Relentless NBA Community Has No Heart for Caitlin Clark as Calls Mount Against Ex-National Champion’s Bold Stance

Who is the current face of the NBA? The question that has revolved around for quite some time now for which many would not spare a second to mention The King, LeBron James. But have you ever wondered if The Chosen One actually chose to put his name and face in one of the biggest sports leagues in America for over two decades now? Well, now we have an answer. It all started back in February during the All-Star Weekend when ESPN’s Dave McMenamin asked the Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards: “Do you consider yourself the top candidate to be the next face of the league?” The response? Just three words: “Nah, not really!” Giving his reasons why, he later added, “Well, I’m capable of being that guy. But I don’t want to be that guy, put it like that. I want to be the guy to just show up and hoop and just kill dudes and go home.”

Fast forward to this Thursday when the current face of the league was asked about his thoughts on Ant-Man’s comments. And what came as a response was nothing short of surprising! Agreeing with the 23-year-old 3x NBA All-Star, Bron replied, “Ant said he don’t want it. Obviously, I didn’t ask for it, but I knew there was a responsibility for me, not only to my family, my friends, my community and whoever that was gonna follow my journey throughout my career. I’ve always taken that seriously and understood from the beginning what being a professional was all about and being a role model is all about, so I tried to hold that with the utmost respect and honor.”

You see, in his debate, Bron’s former teammate Frye pointed fingers at the media for never getting over the NBA icons like Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant. He even highlighted the flaw with the media coverage which never want to mention today’s stars like Stephen Curry, Edwards, and James. And that is exactly what Bron meant when he too stood up to the media, agreeing with Ant. However, in the entire wreck, another name from the media spoke up. If you didn’t guess it already, it is Stephen A. Smith. His point?

“First of all, there’s a whole bunch of players that cover the league. They’re former players. They’re not just reporters, they’re former players. Former big-time players, former Hall of Fame players, they talk about the league too. Is everything negative? When he talks about people covering the league, we know he’s talking about me… and he’s not just talking about people like me, he talked about Inside the NBA.” Consequently, the league’s all-time leading scorer simply asked to cover players like Curry and teams like OKC more as he simply said, “Exactly made my point but anyways. Happy this convo has started. It ain’t about ‘face of the game” and it ain’t about one person or one show, it’s about the culture of basketball,, the most beautiful game in the world.” While we are not yet set at who the next face of the league really can be, another former NBA player has brought in an unexpected name.

Of course, I am talking about the Iowa sensation Caitlin Clark, who recently sold-out tickets to the 2025 exhibition game against Brazil under 40 minutes even with a sky-high price of $715, more than any NBA game this season. That is 15,400 seats of her alma mater’s Carver-Hawkeye Arena filling up! Not just that, Chicago Sky moved two of its game vs Indiana to the United Center, a historical feat for the WNBA.  Visibly why her name has come up in the face of the league debate.

Retired NBA player Rashad McCants seems to think so. The former Timberwolves guard took to X yesterday to declare, “THE FACE OF THE NBA IS CAITLIN CLARK!!! Yea I said it!!!! She has handled criticism better than the people you consider THE GREATEST OF ALL TIME!!!!!  @CaitlinClark22 your the GOAT!!!” His tweet also had a photo attached of Grinch, edited using a digital pen to wear a crown.

Rashad has been a Clark supporter through and through. However, this time, he is continuing to question LeBron and his status as the face of the league.

Top Comment by Hoops

Yes..Catlin has brought attention and talent to the WNBA. I fully support her..and the women of the WNBA.

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Through his perspective, meanwhile, the Indiana Fever guard is repeating the Caitlin Clark Effect she had in her rookie season. On that note, McCants also tweeted his views later on the reigning league ROTY selling out tickets to the 2025 exhibition game against Brazil. His note?

“Like I said THE FACE OF THE NBA!!! This is the metric. Sold out in minutes. Preseason!!! We witness her get blitz by peers, alumni, randoms, politicians, and above all else women!! She never ran from the challenge. Accepted it and rose above it! Goat!”

