Caitlin Clark made her NBC pregame show debut on Sunday, offering insights into her upcoming third WNBA season while expressing admiration for Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic.
During NBC's Basketball Night in America ahead of the Los Angeles Lakers vs New York Knicks broadcast, Caitlin Clark highlighted specific aspects of Doncic's game she hopes to incorporate into her own play. The Indiana Fever star praised the NBA player's versatility and basketball intelligence.
Caitlin Clark emphasized Doncic's singular ability to excel without relying solely on athleticism or speed. She also noted his exceptional passing and scoring skills, praising how he manipulates defensive positioning to create advantages.
According to Clark, Doncic uses his body to keep defenders at bay — a skill she hopes to further develop. The WNBA superstar acknowledged that while Doncic may not always be the fastest or most athletic, his spatial awareness and tactical decision-making set him apart.
Clark also weighed in on NBA legend Michael Jordan's take on hostile road environments. She expressed gratitude to Indiana Fever fans traveling to away games, noting strong support in venues the New York Liberty's Barclays Center and the Valkyries' always-packed San Francisco arena. Following Jordan's philosophy, Caitlin Clark stressed silencing opposing crowds quickly by forcing early timeouts.
During the broadcast, the 2024 WNBA Rookie of the Year competed in a HORSE competition against NBA icon Jamal Crawford, showcasing her own shooting prowess.
She later revealed a desire to play at Madison Square Garden, joking about taking on any team willing to play the Fever at the iconic NBA venue.
How to watch Caitlin Clark on NBC Sports this NBA season
Clark will next join Basketball Night in America on March 29th, adding commentary before the Knicks face the Oklahoma City Thunder.
WNBA star Caitlin Clark is back in the spotlight, with NBC announcing on Tuesday that the Indiana Fever guard will join Sunday's Basketball Night in America NBA pregame show as a special contributor.
The 2024 WNBA Rookie of the Year will man the NBC Sports desk before the LA Lakers take on the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden, sharing analyst duties with host Maria Taylor and retired NBA icons Tracy McGrady, Carmelo Anthony, and Vince Carter.
"I'm really excited to be part of the Basketball Night in America crew this season," Clark said in Tuesday's statement. "Carmelo, Vince, and Tracy are legends of the game, and Maria is a true professional. It will be really fun to join them a few times this season."
Following her Sunday debut, Clark will next join the broadcast on March 29th, adding commentary before the visiting Knicks face the Oklahoma City Thunder.
"There's no more iconic figure in basketball in the women's game right now, or the game in general," NBC Sports executive producer Sam Flood told the AP. "So, we said, 'Let's have a bigger conversation.'"
How to watch Caitlin Clark on NBC Sports' Basketball Night in America
Clark will join the NBA pregame show at 6 PM ET on Sunday, airing live on NBC.
The Houston Rockets are reportedly shooting for the Sun, with sources telling ESPN last week that the NBA team's ownership group has entered "substantive" talks with the Mohegan Tribe to buy and relocate the WNBA franchise from Connecticut.
Calling the discussions "positive," a source told ESPN that Houston apparently improved upon the $250 million bid put forth by the WNBA to purchase the Connecticut Sun back in August.
However, as neither party has signed a formal agreement, the Sun's longterm future remains uncertain.
The Mohegan Tribe began exploring the sale in 2024, with Houston emerging as a possible landing place after the WNBA reportedly blocked the Sun's $325 million sale to former Boston Celtics owner Steve Pagliuca — with the league preferring to find a buyer with past expansion team experience.
The Sun also fielded a bid from the State of Connecticut to keep the team in the area, though ESPN reported last week that those talks have slowed.
Notably, Houston boasts deep WNBA roots as one of the league's founding markets, with the Texas city serving as home to the four-time champion Comets from 1997 to 2008.
Of course, the league's current CBA negotiations are further complicating any transaction — especially after the WNBPA voted last Thursday to approve a potential strike.
New York's newest hire has officially introduced himself, as incoming Liberty head coach Chris DeMarco held his first WNBA press conference on Wednesday — despite plans to remain an assistant with the Golden State Warriors through the end of the year.
"I did just a little bit of research. It was a no-brainer that this is the best opportunity in the WNBA," DeMarco told reporters. "[It's] a good championship franchise and this was what I wanted and that's why I'm here right now."
