NEW YORK – (Wire Service Report)- The relationship between WNBA star forward Napheesa Collier and league commissioner Cathy Engelbert apparently hit another setback, with the player canceling a meeting scheduled for next week, ESPN reported on Saturday.

Collier criticized Engelbert and the league in a news conference on Tuesday, saying they have “the worst leadership in the world” and accusing her of making disparaging comments about star players and not taking officiating seriously.

Engelbert made an initial statement later Tuesday, then spoke at length at a Friday news conference about Collier’s comments and accepted some responsibility for players’ disapproval of her performance. However, labeling Collier’s version of a private conversation they had in February as full of inaccuracies has “pretty much pushed the relationship beyond repair,” one source told ESPN.

Engelbert had not been notified that the meeting was canceled as of early Saturday evening, a league spokesperson told ESPN.

Collier is a Women’s National Basketball Players Association vice president, along with a star on the Minnesota Lynx, and her voice carried extra heft amid the backdrop of a collective bargaining agreement that’s set to expire Oct. 31.

Engelbert stated on Tuesday that she was “disheartened by how Napheesa characterized our conversations and league leadership.” However, on Friday, during her annual news conference before Game 1 of the WNBA Finals, she made an effort to speak highly of the players and sought to make amends.

Collier said she asked Engelbert how she would address the issue of young superstars like Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese and Paige Bueckers earning very little on their rookie contracts while generating huge revenue for the league.

“Her response was, ‘Caitlin should be grateful she makes $16 million off the court because without the platform the WNBA gives her, she wouldn’t make anything,’” Collier said.

“And in that same conversation,” she continued, Engelbert “told me players should be on their knees thanking their lucky stars for the media rights deal that (she) got them.”

Asked on Friday if she actually mentioned the media rights part of that statement, Engelbert avoided directly addressing it.

“There’s a lot of inaccuracy out there through social media and all this reporting,” Engelbert said. “And so I think what’s most helpful is to focus on, I have been in touch with Napheesa, we’ve exchanged texts, we’re talking next week. So, I think, obviously, a lot of reporting, a lot of inaccuracy about what I said or what I didn’t say. And I will tell you, I highly respect the players.”

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The post WNBA in Boston? Not So Fast! appeared first on Digital Sports Desk.

By TERRY LYONS, Editor of Digital Sports Desk

BOSTON – With Major League Baseball’s All-Star Game played this past Tuesday night, there were all kinds of discussions and arguments behind-the-scenes of the game. The rosters were scrutinized and the drop-outs were criticized. There was quite a bit of negative skepticism on the fact 23-year-old Milwaukee Brewers right-hander Jacob Misiorowski made the National League all-Star roster after being in the Big Leagues for just a month.

On the other side of the coin, fans were thrilled to see the All-Star players back in their team uniforms, as opposed to some contrived “AL” and “NL uniforms. (the exact opposite was the case for the NBA). Upon the 6-6 tie in the game after nine full innings, there was the first-ever tie breaking “Swing Off” to determine the result of the game.

When Philadelphia’s Kyle Schwarber stole the show and sealed the NL victory with back-to-back-to-back home runs, everyone went home happy. It was quite exciting.

If the presentation of the stunning, silver Stanley Cup is the most celebrated moment in all of sports, then the “I Stand Up to Cancer” moment is certainly the most poignant. At the conclusion of the 4th inning at this week’s MLB All-Star Game, the FOX TV audience returned from a commercial break with 42,702 fans and all the players and coaches, umpires and media – everyone – yes, everyone in the building holding a sign of which they penciled-in the name of a person close to them that was battling of, sadly, already lost to cancer. It’s a silent, emotional moment in time, supported by SU2C and Mastercard, and it’s taken place at every MLB All-Star Game and World Series since 2009.

It’s a simple process as Braves staff and MLB volunteers placed pre-printed SU2C placards behind every seat in Truist Park for fans to write-in the name of the person they wanted to support. Each one of the cards was pre-inscribed with the simple message “I Stand Up For,” while a section underneath was left blank for a name.

MLB.com noted, National League manager Dave Roberts honored longtime baseball writer Scott Miller, who passed away just a few weeks ago from pancreatic cancer. American League manager Aaron Boone’s placard read, “Jake.” Braves pitcher Chris Sale wrote “Dad” on his sign, while Reds star Elly De La Cruz honored “La Familia” and “Los Enfermos.”

New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge honored “Uncle Frank,” and FOX commentator and Boston Red Sox Hall of Famer David Ortiz wrote, “Mi Viejo – Leo Ortiz.” Phillies All-Star Kyle Schwarber’s placard read, simply, “Everyone!” And Brewers All-Star Freddy Peralta honored Mr. Baseball – the late, great Bob Uecker, who passed away from cancer in January.

While all the college and pro sports do a tremendous job supporting very important causes – for example, the local home team, the Boston Red Sox efforts for The JIMMY Fund – there is no moment at any time of the year in sports which just stops you COLD. Every single person in that All-Star crowd had a direct connection with one or more people who have been stricken or died from cancer.

