Even though Caitlin Clark has taken the WNBA and women’s basketball in general to heights unimaginable just a few years ago, the rest of the league has seemingly ganged up on her, giving her some rough treatment.
A number of players, including some prominent ones, have committed hard, and some would say dirty, fouls on her. The latest came on Wednesday when Phoenix Mercury forward Alyssa Thomas drove her fist into Clark’s throat.
Advertisement
Thomas was fined a paltry $1,000 by the league and handed a one-game suspension. But there has been outrage about the fact that she only got a light slap on the wrist for her unsportsmanlike conduct against the Indiana Fever star.
Former NBA Player Unloads, Warns That Caitlin Clark Could Leave the WNBA
Enes Kanter Freedom, who spent 11 years in the NBA, went on Fox News and implied that Clark could do the unthinkable: leave the WNBA, and that if she did, it would spell doom for the league.
“Caitlin Clark deserves better… I think the review team did a terrible job because that’s a direct review… That is unacceptable… She [Clark] is the golden goose, and everybody knows that,” he said. “The fans know that. The coaches know that. The players know that. The league knows that. But unfortunately, she’s getting disrespect from her own league.”
Advertisement
“She’s the reason there are tens of thousands of fans on the stands. Before her, nobody was actually watching the WNBA, or they didn’t really care about it,” he continued. “So she was the reason that there are people on the stands, and there are thousands of kids out there that idolizing her, so the league needs to do a better job of protecting her.”
“If she says, ‘I’m done, I’m tired of this,’ if she leaves, goes to Europe or Asia, the league is done.”
MORE: ‘Totally UNACCEPTABLE’ — Legendary Broadcaster Blasts WNBA Players’ ‘Abuse’ of Caitlin Clark
In the NBA, the hard fouls Clark has had to endure carry heavy penalties, including but not limited to ejections and suspensions.
Advertisement
That makes the WNBA’s response to these incidents all the more confounding.
To add insult to injury, the league recently issued a 30th-anniversary poster, and Clark was conspicuous by her absence, although former prominent stars such as Diana Taurasi, Sue Bird, Candace Parker, and Tamika Catchings were also left off the poster.
Since Clark entered the WNBA two years ago, attendance and television ratings have exploded.
The league is now a hot commodity, and the “Caitlin Clark effect’ has resulted in its teams enjoying chartered flights, not to mention a new collective bargaining agreement that has immensely boosted player salaries.
Advertisement
There is no indication that Clark, who is averaging 21.2 points and 8.2 assists a game so far this year, is so frustrated by how she’s been treated that she could contemplate leaving the league.
But at the very least, everyone involved in the WNBA needs to appreciate and respect her more, given how much the league has grown in a short amount of time thanks to her presence.