The 40-year-old comes to Brooklyn via the NBA, having spent 13 years working for Golden State in a variety of roles — and winning four league titles with the team.
With New York parting ways with head coach Sandy Brondello in September, DeMarco's addition indicates the 2024 WNBA champs are prioritizing new ideas over experience with the women's game.
"In my free time, I have, pouring into this, probably ordered every book on the New York Liberty," DeMarco said. "I always watched as a fan, so now I have to shift my focus and watch as a coach… [and] learn about the history of the WNBA."
He also mentioned speaking with Phoenix Mercury boss Nate Tibbetts and GM Nick U'Ren, as both joined the women's league after careers in the NBA.
DeMarco will remain with the Warriors in California through January 1st, 2026, before heading to New York just as offseason movement begins to kick up.
The New York Liberty reportedly landed a boss, with multiple sources linking longtime Golden State Warriors assistant coach Chris DeMarco to the 2024 WNBA champions' head coaching vacancy late last week.
After first joining the Warriors as an intern in 2012, the 40-year-old worked through the Golden State ranks to serve in both an assistant and player development capacity for the NBA side.
Exiting as as front-of-bench assistant, DeMarco aided the team to an impressive four NBA championships (2015, 2017, 2018, 2022) during his tenure.
DeMarco also has experience on the international sideline, leading the Bahama men's national team from June 2019 until August 2025.
Recent WNBA hiring trends have favored NBA vets, with Cleveland Cavaliers assistant Alex Sarama recently named head coach of 2026 expansion side Portland while Seattle tapped former Memphis Grizzlies assistant Sonia Raman as the Storm's new sideline leader.
According to ESPN, additional top candidates for the New York Liberty opening vacated by now-Toronto Tempo head coach Sandy Brondello included Toronto Raptors assistant Jama Mahlalela, ex-Brooklyn Nets and current Charlotte Hornets assistant Will Weaver, and former assistant to the NBA's Washington Wizards and Dallas Mavericks Kristi Toliver, the current associate head coach for the Phoenix Mercury.
As all but two Liberty players enter free agency, New York is aiming to keep stars like Breanna Stewart, Jonquel Jones, and Sabrina Ionescu on its roster — with the hiring of DeMarco potentially playing game-changer in some of those contract negotiations.
ESPN reported that Bay Area product Ionescu apparently reached out to Golden State Warriors icon Steph Curry to ask about DeMarco as part of the hiring process.
The WNBA Players Association is making friends, as brother player unions for the NBA, MLB, and NFL all issued statements last week supporting the WNBPA while the league officially extended the ongoing CBA negotiations by an additional 30 days.
Calling WNBA players' impact on the league "undeniable," the NFLPA wrote on Wednesday that "It's time for fair compensation, proper working conditions, and a future that puts players first."
"We're with you for as long as it takes to get what you deserve," the MLBPA told WNBPA players in a Saturday solidarity post on social media.
"We stand with the women of the WNBPA as they work toward a collective bargaining agreement that reflects their value and impact both on and off the court," the NBPA posted on Saturday.
Amid the statements of support from other player unions, the WNBA and WNBPA also officially extended their CBA negotiation deadline on Friday.
The league office and the WNBPA now have until November 30th to reach a deal, though the players can terminate the extension at any time with 48 hours notice — a move that would put them on a path toward a possible work stoppage.
"While we believed negotiations would be further along, the players are more focused, united, and determined than ever to reach an agreement that reflects their value and undeniable impact on the league," the union wrote in a Friday statement.
ESPN reported that the two sides met multiple times last week, as a busy WNBA offseason with two expansion drafts and an active free agency period looms.
Another WNBA team has reportedly landed a leader, with the Seattle Storm rumored to have tapped former New York Liberty and Memphis Grizzlies assistant coach Sonia Raman as the team's newest head coach.
Building out her early head coaching career in the NCAA's Division III leading the MIT Engineers, Raman spent four seasons as an NBA assistant in Memphis before joining Sandy Brondello's Liberty staff for the 2025 WNBA season.
According to a Friday report, the Seattle Storm have offered Raman a multi-year deal, and the hiring will make her the first-ever WNBA head coach of Indian descent.