There will be some $50,000,000 raised by MLB and its 30 clubs and it’ll be targeted for clinical trials and other research efforts. In about two weeks, the Pan Mass Challenge will attempt to top last year’s record-breaking number of raising $75,000,000 over the Aug 2-3 weekend and that dollar figure was added to the bottom line of the Pan Mass bicycle ride vs Cancer to reach an extraordinary $1.047 billion in lifetime fundraising since Pan Mass Challenge’s founding in 1980.

That money goes directly to research efforts at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute here in Boston. If you’d like to donate, Click HERE.

HERE NOW, THE NOTES: This week, two of the world’s greatest players opined on what drives them, what they do to compete at such a high level, but the real message was that they stay in the present and that helps. It’s called perspective and the PGA Tour’s Scottie Scheffler and the WNBA’s Caitlin Clark shared some of their innermost thoughts on keeping it real.

Scheffler: “I don’t look at wins and losses or stuff like that,” he said at a pre-tournament press availability for The Open at Royal Portrush. “I don’t sit down at the beginning of the year and say I want to win “x” number of times; I want to win this many majors; I want to win this many tournament events. That’s not something I do. That’s not something that works for me.

“I have some dreams and aspirations that I’m always striving towards, but at the end of the day, I try to stay present. I try to practice hard each and every day. I feel like for me, when I start looking too far into the future, I think I’m a bit of a procrastinator. That’s how I was in school.

“If I want to look at my career and say I want to win, let’s say, five majors, I think sometimes when you’re a human, you just have that invincibility where you’re just like, I’m going to play professional golf my whole life; this stage is never going to end.

“Ultimately, it’s not, and I’m only going to be doing this for a finite amount of time. What works best for me is just to stay present, continue to put in the work, which I would argue that’s the most fun part for me. I love being able to practice, and that’s what I enjoy doing, and just try to get the most out of myself each day.

“I think the rankings are — being No. 1 in the world is a great accomplishment, I think, as a golfer. As a professional, to be ranked as the best in the world, I think, is a huge career accomplishment. I don’t think it should be taken lightly. But you don’t become No. 1 in the world by thinking about rankings. You don’t stay No. 1 in the world thinking about rankings. Each tournament is its own challenge.

“It’s funny, it’s like, look at this week for example. What’s the best-case scenario? I win this golf tournament, and then I’m going to show up in Memphis, and it’s like, okay, listen, you won two majors this year; what are you going to do this week? That’s the question you’re going to get asked.

“If I come in second this week or if I finish dead last, no matter what happens, we’re always on to the next week. That’s one of the beautiful things about golf, and it’s also one of the frustrating things because you can have such great accomplishments, but the show goes on. That’s just how it is.

“It’s great to win tournaments. It’s a lot of fun. Sometimes the feeling only lasts about two minutes, it seems like, when you’re celebrating, and then it’s like, okay, now you’ve got to go do all this other stuff, which is great, but sometimes the feeling of winning only lasts a few seconds. It’s pretty exciting and fun, but it just doesn’t last that long.

“I think I said something after the Byron this year about like it feels like you work your whole life to celebrate winning a tournament for like a few minutes. It only lasts a few minutes, that kind of euphoric feeling.

“To win the Byron Nelson Championship at home, I literally worked my entire life to become good at golf to have an opportunity to win that tournament. You win it, you celebrate, get to hug my family, my sister’s there, it’s such an amazing moment. Then it’s like, okay, what are we going to eat for dinner? Life goes on.”

“Is it great to be able to win tournaments and to accomplish the things I have in the game of golf? Yeah, it brings tears to my eyes just to think about because I’ve literally worked my entire life to be good at this sport. To have that kind of sense of accomplishment, I think, is a pretty cool feeling. To get to live out your dreams is very special, but at the end of the day, I’m not out here to inspire the next generation of golfers. I’m not out here to inspire someone to be the best player in the world because what’s the point? This is not a fulfilling life. It’s fulfilling from the sense of accomplishment, but it’s not fulfilling from a sense of the deepest places of your heart.

“There’s a lot of people that make it to what they thought was going to fulfill them in life, and you get there, you get to No. 1 in the world, and they’re like what’s the point? I really do believe that because what is the point? Why do I want to win this tournament so bad?

“That’s something that I wrestle with on a daily basis.

“I’m kind of sicko,” he admitted. “I love putting in the work. I love getting to practice. I love getting to live out my dreams. But at the end of the day, sometimes I just don’t understand the point.

I don’t know if I’m making any sense or not. Am I not? It’s just one of those deals. I love the challenge. I love being able to play this game for a living. It’s one of the greatest joys of my life, but does it fill the deepest wants and desires of my heart?

“Absolutely not.”

“I love playing golf. I love being able to compete. I love living out my dreams. I love being a father. I love being able to take care of my son. I love being able to provide for my family out here playing golf.

“Every day when I wake up early to go put in the work, my wife thanks me for going out and working so hard. When I get home, I try and thank her every day for taking care of our son. That’s why I talk about family being my priority because it really is.

“This is not the be all, end all. This is not the most important thing in my life. That’s why I wrestle with, why is this so important to me? Because I’d much rather be a great father than I would be a great golfer. At the end of the day, that’s what’s more important to me.”

