Adam Silver Calls Caitlin Clark A "Political Football"

The Caitlin Clark controversy has gone from social media fodder to Republicans complaining to a commissioner from another league, who is now weighing in.

During a recent conversation with Andrew Ross Sorkin at the Game Plan Summit, presented by CNBC and Boardroom, NBA commissioner Adam Silver broke down the Clark phenomenon.

After the hard foul where Alyssa Thomas put her fist into her neck and the outrage that followed, he understands that it’s got nothing to do with her play and is more about her being a political pawn.

“Ultimately, the issues around Caitlin Clark are not largely about officiating,” Silver said, according to ESPN. And that particular incident is not about whether a foul should have been called at the time in the game or whether that was ultimately a flagrant on review.

“I have come to know Caitlin really well,” Silver continued. “She’s an incredible player and also an incredible person. And she wants to focus on being the best player she can. She has become a bit of a political football in this country, and I think it’s incredibly unfair to her. I don’t think that issue is ultimately about officiating. It’s become political ping-pong with her. And she’s a young woman who’s trying to improve her game.”

Perhaps even more controversial than the foul was when it occurred on June 24 during a game between the Indiana Fever and the Phoenix Mercury; Thomas wasn’t called for a foul. However, the WNBA eventually upgraded the play to a flagrant foul and suspended her one game for “recklessly making contact with her fist.”

Silver continues, “I don’t even think it’s fair to her that this has become a separate storyline about one foul. Do we need to improve WNBA officiating? No doubt about it.”

Another thing that the WNBA could improve is the protection of its players, since the Clark situation has led to an upsurge in racial digital attacks.

Thomas says she received death threats after the foul and says she has also been called racial slurs.

Clark aside, Chelsea Gray was recently called the N-word in her Instagram DMs, leading to the sender getting fired from his job.

Even when Kareem Abdul-Jabbar weighed in on Clark, he urged the league to focus on the real issue of protecting its players from online harassment.

Now that Silver has weighed in, see how social media is reacting below.