NBA Commissioner Adam Silver Raves About Caitlin Clark's Rookie Year

Adam Silver took time to praise Caitlin Clark and the WNBA during his recent trip to Indianapolis.
Iowa women’s basketball’s Caitlin Clark shows off her rings during Iowa's football game against Northwestern.
Iowa women’s basketball’s Caitlin Clark shows off her rings during Iowa's football game against Northwestern. / Julia Hansen/Iowa City Press-Citizen / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

NBA commissioner Adam Silver went to the Indiana Pacers-New Orleans Pelicans game Monday night where he took the time to meet and praise the city's biggest star who sat courtside.

Caitlin Clark, the Indiana Fever star and WNBA Rookie of the Year, was seen speaking with Silver at Gainbridge Fieldhouse Monday. While we don't know what the two spoke about, Silver gushed over Clark and the WNBA as a whole in an interview on the Pacers' TV broadcast.

"Caitlin Clark set the world on fire, not just this community," Silver said on FanDuel Sports Network Indiana via The Indianapolis Star. "People are seeing how deep this league is, how good the quality of basketball is. I jokingly said this league is a 28-year overnight sensation."

Silver brought the NBA All-Star Game to Indianapolis in 2024, while the WNBA All-Star Game is coming to Indy next year.

Clark's Fever made the playoffs in her rookie year but were eliminated in the first round by the Connecticut Sun 2-0 in a best-of-three series. Stephanie White was the Sun's coach for the past two seasons. This offseason, she was hired as the head coach of the Fever after the team decided to part ways with Christie Sides after two seasons.

Clark averaged 19.2 points, 8.4 assists, 5.7 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game in her first WNBA season. She was named an All-Star, finished fourth in MVP voting and was named to the All-WNBA first team in addition to her Rookie of the Year award.

The sky is the limit for Clark, her Fever and the entire WNBA. Silver knows it, too.


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Blake Silverman
BLAKE SILVERMAN

Blake Silverman is a breaking/trending news writer at Sports Illustrated. Blake has covered the WNBA, NBA, G League and college basketball since 2021 for numerous sites including Winsidr, SB Nation's Detroit Bad Boys and A10Talk. He graduated from Michigan State University before receiving a master's degree in sports journalism from St. Bonaventure University. Outside of work, he's probably binging the latest Netflix documentary, at a yoga studio or enjoying everything Detroit sports. A lifelong Michigander, he lives in suburban Detroit with his wife, young son and their personal petting zoo of two cats and a dog.