ON CLARK: (As told to Boston-based reporter Gethin Coolbaugh when the WNBA Connecticut Sun hosted Caitlan Clark and the Indiana Fever at Boston’s TD Garden).

“I feel like, over the course, of whether it’s been my professional career or college career, you kind of take it as it goes and you learn from it as things come,” Clark said. “I feel like the attention – whatever that is, I don’t want to say that I get used to it, but to an extent, you do. You just accept that’s how it’s going to be.

“People are going to criticize you. People are going to praise you, no matter what it is when you play on this level and you have this type of spotlight whether it’s me, whether it’s any professional athlete that’s at the top of their game.

“That’s just how it’s going to be, so I think you kind of build on what you want to get better at. I think that’s probably the greatest challenge at times, is, everyone else has expectations. at the end of the day, there’s no higher expectations than what I have of myself and I feel like that can be lost at times.

“So I think just giving yourself a bit of grace and just having a lot of fun out there, too, is what I try to remind myself.”

TIDBITS & NUGGETS: Respected sports writer Christine Brennan has been making the rounds to promote her new book, “On Her Game.” While being interviewed by CNN’s Kaitlan Collins, Brennan expounds a belief that “the WNBA wasn’t ready for Caitlin Clark.” … In numerous interviews, Brennan has stated the same stock statement, criticising the WNBA organization for falling short. “I think it’s because they had always gotten short shrift from the national media, the male-dominated mainstream media,” Brennan said. “It was an unfathomable thought, that someone could break through wearing the jersey of a WNBA team and become the biggest name in sports. I think it was beyond comprehension for WNBA officials, and therefore they didn’t prepare. They didn’t help their players understand the magnitude of the moment. “But how can you not know when you’re looking at what was going on around the country in Big Ten arenas and others. And you look at the TV ratings. When the NCAA women’s final beats the men by 4 million (viewers) in 2024, how on earth could you not see this and say something extraordinary is coming to the WNBA?”

In the CNN interview, Brennan cited interviews with WNBA officials and others in the sports industry to support her claim. One thing this column can guarantee is that no one who worked for former NBA Commissioner David Stern nor employees of current NBA Commissioner Adam Silver would be unprepared for ANYTHING. Starting long before he became the NBA’s fourth Commissioner, Stern drilled it into the NBA culture to stay well ahead of the curve, to read everything and anything that might intersect with sports and the NBA, to spot issues long before they would ever surface, to know the players, the prospects, the international prospects, the standings in Lithuania – you name it, Stern wanted the information and the intel on EVERYTHING. Being caught short was never an option.

Now, I can not speak on behalf of the current WNBA vibes and Brennan cited WNBA Commissioner Kathy Engelbert by name, charging the leader of the women’s league with failing to prepare.

Anyone worth a pair of the late Bill Walton’s basketball shoes and his coach, John Wooden’s “pyramid of success,” knows that “Failing to prepare, is preparing to fail.”

Of course, Wooden is often credited with the quote but it was used as far back as 1919 by The Reverend H. K. Williams. Regardless, it is very difficult for a former NBA employee to even fathom that the league didn’t see the storm of an opportunity like Caitlin Clark coming, long before Clark broke Pete Maravich’s record for all-time scoring in NCAA basketball (men or women – 3,667 points) back in March of 2024.

HAPPY: 85th to CBS’ Verne Lundquist … Fans of the Twitter (X) account @Funhouse (aka @BackAftaThis) might celebrate Saturday’s David Wright Day a little bit differently than others as they remember a called to Mike Francessa at WFAN. When there’s time to listen to the whole strand of comedy acts, go fot it, but today you can settle for a dream of hearing, “Mike, when the Mets honor David Wright Day, do you think they’ll do something special for Ed Charles and Felix Millán?”

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INDIANAPOLIS – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Napheesa Collier scored a WNBA All-Star record 36 points to help Team Collier roll to an easy 151-131 victory over Team Clark on Saturday night at Indiana..

The Minnesota Lynx star was 13-of-16 shooting and collected nine rebounds while claiming MVP honors.

Allisha Gray of the Atlanta Dream added 18 points and Kelsey Plum of the Los Angeles Sparks and Nneka Ogwumike of the Seattle Storm added 16 for Team Collier, which led by as many as 27 points.

Skylar Diggins of the Storm registered an All-Star record 15 assists to go with 11 points and 11 rebounds for Team Collier.

Kelsey Mitchell of the Indiana Fever scored 20 points for Team Clark. Kiki Iriafen of Washington had 17 points and her Mystics teammate Brittney Sykes added 16. Gabby Williams of the Storm also had 16 points and Kayla Thornton of the Golden State Valkyries had 15 points and 11 rebounds.

Caitlin Clark of the Indiana Fever sat out the game due to a right groin injury.

The game featured a 4-point shot from circles located 28 or more feet from the hoop.

Team Collier made 12 of 28 4-point shots, while Team Clark was just 8 of 37. Collier made 4 of 5 4-point attempts.

The growing tension between the league and players hung heavy during the contest.

The players wore “Pay Us What You Owe Us” T-shirts during warm-ups and while sitting on the benches. A meeting between the two sides on Thursday led to many players being critical of the lack of progress toward a new Collective Bargaining Agreement.

