ESPN host Stephen A. Smith said NBA commissioner Adam Silver was right to call Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark "a political football in this country," and urged the WNBA to proceed with caution. Smith made the comments Friday at Fanatics Fest 2026 at the Javits Center in Manhattan, during a live taping of ESPN's First Take that The Daily Mail attended.
"The commissioner is absolutely right: it's political ping pong," Smith said. "But here's where I put some culpability on the shoulders of the players. It's about time you know that."
Clark has been at the center of controversy over race, privilege and league officiating during her first two WNBA seasons. Last month, Phoenix Mercury veteran Alyssa Thomas appeared to punch Clark in the throat during a scrum for a loose ball. Thomas wasn't whistled for a foul at the time but was later suspended for one game by the office of WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert.
Some viewed that suspension as too light, arguing Clark is the victim of jealousy and anti-white racism in a largely Black league. Others called the punishment a hasty overreaction.
"As players, you got to see the forest through the trees," Smith told his audience. "Nobody is saying it's right. Nobody is saying it's right for people to use the Caitlin Clark's presence... as political ping pong. But damn it, they use everything they can as political ping pong in today's generation."
Thomas and Clark respond
Thomas has said the punch was accidental, while Clark has criticized the league's officiating and called for more consistency on hard fouls. Thomas has also reported receiving racist threats against her and her family over the controversy.
Smith said any commentary from the players risks drawing more unwanted attention. "You've got literally stuff going on in our politics right now where every little thing you say and do is utilized to give somebody an advantage over another," he said. "Because we're in a binary system, and when it's time to go to the polls, you can only go one or two ways. They know that."
Smith described Clark as "this white girl that can really, really ball, that's box office" who generates ratings no one else in the league produces, even though the WNBA has other players who spent years building it up. "She's the cash cow," he said.
"What was I saying over the last year and a half? Yo, a rising tide lifts all boats. Ride that wave," Smith continued. "But in the same breath, make sure to ingratiate yourself along the way, so you're not viewed as quote unquote the enemy or viewing her as the enemy, because there's a contingent out there that's going to look at her just because of her ethnicity and being in the WNBA, and they're going to say, 'Oh, she's being victimized. Why is she being targeted?'"
"And that's where the political ping pong comes from, because all of a sudden, in the climate that we're living in, they're going to say this is what it is to cause the divide," he said.
Engelbert's canceled interview
Smith said Engelbert could help the situation by meeting the controversy head-on instead of avoiding scrutiny, pointing to her decision to cancel a scheduled interview with podcaster and former ESPN host Dan Patrick. Instead of speaking with Patrick at a celebrity golf tournament in Lake Tahoe, Engelbert was filmed chipping on the practice green during the scheduled interview time.
"When you bring up the commissioner, let's not forget what a bad look it is that you have an interview with Dan Patrick, and you avoid that interview, and they catch you playing golf... 20 feet away... from where you're supposed to do the damn interview," Smith said.
"You know when you got a commissioner that's ducking for cover instead of standing front and center and really handling her business, as you know the chief executive of the league, that's a problem," he said. "So certainly her leadership is questionable at this particular moment in time. Cathy Engelbert needs to get her act together. It's just that simple."