With the Dallas Wings as well as both 2026 expansion teams the Portland Fire and Toronto Tempo also recently locking in their new locker room leaders, Seattle's sideline news means that only 2024 champions New York remain without a manager well into the WNBA offseason.
Reports indicate that Raman initially caught the Liberty's eye, after Brondello parted ways with the team following New York's first-round exit from the 2025 WNBA Playoffs.
Raman will replace Seattle's 2021-2025 head coach Noelle Quinn, taking over a Storm roster centered around 2025 WNBA Draft overall No. 2 pick and All-Rookie team honoree Dominique Malonga plus an anticipated 2026 lottery pick.
The WNBA league office and the Players Association (WNBPA) exchanged escalating public statements this week, as both sides dispute terms surrounding a key issue in the ongoing CBA negotiations: revenue sharing.
"When the players opted out [of their CBA] a year ago, they made it clear they wanted a salary system that values their labor and allows them to grow with the business they are very clearly driving," WNBPA executive director Terri Jackson told ESPN in a statement this week, citing the vast disparity in revenue sharing percentages between the WNBA and the NBA.
Jackson continued by claiming that the WNBA intends to "run out the clock" and double down on a model that "intentionally undervalues the players."
Days ago, NBA commissioner Adam Silver said publicly that "[Revenue] share isn't the right way to look at it," pushing instead for salary increases in "absolute numbers."
WNBA leadership, however, denied that their current offer to players omits all revenue sharing, with the league calling the WNBPA's claim "incorrect and surprising," while indicating that an uncapped revenue sharing model "directly tied to the league's performance" is on the table.
"It is frustrating and counterproductive for the union to be making misrepresentations about our proposals while also accusing the league of engaging in delay," the WNBA's statement continued. "That is simply not true."
With both parties not seeing eye to eye, a resolution before the October 31st CBA deadline appears unlikely, though a formal request for an extension on negotiations is not currently in the cards.
Adam Silver is back in the headlines, with the NBA commissioner speaking out on the increasingly fraught WNBA CBA negotiations on Tuesday — and pushing for controlled salary increases rather than the revenue sharing model that players overwhelmingly want.
"I think [revenue] share isn't the right way to look at it because there's so much more revenue in the NBA," Silver told the Today Show. "I think you should look at absolute numbers. In terms of what they are making, they are going to get a big increase in this cycle of collective bargaining, and they deserve it."
In response, the WNBPA posted a clip of Silver's interview to Instagram Stories, captioning it with "Don't want to share, @adamsilvernba?"
Tuesday's back-and-forth emphasizes a significant wedge issue within the CBA talks, as WNBA players argue for a salary cap determined by the total revenue generated from all basketball-related activities like ticket sales, media deals, sponsorships, and merchandise — the same model currently used in the NBA.
The WNBA — like Silver — wants salary cap growth to continue on a fixed scale, raising player salaries in the upcoming CBA while controlling revenue distribution at the stakeholder level.
"I think we all agree we're trying to return every dollar we possibly can to the players, but we also want to incentivize investment from owners," WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert said when addressing the issue earlier this month.
With less than 10 days remaining before the CBA's October 31st deadline, differences continue to outweigh common ground en route to an unlikely deal.
Six-time NBA All-Star Jimmy Butler is hitting the NWSL pitch, with the Golden State Warriors forward joining the San Diego Wave as a minority investor this week.
"Soccer has been a passion of mine for a long time, and being part of the game in a meaningful way has always been a dream," Butler said in the club's Monday press release. "San Diego has become a city close to my heart, and I'm proud to invest in a club that is pushing boundaries, building something lasting, and setting a new standard for what women's sports can be both on and off the pitch."
Butler joins retired San Diego Wave star Alex Morgan in an ownership group led by the Levine Leichtman family, after the majority owners purchased the California club at a then-record $113 million valuation in 2024.
"Jimmy is a competitor and visionary who shares our values and our ambition to grow this club," said San Diego controlling owner Lauren Leichtman. "He brings a global perspective, a deep respect for the athlete's journey, and a creative spirit that perfectly complements what we are building here at Wave FC."
Butler isn't the only high-profile men's sports athlete anteing up for the NWSL in recent months, with the NBA star following in the footsteps of NFL quarterback Caleb Williams — who invested in 2026 expansion side Boston Legacy FC — and LA Clippers forward Chris Paul, who joined Angel City's star-studded ownership group.