Team Clark trailed by 22 points at the break, but Gray hit a 4-pointer and a trey within a 37-second span to give Team Collier a 97-70 advantage with 6:25 left in the third quarter.

Team Clark scored the next eight points before Collier buried a 4-pointer and Gray made a 3-pointer to give Team Collier a 104-78 lead with 4:50 left.

Team Collier led 119-95 entering the unsuspenseful final stanza.

But with 5:30 remaining, Collier buried a 4-pointer off a pass from Diggins, giving Collier the points record and Diggins the assists mark.

Arike Ogunbowale of the Dallas Wings set the points record of 34 last year.

Team Collier came out fast with Paige Bueckers of the Dallas Wings making a 4-pointer for the game’s first points. A 4-pointer by Kayla McBride of the Minnesota Lynx made it 45-32 later in the period before Team Collier led 49-36 entering the second quarter.

The margin was nine in the second quarter before Collier scored 10 straight points. She knocked down back-to-back 4-pointers and added a layup to give her squad a 63-44 lead with 5:57 left in the half.

Team Collier led 82-60 at the break. Collier had 18 points on 7-of-8 shooting.

–Field Level Media

The post Collier Stars for WNBA appeared first on Digital Sports Desk.

INDIANAPOLIS – (Wire Service Report) – The WNBA All-Star Game in Indianapolis will not be at Fever pitch.

Not with Indiana’s Caitlin Clark wearing street clothes instead of a basketball uniform and a pair of Nikes.

Team Clark and Team Collier will do battle tonight, but the All-Star Game lost some luster when Clark was forced to pull out of the contest due to a recurring right groin injury.

Team Clark coach Sandy Brondello said the face of the WNBA will be involved from the sideline during Saturday’s game.

“She’s gonna still have a great impact on this team,” Brondello said of Clark during Friday’s press conference. “I will give the coaching hat to her as much as she wants, to be quite honest.

“We’re gonna play around with it a little bit, it’ll be fun. I think you’ve seen it with the Fever, she’s been very active on the sideline when she wasn’t playing so we’ll utilize that as well.”

Clark was injured late in Tuesday’s victory over the Connecticut Sun. She missed Wednesday’s loss to the New York Liberty and announced Thursday that she was pulling out of Friday’s 3-point shooting contest and Saturday’s All-Star Game

“I am incredibly sad and disappointed to say I can’t participate in the 3-Point Contest or the All-Star Game,” Clark said in a statement. “I have to rest my body. I will still be at Gainbridge Fieldhouse for all the action and I’m looking forward to helping Sandy (Brondello) coach our team to a win.”

Team Clark could be facing the loss of another star as three-time MVP A’ja Wilson of the Las Vegas Aces is nursing a wrist injury and said Friday that it’s “to be determined” whether or not she plays.

Team Collier is named after Minnesota Lynx star Napheesa Collier, the league’s scoring leader at 23.2 points per game.

Clark’s chief rival, Angel Reese of the Chicago Sky, is on Team Collier. She is the rebounding leader at 12.6 per game.

The second-year pro has stepped up her game this season.

“Year 2, everybody knows your game,” Reese said. “If you don’t get better in the offseason, it will show.”

Reese and Clark have brought more attention to the WNBA, though there have been many bumps in the road. The league hasn’t always appeared ready for the extra scrutiny.

Veteran coach Cheryl Reeve, who is coaching Team Collier, said there is a reason for why the rise in popularity hasn’t gone smooth.

“I think the larger picture of the NBA and our franchises that are affiliated with NBA teams, there has been this long sort of undertone that the WNBA is nice but it will never become mainstream,” Reeve, in her 16th year as Lynx coach, said during Friday’s news conference. “I was told that 10 years ago. I think that undertone put us in position that when it was time to capitalize, we missed some things.”

There are six first-time All-Stars among the participants, including star rookie Paige Bueckers of the Dallas Wings.

“I’m very thankful to be here,” Bueckers said. “It’s just a crazy experience just living out my childhood dream.”

Fellow rookies Sonia Citron and Kiki Iriafen of the Washington Mystics are among the other first-timers. Another Washington player, Brittney Sykes, is making her first appearance as are Kayla Thornton of the Golden State Valkyries and Gabby Williams of the Seattle Storm.

In addition to Clark, Satou Sabally (ankle) of the Phoenix Mercury and Rhyne Howard (knee) of the Atlanta Dream also pulled out of the game.

Kayla McBride of the Minnesota Lynx was tabbed to replace Howard. Sykes and Atlanta’s Brionna Jones were added on Thursday to replace Clark and Sabally. The latter withdrew on Wednesday.

–Field Level Media

The post WNBA All-Star Game: No Caitlin appeared first on Digital Sports Desk.

BOSTON – (Wire Service Report) – Caitlin Clark’s health and shooting struggles continue to be a prevailing storyline as the Indiana Fever prepare to complete a road back-to-back against the New York Liberty on Wednesday.

Clark did score nine straight Indiana points late in the fourth quarter Tuesday, pushing the Fever past the Connecticut Sun 85-77 before a sold-out crowd in Boston. But after feeding Kelsey Mitchell for a layup with 39.3 seconds left, Clark grabbed at her right groin area.

