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, thought, the league could use the beef. It used to market itself as the ‘144,’ a nod to the number of roster spots. It now wants to lean into rivalries and marking superstars, because that’s how sports work.”

ANY PUBLICITY IS GOOD PUBLICITY? In Chicago, Paul Sullivan wrote Carter’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 on the foul “not only showed how much new attention is being focused on the league this season,” it was also a “market 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?”

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, the only the diehard fans even know, Or care”.