Caitlin Clark's historic night at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on Sunday gave Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy the firepower he needed to combat all the critics who did not believe she was the face of the WNBA.

Clark scored a career-high 45 points, 10 assists, 2 rebounds, 4 steals, and 2 blocks. She is now the only player in league history to record a 40-point, 10-assist game, per ESPN.

Portnoy, who has not shied away from showcasing his support for Clark at all times, took to X once again to shut down all the non-Clark believers, including NBA legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who argued against Clark being the face of the WNBA.

“CAITLIN THE GREAT WITH 45!!!!!!10 dimes! 6 of 10 from 3! THE GAME OF THE YEAR! SHE IS BOX OFFICE! SHE IS THE LEAGUE! SHE IS THE MOMENT! THEY HATE HER CAUSE THEY AIN’T HER! BOW DOWN TO HER @kaj33 BOW DOWN TO HER @CathyEngelbert SHE IS THE QUEEN OF THE @wnba IF YOU DISAGREE YOU HAVE NO BRAINS!” Portnoy wrote.

Including Kareem's name in his post comes after eleven Republican lawmakers, led by Congressman August Pfluger, sent WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert a letter describing Caitlin Clark as “the face of the league” while raising concerns over repeated physical play against her.

However, when Kareem read that letter, he pushed back hard against it on Substack, as he believes calling one player the face of the league is an insult to all the other greats, until your name is either Michael Jordan or LeBron James.

“Don’t get me wrong: Clark is a very good, possibly even a great, player,” he wrote.

“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.”

But Portony did not back down, and reminded the whole world that it was not an issue when the likes of Serena and Venus Williams instantly became the faces of tennis, same for Tiger Woods.

Portnoy believes that the market dictates who is the most popular player, and in the case of the WNBA, nobody comes remotely close to Caitlin Clark.

While this debate will probably carry on for a while, Clark, on the other hand, seems like she could not care less about it.

Caitlin Clark Has Not Involved Herself in the "Face of the WNBA" Debate

For starters, Clark has never once called herself the face of the league. What's more is that she has gone out of her way in past interviews to credit the players who built the WNBA before she arrived.

“I’m somebody who grew up a huge fan of this league. I know where this league comes from, a lot of Black women that grew up making this league what it is. That’s kind of the shoulders that we stand on,” Clark said last season.

“They deserve all the credit, and the more we can give credit to them, the better.”

This is why Portnoy's comments make sense. He is not arguing whether Clark deserves such a huge crown or not.

He is trying to make us understand that this tag got naturally attached to her name by TV ratings, attendance numbers, and merchandise sales instead of anything she said herself.

So, do you think Caitlin Clark is the face of the WNBA? If not her, then who is your pick? Let us know in the comments.

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Written by

Joy Bassy

Edited by

Joy Bassy