Clark previously missed four regular-season games and the Commissioner’s Cup final with a groin injury. Tuesday was her fourth game back.

“No update,” Fever coach Stephanie White said postgame. “Just felt a little something in her groin, so we’ll get it evaluated and see what happens from there.”

The Fever (12-10) may opt to rest her vs. New York (14-6) given the quick turnaround and the WNBA All-Star break approaching. Clark was also confirmed to participate in the 3-point contest during All-Star festivities in Indianapolis on Friday.

Clark’s 3-point shooting sure is better in Indiana than abroad this year. She has made 2 of 35 attempts from long range on the road this season following a 1-for-7 showing Tuesday.

Clark will be one of the captains and starters for Saturday’s All-Star Game. The defending champion Liberty have multiple representatives going to Indianapolis this weekend, but sometimes it’s their depth scorers who save the day.

Leonie Fiebich scored a career-high 21 points in a comeback win over the Atlanta Dream on Sunday, after the Liberty fell behind by as many as 19 points in the second quarter and by 11 at halftime.

Fiebich shot 3-for-3 with two 3-pointers in the third period to help the Liberty turn the tables and pull away for a 79-72 win. It was the German forward’s first time leading the team in scoring this year.

“Love everything about Leo and what she brings to this team. She’s the ultimate professional, how she comes ready to play and selfless,” Liberty coach Sandy Brondello said. “We’re encouraging her to shoot, obviously, and put her in the actions there because she’s the most pure shooter I’ve ever seen.”

An All-Rookie selection and runner-up for Sixth Player of the Year in 2024, Fiebich is averaging 8.3 points and 4.2 rebounds per game and shooting 50 percent from deep (21 of 42).

“It helps when it goes in and I have the confidence to shoot another one,” Fiebich said. “But I think what really made us good in that third quarter is (Breanna Stewart) bringing up the ball, being the point guard and having her just initiating the action and making really smart decisions.”

Stewart, of course, is normally a power forward and is heading to her seventh All-Star Game this weekend. So is Sabrina Ionescu, who’s averaging 18.8 points per game but shot 3-for-20 overall and 0-for-7 from the arc against Atlanta.

The post Fever’s Clark Injured in Win at Boston appeared first on Digital Sports Desk.

While We’re Young (Ideas) on the Caitlin Clark Effect

By TERRY LYONS, Editor of Digital Sports Desk

BOSTON – Aside from Olga Korbut’s phenomenal acrobatics in women’s gymnastics when the Belarusian pixie did a back flip off the uneven parallel bars at the 1972 Olympic Games, basketball’s Caitlin Clark has made more impact on a sport than any women’s athlete in history.

Korbut’s three gold medals and a silver in ‘72 encouraged a generation of young female athletes to join gymnastics teams and clubs all around the world. Her impact, however, was limited to participation – which is not bad. Clark’s impact has a much wider ranging global effect on the sport of basketball, as it crosses previously perceived notions in place for casual vs core fans, gender, technology and ticket sales. Clark brings people to her games – in person or via television/streaming – and she does so in bigger numbers than any performer on earth.

“In my lifetime, we had Muhammad Ali, we had Michael Jordan, we had Tiger Woods, and to me, it’s early, but we have Caitlin Clark,” said John Kosner, a former ESPN, NBA and CBS Sports executive turned industry consultant, to The Athletic. “People who don’t care and don’t follow the sport that she plays (in) have been driven not just to watch, but to watch avidly.”

Since her collegiate basketball days at Iowa, Clark has drawn both male and female viewers to the screen like only Jordan did. But, consider the fact Jordan was “just another guy” on Dean Smith’s great North Carolina teams but was the fourth freshman to start his first college game for head coach Smith, following Phil Ford, Mike O’Koren and James Worthy. Jordan scored 12 points against Kansas in Charlotte on Nov. 28, 1981, in his first game as a Tar Heel and it was often joked that Coach Smith was the only guy to hold MJ under 20 points a game.

Jordan’s fame grew upon hitting the winning shot in the 1982 NCAA national championship game against Georgetown and blossomed when he led Team USA to a gold medal in the 1984 Summer Olympics after his junior season at Carolina. He led the USA in scoring with 137 points in eight games (17.1 ppg), including a game-high 20 points in the gold medal game against Spain.

He entered the pros as the No. 3 pick in the 1984 NBA Draft and gradually built his following and his game to now legendary status. It did take Jordan seven years to win his first NBA title.

Clark entered the WNBA on another stratosphere. She mirrored the career of the great Hall of Famer, shooter, scorer and showman Pete Maravich, and broke his record to become the all-time leading scorer in NCAA basketball history (men’s or women’s game). Although her Iowa team won three consecutive Big Ten championships, an NCAA title eluded her as her Iowa teams lost two consecutive national championship games, first to LSU (2022-23), then to South Carolina (2023-24).

Not only did Clark put up record-breaking numbers in points, three-pointers and assists, she also was directly responsible for the 2023 national championship game becoming the most-viewed women’s college basketball game in history (9.9 million). In 2024, the number grew to 18.9 million viewers, more than the men’s Final Four.

