T. J. Houshmandzadeh spoke on Thursday on the “Speakeasy” podcast with Emmanuel Acho and Kieran Hickey-Semple about Caitlin Clark. He expressed his opinion that Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is wrong in saying that Clark is not the face of the WNBA.
His comments come in response to a Substack publication by Abdul-Jabbar, in which the NBA wrote that it was wrong to call the Indiana Fever star the face of the WNBA, as she doesn’t have the accolades to claim such a title.
“Once Caitlin Clark became a member of the WNBA, things changed. And many will say, ‘There were other women as well.’ Well, ‘Why didn’t it change before I came, all these other women have been playing?’ (He asked rhetorically as if he was Clark) … ‘It just so happened to change once I came into the league,'” said Houshmandzadeh on Thursday (3:40)
Houshmandzadeh said that Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was right in that Clark doesn’t have the accolades yet to be the best player in the league, but maintained that the change she brought to the league justifies her status as the face of the league.
What did Kareem Abdul-Jabbar say about Caitlin Clark?
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar reacted on Tuesday to a letter members of Congress sent to the WNBA last week demanding actions to protect Caitlin Clark from what they called “attacks” and seemed to insinuate was racism.
Here’s what he wrote on his Substack:
“My first reaction to this letter was to check the calendar and make sure it wasn’t April Fools’ Day. Eleven members of Congress wrote a letter calling Caitlin Clark ‘the face of your league.’ At least they got the marketing department’s talking point right,” Abdul-Jabbar wrote on his Substack
He then explained why, despite her obvious talent as a player, she shouldn’t be considered the face of the league:
“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, starting with A’ja Wilson, who has won three titles and four MVP awards in her first seven years in the WNBA.”
The letter in question was led by Republican Congressman August Pfluger, who has continued to press the WNBA through social media for a response to their missive.
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