However, Sky coach Teresa Weatherspoon cut off postgame questions for Carter “that offered the
player an opportunity to explain the incident in her own words.” At the same time, Sky F Angel
Reese declined to speak with the media. In the “absence of context from the players themselves,
the controversy spread further.” It “opened up room for people, some of whom have never
watched women’s basketball but saw a clip on their social-media timeline, to fill in their own
assumptions and misguided claims about intent.” Negley: “Cheap shot aside, though, the league
could use the beef. It used to market itself as the ‘1 44,’ a nod to the number of roster spots. It now
wants to lean into rivalries and marketing superstars, because that’s how sports work”
ANY PUBLICITY IS GOOD PUBLICITY? In Chicago, Paul Sullivan wrote Caner’s foul against
Clark was a “defining moment for the WNBA,” which now has a “window of opportunity to get
massive publicity” with the NBA playoffs in an intermission before the NBA Finals begin Thursday.
This kind of controversy can “help fuel the league’s growth, as any publicity is good publicity.” The
foul became a “trending topic on social media, was discussed during a ‘Good Morning America’
segment on Sunday and helped make the Sky-Fever into a true rivalry.” Sullivan wrote jealousy
from Clark’s fellow WNBA players “for lifting the league into another stratosphere with her fame
and talent level is obvious”
SIGNS OF GROWTH In S.F-, Scott Ostler wrote the reaction to the foul “not only showed how
much new attention is being focused on the league this season,” it was also a “marker of the
advancement of women’s sports in generaL” Ostler “People are watching! People care! The
league that has been fighting for recognition for decades seems to be picking UP some steam,
part of a general rise in women’s sports.” Ostler asked: “When was the last time all the folks
around the proverbial office water cooler, or at the barber shop and the beauty salon, were
heatedly debating an incident in a regular-season game in a woman’s sport?” (S.F CHRONICLE,
YAHOO SPORTS’ Dan Wetzel wrote in a “pure business sense,” WNBA players “ShOUld love
Caitlin Clark for the sponsorship money, fan attention and media coverage she is bringing to a
league that failed to truly break through in over a quarter century of existence.” Wetzel: ‘What
Clark brings, undoubtedly, is attention. If this happens a year ago, with another player, then only
the diehard fans even know Or care”
