Legendary NBA star Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is not only one of the best players in league history, but he's one of the most outspoken.
The longtime basketball star turned activist has often spoken out on societal issues, including race, politics, culture and more. This week, he decided to weigh in on the ongoing Caitlin Clark saga within the WNBA.
Abdul-Jabbar took a hard stance, saying it's disrespectful to call Clark the face of the league, no matter what the numbers say.
“My first reaction to this letter was to check the calendar and make sure it wasn’t April Fools’ Day,” the six-time NBA Champion wrote in his Substack. “Don’t get me wrong: Clark is a very good, possibly even a great, player. But calling any one player the face of the league, absent the sort of on-court and cross-platform dominance of a Michael Jordan or a LeBron James, is an insult to an awful lot of great players.”
Getty Images.
Abdul-Jabbar said that other players, like Aces star A'ja Wilson, Breanna Stewart and Napheesa Collier, along with Chelsea Gray and Alyssa Thomas, deserve to be in the conversation, too.
But here's the problem: It's not up to Abdul-Jabbar or any one individual.
Clark is the face of the WNBA, like it or not.
Indiana Fever star is clearly the face of the WNBA
Clark might not be the best player in the WNBA. But she is undoubtedly the league's most popular player. She is the one driving the most ticket sales, most merchandise sales, most TV ratings, etc.
That's what the face of the league does.
"Kareem is dead wrong," one fan said.
"Kareem may think it is an insult and he may not want her to be 'the face' but still everyone knows she is. And all the players who don't like it are the reasons she gets more hard contact than any other player in the league," one fan added.
Clark's critics can continue to voice their frustrations with her popularity, but the numbers do not lie.
She is the face of the WNBA, like it or not.
