Adam Silver on Caitlin Clark's WNBA stardom: 'I believe she's going to deliever'

Caitlin Clark has been under a microscope ever since she arrived at Iowa in 2020. Beginning her WNBA career, that magnifying glass intensified as her name continues to sell out arenas across the league.

“I think it’s fantastic to see,” Silver told ESPN’s Malika Andrews ahead of Game 3 of the NBA Finals. “I took my daughter to go see her when they played the Liberty in New York. It was amazing to see the full stadium and the stars courtside, but I think Caitlin knows she’s got to prove it on the floor. You can’t anoint stars in this league as some other names that weren’t on your list who were going to be the next fill-in-the-blank and they turned out not to be just because of performance.

“I believe she’s going to deliver. She has the character, and the drive, and the will, and the talent but let her evolve as a player.”

Her WNBA career didn’t get off to as hot of a start as many had figured. Fans had become accustomed to seeing her score 30 points on a nightly basis but as she adjusts to her new competition in the pros, she’s having to work a lot harder for every basket she gets.

Clark was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft coming out of Iowa this spring. After averaging 31.6 points, 8.9 assists and 7.4 rebounds per game in her final season with the Hawkeyes, Clark’s swift transition to the WNBA is seeing her currently average 16.3 points, 6.0 assists and 4.9 rebounds per game as a rookie.

Still, she currently leads her team in scoring and assists despite seeing her scoring totals cut in half from college to the WNBA.

To the NBA Commissioner’s point, it’s going to take some time before Clark is dominating the WNBA with nightly 30-point outings as she spoiled fans in college. However, she has shown flashes throughout her young career, including two 30-point performances during the first 13 games of her pro career but has been held to under 10 points on three other occasions.

Of course, every performance of hers will be over-analyzed, criticized and praised all at the same time when she steps on the floor for the Fever. In the end, it appears that fan interest in the WNBA has spiked this season because of Caitlin Clark’s presence, whether she’s scoring in bunches, shooting logo 3’s or making the highlight-reel pass.