Although she had a fifth year of eligibility remaining (because of the COVID-19 pandemic), Clark chose to enter the 2024 WNBA Draft and was the No. 1 overall pick by the Indiana Fever. The record-breaking numbers continued. The Fever set a franchise single-season attendance record, and their regular season finale set the league’s all-time attendance record (20,711), that coming after she drew 55,646 to a game against DePaul in college.

With that incredible but partial career in the history books, the more current narrative seems to be growing in scope and that is the fact Clark is playing under her collectively bargained WNBA rookie contract salary of $78,066 (part of a four-year contract worth $338,056). As recently as June 30th, The Athletic asked if Clark was worth $1 billion to the WNBA, and they made comparisons to a 1997 economic study of Jordan’s value to the NBA by MIT and Cambridge academics.

Sports business publications, such as Sportico, estimate that Clark earns as much as $11 million a year in off-court sponsorships. She awaits a signature shoe (2026) to be made and marketed by Nike and, until then, wears a Kobe Bryant Nike shoe. In addition, the WNBA and its players are working on a new collective bargaining agreement which will surely increase player salaries overall, but until the new deal is struck, Clark can only dream of the $249,244 supermax salary earned by only a handful of WNBA stars.

The WNBA comparisons to the more established NBA league/player salaries become shockingly inadequate, but consider this fact: The WNBA is in its 28th season, starting in 1997. The NBA’s 28th season of 1974 produced salaries that were well under the WNBA numbers of today. Even if you spin the clock to 1983 when the NBA first introduced the maximum team salary concept, the league set the 1984-85 team limit at $3.6 million and had to grandfather five teams already over that cap. In the 1972-74 range, the average NBA salary was about $90,000 and the superstars, like Wilt Chamberlain or Kareem Abdul-Jabbar made $250,000. Of course, the average household income back then might’ve been about $6,500 and a gallon of gasoline was .36 cents, but I digress.

The larger point, which I made in this space once before when Clark was drafted, is that it’s not fair to draw comparisons in salaries, expansion, nor league health between the WNBA of 2025 with the NBA of 2025. In those comparison, pundits seem to forget about the growing pains the Basketball Association of America (BAA) and the National Basketball League (NBL) plunged through in the ‘40s and ‘50s, never mind the 1960s when the likes of Bob Cousy and Tommy Heinsohn fought for unionization of the players.

In 1974, there were three broadcast networks which aired sports programming primarily on weekend afternoons. Cable TV and regional sports networks were in their infancy. North American based sports leagues barely televised a minute of their programming internationally. The WNBA of 1997 entered the marketplace with a globally polished big brother quite advanced in the worldwide marketing of its stars.

The NBA of 1976 watched collegiate players compete for the USA in the Olympic Games of Montreal. The WNBA rode into existence on the cusp of the USA Basketball women’s national team winning the gold medal at the Atlanta Olympic Games while drawing sellout crowds of 32,997 at the Georgia Dome. The final game was the culmination of a 100,000 mile, 6-game world tour where the US went undefeated. In ‘96, the total attendance for men’s and women’s basketball games, 1,093,388, established an Olympic record. The 16 sessions of women’s basketball games attracted 478,061, an average of 29,879 – that’s with or without the United States playing.

The 1992 Olympics were all about the Dream Team. The ‘96 Olympics were all women’s sports, including athletics (track & field), basketball, gymnastics, softball, swimming, synchronized swimming, tennis and soccer.

Caitlin Clark, born January 22, 2002, might not’ve picked up a basketball if it weren’t for Lisa Leslie, Sheryl Swooper, Theresa Edwards and the ‘96 USA Basketball women, in the same manner as Michael Jordan would never have been Michael Jordan if it weren’t for Julius Erving, Connie Hawkins and Elgin Baylor coming before his day.

The message?

• Ease up – Let Caitlin be Caitlin and give her some time and space.
• Lay off – Stop with the salary comparisons and the unfair weight being placed on Clark’s shoulders.
• Understand the fact – The foundation for women’s sports is rock solid, established firmly by Title IX in 1972 but gradually built upon.
• The future is bright – Clark will do her part, yes, but others will come along. Relish in the moment and look forward to the 2028 Summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles where women’s basketball might be the toughest ticket in town.

HERE NOW, THE NOTES: The world-famous Harlem Globetrotters will be hosting the club’s first-ever open tryouts to help select athletes for their Centennial season in 2026. The Globetrotters’ tryouts will take place in the early fall with the final team being assembled and announced in November. The organization’s goal is to expand and elevate the talent within its ranks and to act as competitive offering for men and women hoopers around the globe for 2026

The Globies continue to add athletic team members, which has been reflected in recent years in the signing of former LSU captain Alexis Morris and this past year with the addition of 6-5 rookie forward Asanti “Cash” Price (Columbia, SC), who signed a contract with the NBA G League’s Texas Legends, the affiliate of the Dallas Mavericks. Price was one of six rookies signed to the Globetrotters this past November and had the option to return to the club when his G League time ended, which he did.

