NBA commissioner Adam Silver says Caitlin Clark has unfairly become a ‘political football’
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Indiana Fever’s Caitlin Clark dribbling past Tiffany Hayes of the Golden State Valkyries in Indianapolis, Indiana, on July 15.
PHOTO: AFP
NEW YORK – NBA commissioner Adam Silver said on July 16 that issues facing WNBA and Indiana Fever star guard Caitlin Clark are about more than officiating, calling her a “political football”.
Since entering the league in 2024, Clark has helped increase WNBA ticket sales and television ratings. However, many conversations around her have centred on polarising topics, including race, officiating and politics.
The physical ways that some teams defend against Clark – resulting in fouls that are sometimes not called – is an issue that keeps cropping up.
It came to a head on June 24 on a loose-ball play when Phoenix Mercury forward Alyssa Thomas put a closed fist into Clark’s neck as Thomas tried to stand up. Thomas was not called for a foul on the second-quarter play in the game which Phoenix won 111-109.
Thomas, however, was issued a retroactive flagrant foul, a one-game suspension and a US$1,000 (S$1,300) fine after the game. The WNBA found the 34-year-old guilty of “recklessly making contact with her fist” on Clark’s throat.
Thomas, who termed the incident an accident, said she and her family received death threats, harassment and racist abuse, adding to a wider conversation about player safety and online behaviour around the league.
She also criticised WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert for not doing enough to protect the league’s players.
“Ultimately, the issues around Caitlin Clark are not largely about officiating,” Silver said in New York while speaking on a panel at the Game Plan Summit, presented by CNBC and Boardroom.
“That particular incident is not about whether a foul should have been called at the time of the game or whether that was ultimately a flagrant non-review.
“I’ve come to know Caitlin really well. She’s an incredible player and also an incredible person. And she wants to focus on being the best player she can. And she’s become a bit of a political football in this country, and I think it’s incredibly unfair to her.”
He declined to comment about a report in the Sports Business Journal that he pressured Engelbert to suspend Thomas, saying it would be unfair to the WNBA commissioner and Clark.
“What people are trying to make a larger issue (about) is not (whether) that was a flagrant foul or not,” Silver said.
He added that there is “no doubt” that WNBA officiating needs to improve.
Clark, in public comments in early July, condemned “the harassment, the hate”.
“None of that is OK,” said the 24-year-old. “That goes for the opposing teams we play, that goes for my teammates, that goes for my coaches.”
Fever coach Stephanie White also condemned the tone of the discussion, saying the league has seen an increase in “toxicity, racism, homophobia” and other hateful comments, particularly online.
Engelbert, speaking as a panellist at the July 16 event in New York, said: “The vitriol and everything that our players receive... is unacceptable.”
She noted league initiatives to address harassment and add security at team-related activities.
Engelbert also pointed to efforts in the off-season to improve officiating, including a committee of players, college coaches, general managers and officials. REUTERS