And then to the Chicago’s move too, he commented, “This is how a face of the league moves!!! Ayyyyyyeeee WE DONT BELIEVE YOU WE NEED MORE PEOPLE!!!!!!!”

But the question remains, is this impact enough to call her the GOAT already? She disagrees with the whole system on naming someone the greatest of all time.

In April 2024, she told USA Today in one of the press conferences, “I don’t want my legacy to be, ‘Oh, Caitlin won X amount of games’ or ‘Caitlin scored X amount of points.’ It’s, I hope, what I was able to do for the game of women’s basketball. I hope it is the young boys and young girls that are inspired to play this sport or dream to do whatever they want to do in their lives.” Clearly, she is not counting the trophies or the records.

Caitlin Clark is easily one of the most sensational players to hit women’s basketball in years. From her historic numbers in college at Iowa, breaking over 46 records and becoming the NCAA’s all-time leading scorer in men’s and women’s DI, to her incredible rookie season with the Indiana Fever, she’s already making history. 

But again, McCants apparently pointing fingers have left fans to quibble over greatness, seemingly taking a dig at Clark’s credentials.

Fans clash over McCants’ “GOAT” comments on Caitlin Clark

Time and again, the NBA legend has defended Caitlin’s name. In fact, even when Sheryl Swoopes first made her thoughts on Clark clear as she broke Kelsey Plum’s NCAA scoring record, he stood for her. And with her entry into the WNBA, the support has only heightened. But unsurprisingly, McCants’ tweet on GOAT didn’t sit well with fans. Many questioned his logic and pointed out inconsistencies in his criteria for greatness. One fan wrote, “How she’s the goat when she hasn’t won anything? i’m one of her biggest fans but based how you judge Tatum etc. what you giving CC a pat on the back for? you gotta be consistent Shad..😂👀”

Jayson Tatum is one of the rising stars of the NBA and another name for the face of the league debacle. The 2x Olympic gold medalist even pushed his team to the world championship last year to showcase just what he can be. Still, it is all the same for Rashad. He had some words reserved for the Celtics star as well. In an episode of Gil’s Arena, he commented, “You looking at it from a box score standpoint. But we’re watching the game. So I’m telling you, in the flow of the game, he looks off. He looks lethargic. He doesn’t look like he’s in a rhythm.” He later added more fuel to the fire when he retweeted an NBA fan’s post comparing Larry Bird and Taum with a caption, “Got a long way to go young fella!!! And Birdy was not joke!!! 🤷🏾‍♂️”

Another fan sarcastically added that maybe they could have this conversation if Clark wins an MVP this year. “If she wins an MVP this year then we’ll talk lol.” Interestingly, the No. 22 point guard did come close to the honor last year. In fact, she was the first rookie in the league history after Candace Parker to appear in the top-5 names for the award. Sure, it says something about her. Leading the league with 8.8 assists and breaking and creating records, and also pulling Indiana to a postseason round after 2019 did add to her case. However, the end line was that she did not win it.

Others were not as polite in blasting here. “According to your logic she hasn’t accomplished anything, what we supposed to give her a pat on the back?”

Ouch, indeed! McCants has denied giving many NBA stars the cake for not meeting his standards of what a GOAT really is. However, when it came to the second-year rookie of the WNBA, he was quick to back her up. So, one might ask just what exactly is his criteria to give one player the title and not to another?

Another X user mentioned, “So she is the face of a league that she is not a member of? Okay.” While this one did not target Clark, they did question Rashad’s words for calling her the GOAT of the NBA, a league she is not playing in. To top all, one wrote, “Google: Who is Rashad McCants?” 

Tsss… Buuurn!!!

Caitlin Clark is an amazing player full of potential, but many would argue it’s way too premature to crown her as the GOAT. Although McCants might not have directly pointed to Taurasi, it’s hard not to read between the lines when he decided to call Clark “the GOAT” just days after Taurasi, who’s arguably the greatest of all time, just announced her retirement. It’s one thing to hype up Clark for her legendary start, and we are all for it, but it’s another to use that hype to stir the pot surrounding the women’s basketball legends who have already earned their stripes.