NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has broken his silence on the Caitlin Clark-WNBA controversy, highlighting Chennedy Carter’s heavy foul on the Indiana Fever star.
Ahead of Game 1 of the NBA Finals on Thursday night, the 61-year-old Silver had no opinion on Carter’s body check on Clark, a play that has come under numerous scrutiny by numerous parties since Saturday’s game between the Fever and Chicago Sky taken.
Talk exploded over the weekend when Carter delivered a shoulder shot to Clark, knocking the Fever star to the ground before completing an inbounds pass in the third quarter. The WNBA later upgraded the common foul to a flagrant foul after review.
“Obviously, as a fan, it’s nothing new in basketball to have kind of welcome-to-the-league moments, especially for heralded rookies,” Silver said.
“But of course I want Caitlin to be treated fairly and appropriately in the competition. I would say, it looks like she can take care of herself… she’s a tough player.”
NBA Comm’r Adam Silver said he wants Caitlin Clark to be treated ‘fairly and appropriately’ in the WNBA, amid talk of harsh fouls on the Fever Guard and her race
Chennedy Carter gave Clark a brutal shoulder shot during the game against Fever-Sky on Saturday
Silver went on to call Clark “an incredible talent” and says all the attention she’s helping is good for women’s basketball — while noting that the growth of the fan base for women’s basketball hasn’t just started either.
He also said it can’t be ignored that there are “bigger social issues at work… some of them have to do with race” when discussing the attention Clark is generating and how it is being received.
“Sports has historically been a platform for people to talk directly about these issues,” Silver said.
“I don’t think we should hide from them, and I think the players are happy to discuss these issues.”
Carter was heavily criticized for her foul on Clark during Chicago’s loss to Indiana, with the Sky Guard appearing to shout ‘you b***h’ before pushing the Fever rookie to the ground.
Carter’s teammate Angel Reese was criticized on social media for celebrating the hard foul on Clark
Her teammate Angel Reese appeared to celebrate the push after the game, despite their 71-70 loss that night, sparking outrage on social media.
Days later, during an appearance on FanDuel TV’s “Run It Back,” basketball legend Nancy Lieberman admitted that she would have reacted more violently to the body check than Clark did, calling on the point guard’s Fever teammates to step up and to offer her better protection. the future.
Lieberman further pointed out that hockey great Wayne Gretzky and NBA legend Michael Jordan always had enforcers protecting them on their respective courts, and emphasized that Clark needs similar on-court help for the Fever.
However, others, like Whoopi Goldberg, have jumped to Carter’s defense. The View star begged viewers to ‘get over it’ [themselves]’ and accept that WNBA players are ‘athletes’.
Days after her body check on Clark, Carter was ‘harassed’ at Sky’s hotel in Washington DC
“Let’s be realistic, okay? This is basketball, okay? This happens all the time in basketball. Angel Reese got a clothesline the other day,” Goldberg said.
“This is: ‘Go away, or I will move you.’ That’s what the game is… However, many people read this as a confrontation. But this is not a confrontation,” she emphasized.
On Wednesday, Carter was targeted in Washington DC by a man, who was not a guest at the hotel, when the Sky arrived ahead of their road match against the Mystics on Thursday.
Angel Reese and Carter’s other Sky teammates spoke out furiously on social media after the incident, calling for better safety measures from the WNBA.