NBA commissioner Adam Silver has refused to deny bombshell reports he stepped into the saga engulfing the WNBA and Caitlin Clark during a panel at Fanatics Fest.
In recent days, a report from Sports Business Journal revealed that Silver encouraged WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert to give a flagrant foul and suspension to Phoenix Mercury forward Alyssa Thomas after she was shown on replay to have hit Clark in the face when going for a loose ball.
Engelbert wasn’t initially set to suspend Thomas, but Silver – whose organization controls the WNBA – believed ‘there was clear evidence of a flagrant foul, that he felt badly for Clark and told Engelbert she had to act.’
Silver spoke at the Game Plan panel for Fanatics Fest and gave a lengthy answer revealing his thoughts on Clark’s treatment as well as the report.
‘I think that ultimately the issues around Caitlin Clark are not largely about officiating,’ Silver said. ‘And 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.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver refused to deny a report that he advised his WNBA counterpart, Cathy Engelbert, to suspend Alyssa Thomas over her hit on Caitlin Clark
Silver defended Clark and called her a ‘political football’ which is ‘incredibly unfair to her’
The WNBA denied the report that Engelbert was initially not going to suspend Thomas
‘And she’s 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 political ping pong with her. And she’s a young woman who’s trying to improve her game, focus on being the best player she can. And I don’t even think it’s fair to her that this has become a separate storyline about one foul – should it have been called in time or should it have been called a flagrant after the fact?’
‘That’s my response. People are allowed to think whatever they can, and whatever they want about our league. But there’s so much to celebrate around the WNBA.’
Silver added, ‘Do we need to improve WNBA officiating? No doubt about it. But my day job is getting complaints about NBA officiating.’
When pressed about the claims in the report, Silver replied, ‘I’m not going to comment on that, because I don’t think it’s fair to Caitlin – and to Cathy Engelbert either.
‘I think that’s not the real issue here. What people are trying to make a larger issue around that – not as to whether that was a flagrant foul or not.’
In response to the SBJ report, the WNBA said the claim that Engelbert wasn’t initially planning to suspend Thomas was ‘absolutely false.’