“We are creating one of the most unique, once in a lifetime opportunities for talented athletes and entertainers,” said Keith Dawkins, President, Harlem Globetrotters & Herschend Entertainment Studios. “The (opportunity is) to be part of the Centennial of the most iconic global sports and entertainment property. The right athletes will have that special element of ‘showpersonship’ that the Globetrotters have been known for. It should make for a fun and exciting way to uncover our next group of stars.”

This past year, Globetrotter athletes set a high bar for excellence on and off the court, bringing their talents to 50 locations around the world and an additional 46 cities in North America. The Globetrotters anticipate bringing in approximately 30 athletes to the tryout. It will be the first step of a months-long process in selecting the athletes for the Centennial team. Over the many years, the Globetrotters legacy has seen athletes ranging from Wilt Chamberlain to Connie Hawkins to to Lynette Woodward create lasting memories in the basketball world.

TIDBITS & NUGGETS: Nothing says PAC-12 like Texas State … Novak Djokovic, who has won seven of his 24 Grand Slam titles at Wimbledon, added another incredible milestone Saturday as he became just the third player in the history of the grass-court tournament to reach 100 victories, joining nine-time winner Martina Navratilova and eight-time champion Roger Federer as the only players to have reached the century mark in victories at Wimbledon.

AUSSIE, AUSSIE, AUSSIE: As teased back in March, the NBA Melbourne Games 2025 will mark the first time an NBA team will play official exhibition games in Australia. The New Orleans Pelicans will open the 2025 preseason with two friendly games against the National Basketball League’s (NBL) Melbourne United and South East Melbourne Phoenix. The games will be played Friday, Oct. 3 and Saturday, Oct. 4 at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne Park, with the NBL serving as the official promoter and organizer of the NBA x NBL Melbourne Series. … In 2000, USA Basketball faced the Australian national team in a friendly at the Laver Arena before the Sydney 2000 Summer Olympic Games.

RED SOX STARTER: Lucas Giolito recorded his fifth consecutive outing of at least 6.0 innings pitched (IP) with two or fewer earned runs allowed. It’s the longest such streak of his career, and longest by a Red Sox pitcher since Brayan Bello also tossed five straight from 6/11-7/5/23 … Since June 10, Giolito’s gone 4-0 while posting a 0.83 ERA (3 ER/32.2 IP) with 31 strikeouts. The last Red Sox pitcher to throw 30.0+ IP with an ERA that low over a five game span was Chris Sale in 2018.

USA! USA! Care to spend your 4th of July in Switzerland? That’s what the USA Basketball Men’s U19 National Team did and they’ll have one more game for the gold medal. The US advanced to the 2025 FIBA U19 Men’s World Cup Final after a 120-64 semifinals drubbing of New Zealand in Lausanne. The Americans will face Germany, winners over Slovenia, 84-72, in the other semifinal. The game for the Gold will be Sunday, July 6, at 2:00pm (ET). (See USAB.com)

WHAT WILL DAME DO? The Milwaukee Bucks waived injured guard Damian Lillard to pave the way to sign former Indiana Pacers bigman Myles Turner. The Bucks will be responsible for some $113 million owed to the injured sharpshooter. Once Lillard recuperates from his Achilles injury, he’s likely to play one or two more NBA seasons, as long as the rehabilitation goes well.

The oddsmakers at BetOnline.ag have opened lines for Lillard’s next team and they are as follows:

• Miami Heat 4/1
• Denver Nuggets 5/1
• Portland Trail Blazers 6/1
• Los Angeles Lakers 7/1
• Minnesota Timberwolves 8/1
• Boston Celtics 9/1
• San Antonio Spurs 9/1
• New York Knicks 12/1
• Houston Rockets 14/1
• Indiana Pacers 16/1
• Sacramento Kings 16/1
• Orlando Magic 22/1
• Detroit Pistons 25/1
• Golden State Warriors 25/1
• Toronto Raptors 28/1
• Dallas Mavericks 33/1
• Los Angeles Clippers 33/1
• Memphis Grizzlies 33/1
• Oklahoma City Thunder 33/1
• Phoenix Suns 33/1
• Atlanta Hawks 40/1
• Chicago Bulls 40/1
• Cleveland Cavaliers 40/1
• Brooklyn Nets 45/1
• Charlotte Hornets 45/1
• New Orleans Pelicans 45/1
• Philadelphia 76ers 50/1
• Utah Jazz 50/1
• Washington Wizards 50/1

THIS JEST IN: The regular season DOES matter. The PGA Tour has restructured the distribution of playoff bonuses, including the FedEx Cup champion this season earning $10 million in prize money instead of $25 million as in the past two years.

The new payouts from the $100 million total in bonus money were revealed weeks after an announcement in May that the Tour Championship’s “starting strokes” format will be eliminated, according to the PGATourCom site. The season-ending tournament in August where the Top 30 players compete, following two previous playoff events, will be a standard 72-hole stroke-play tournament held at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta.

The new three-tier system will reward golfers based on the FedEx Cup points standings after the regular-season finale at the Wyndham Championship (the top 10 splitting $20 million, with No. 1 getting $10 million), and after the second playoff event, the BMW Championship (top 30 splitting $23.93 million, with No. 1 getting $5 million).

