Adam Silver says Caitlin Clark has become 'political football'

The Caitlin Clark discourse has reached a boiling point in recent weeks, and now, NBA commissioner Adam Silver is weighing in. During an on-stage conversation with Andrew Ross Sorkin at the Game Plan Summit, Silver said Clark has become a "political football" and discussed how it's unfair to the third-year WNBA star.

Adam Silver says it is unfair that Caitlin Clark has become "political football"

The conversation around Clark reached new levels of insanity in recent weeks following an altercation involving Phoenix Mercury forward Alyssa Thomas.

The play happened at the end of June when Thomas made contact with Clark's throat. There was no foul called during the game, but upon further review (and after it became a national talking point) the WNBA upgraded the play a flagrant foul and suspended Thomas for one game.

Since then, the treatment of Clark has become an even bigger talking point, especially after a group of lawmakers wrote an angry letter to the WNBA commissioner regarding how Clark is treated and officiated, while her place in the league's All-Star voting also became a hot button topic. 

That helped prompt Silver's political football comment on Thursday.

From ESPN and the Associated Press:

"I have come to know Caitlin really well," Silver said. "She's an incredible player and also an incredible person. And she wants to focus on being the best player she can. She has become a bit of a political football in this country, and I think it's incredibly unfair to her. I don't think that issue is ultimately about officiating. It's become political ping-pong with her. And she's a young woman who's trying to improve her game."

The way star players are officiated across all sports is always going to be a talking point, and the opinions are going to vary significantly depending on whether the player in question plays for the team you cheer for or not. But the discussion is mostly going to be limited to the playing field (or court or ice) with other players in other leagues. The discussion around Clark has dramatically shifted away from that.

Now, she is being held up as a political pawn by people that not only have little understanding of the WNBA (or pro sports in general), but also probably have no interest in the league or sport to begin with. It does not seem to be going away anytime soon.