit from that.
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