The Tour Championship winner will get $10 million of the remaining prize money ($57.08 million), with the rest will be paid out to the other 29 players based on their finishes. Players ranked Nos. 31-150, eliminated from the Tour Championship round, will divide $17.08 million.

The PGA Tour cited its reasoning, noting, “To account for the increased volatility of the final event, reward season-long performance and recognize the significance of the FedEx Cup, the FedEx Cup bonus distributions for the Top 30 positions were rebalanced,” the PGA Tour posted on its website.

It almost goes without stating, the TOUR needs to set its rules and stick to them. The constant changing and experimenting with the postseason, including eliminating the “quarterfinal” event in Boston, has cost the circuit incredibly. But, the decision to finish before the NFL regular season began was justification for the tightening of the overall schedule which begins each January.

The post TL’s Sunday Sports Notes | July 6 appeared first on Digital Sports Desk.

NEW YORK – (Wire Service Report) – The Dallas Wings will pick first in the 2025 WNBA Draft after winning the draft lottery for the first time in franchise history.

Sunday’s lottery awarded the No. 1 overall selection to Dallas, which had 227 chances out of 1,000 to have its number called.

The Los Angeles Sparks, who had the best odds for the No. 1 pick, will draft second for the second straight year. The Chicago Sky will pick third and the Washington Mystics will be fourth.

The four teams to miss the 2024 postseason were assigned number combinations based on their combined records from the 2023 and 2024 seasons. Los Angeles (25-55) had the most assigned combinations (442 out of 1,000), while Chicago was tied with Dallas after having identical 31-49 records since 2023.

The Wings are currently in the market for a new head coach after they parted ways with Latricia Trammell following a 9-31 campaign this past season. The team hired former Sparks and Connecticut Sun head coach Curt Miller as its new general manager earlier this month, and he will lead the search for a new coach.

UConn star guard Paige Bueckers is atop WNBA draft boards as the college season gets in motion. Other options for the Wings could include Southern California forward Kiki Iriafen and Notre Dame guard Olivia Miles.

In 2024, the Wings picked fifth and ninth overall and drafted Ohio State guard Jacy Sheldon and French guard Carla Leite. The Sparks picked Stanford forward Cameron Brink second overall last April and the Sky also went third, taking South Carolina center Kamilla Cardoso before adding LSU’s Angel Reese at No. 7.

The expansion Golden State Valkyries will pick fifth in each of the draft’s three rounds. The Valkyries also have an expansion draft on Dec. 6.

–Field Level Media

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INDIANAPOLIS – The Indiana Fever fired head coach Christie Sides on Sunday after a 20-20 season that ended in the first round of the WNBA playoffs.

“We are incredibly thankful to Coach Sides for embracing the challenge of leading us through an integral transition period over the last two seasons, while also positioning us well for future growth,” said Kelly Krauskopf, the team’s president of basketball operations, in a statement.

Sides is the sixth WNBA coach to be fired since the end of the regular season. The Atlanta Dream, Chicago Sky, Dallas Wings, Los Angeles Sparks and Washington Mystics also are looking for new head coaches.

The Fever could be looking to turn back the clock to 2016.

The Chicago Sun-Times reported Wednesday that the Fever were one of three teams Connecticut Sun coach Stephanie White could lead in 2025. While she is under contract through the 2025 season, per the report, the Sun could choose to make her available to other teams.

The Sun, Fever and Sky are rumored as teams she could coach next season.

White was the head coach of the Fever in 2015 and ’16, with the first team losing to the Minnesota Lynx in five games in the WNBA finals. She owns a 92-56 career record in the regular season and 13-13 mark in the playoffs over four seasons with the Fever and Sun.

White, 47, previously spent four seasons as an assistant coach and five as a player with the Fever. She starred in college at Purdue.

–Field Level Media

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BROOKLYN – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – New York'[s Nyara Sabally picked a good night to play one of the best games of her life.

In the first overtime winner-take-the title Finals game in WNBA history, Sabally had 13 points and seven rebounds off the bench — and connected on a breakaway layup in overtime that proved to be crucial game-sealing points — as the host New York Liberty defeated the visiting Minnesota Lynx 67-62 in Sunday night’s Game 5 to win their first championship in franchise history.

It was the first double-digit scoring performance of the postseason for Sabally. Her steal and fast-break bucket with 3:14 to play put the Liberty ahead 65-60. The Lynx would knock down two free throws to trim the deficit to three points, but never got any closer. Sabally blocked Napheesa Collier’s layup attempt with 1:18 to play, and Breanna Stewart later padded the Liberty lead with a pair of free throws.

The Lynx had the ball with 18.4 seconds to play in overtime with a chance to tie, but Bridget Carleton’s 3-point attempt missed the mark.

Stewart, who never came out of the game, finished with 13 points, 15 rebounds and four assists. Two free throws from her at the end of regulation sent the game into overtime. The Liberty also got 17 points from Jonquel Jones, 13 points from Leonie Fiebich, and five points, eight assists and seven rebounds from Sabrina Ionescu.

Jones was named Finals MVP after averaging 18 points and eight rebounds per game throughout the series.

The post Give Me Liberty appeared first on Digital Sports Desk.