Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Is Wrong About Caitlin Clark

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is a legend of the game and his opinion holds weight. Still, the NBA great got it wrong with his take about Caitlin Clark not being the face of the WNBA.

“Clark is a very good, possibly even a great player. But calling any one player the face of the league, absent the sort of on-court and cross-platform dominance of a Michael Jordan or a LeBron James, is an insult to an awful lot of great players," Abdul-Jabbar wrote on his Substack.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar says calling Caitlin Clark the face of the WNBA is disrespectful to those who've paved the way. pic.twitter.com/qdJRyRknIo
— Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) July 15, 2026

But there is nothing insulting about telling the truth. Clark is certainly not the most accomplished WNBA player in history. And given she hasn't been able to stay on the floor consistently enough between 2025 and thus far in 2026, she has yet to prove she is the best.

However, with that said, Clark has been plenty great over the course of her career thus far, including being named the Player of the Month for the Eastern Conference in June. Regardless, that is irrelevant to the conversation at hand, which is pertaining to the face of the league.

That distinction resoundingly belongs to Clark. Saying so should not carry any connotation of disrespect for the pioneers who helped build the league, nor her current peers like A'ja Wilson, who is arguably the greatest player in WNBA history.

It is simply accurate to call Clark the face of the league. She is the most well-known player, served as the catalyst for the explosive growth period the WNBA is currently experiencing when she arrived from Iowa, and games featuring her Indiana Fever team are routinely the most-watched without fail.

Not to mention, the conversations around the WNBA are constantly dominated by Clark, whether it is for what is taking place on the court, or even when members of Congress decide to get involved in league business in writing a letter to Commissioner Cathy Engelbert questioning how Clark has been treated since she arrived.

This is in no way an endorsement of that message, which only added to the unnecessary noise that surrounds a superstar who has never actually done anything controversial.

But it does help prove the point that her fame and recognizability is far beyond anyone else in the league—hence the title of face.

It's hard to tell why Abdul-Jabbar was compelled to argue otherwise. Perhaps it was backlash to all the attention swirling around the Fever star. Perhaps it was due to him being overlooked as the face of the NBA despite his amazing accomplishments.

Regardless, it shouldn't be so hard to admit what is right in front of all of our faces.

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