Lauded For Dealing With Politicians And Critics, Caitlin Clark Gets Anointed As ‘Face Of The NBA’ By Ex NBA Star

Prateek Singh | 02/03/2025
Iowa guard Caitlin Clark reacts after drawing a foul during a NCAA Big Ten Conference women's basketball game against Indiana

Caitlin Clark has made a wild card entry into the ‘Face of the NBA’ debates due to quite the bold take from Rashad McCants.This discussion has been on the rise over the past couple weeks. With veterans like LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, and more inching toward retirement, there’s a sense of urgency in the NBA circuit to find replacements who can represent the league’s excellence.

Should it be Jayson Tatum: A 26-year-old NBA Champion and a superstar, who has been laughed at for wanting to be the face of the league. Or can it be Anthony Edwards: A 23-year-old Olympic gold medalist, also a superstar, but doesn’t have any interest in being put in that position.

If the decision were up to Rashad McCants, he’d make CC the face of the sport. Clark, with her immense and growing star power, helped sell out tickets to a preseason game in Iowa against the Brazil National Team in under 40 minutes. The cheapest ticket was valued at $715, which is more expensive than any NBA ticket this season.

Impressed by her ability to pull a large crowd, the former NBA star wrote, “Like I said THE FACE OF THE NBA!!! This is the metric. Sold out in minutes. Preseason!!! We witness her get blitz by peers, alumni, randoms, politicians, and above all else women!! She never ran from the challenge. Accepted it and rose above it! Goat!”

This wasn’t the only comment McCants made regarding CC being the lead athlete. The Chicago Sky moving their game schedule against the Fever from the 10,387-seat Wintrust Arena to the Bulls’ 20,917-seat United Center clearly had the Gil’s Arena regular feeling ecstatic.

Regardless, the statement is a bit confusing because CC isn’t even a part of the NBA. If given the benefit of the doubt that he meant ‘face of basketball,’ then it makes a lot of sense.

In that case, Clark definitely has the potential to be the face of the sport. However, her position in that conversation would depend on the WNBA growing at the same pace that it did last season.

LeBron doesn’t give much importance to the title

LeBron has been a great ambassador of the sport for over two decades. He has been lauded by the media for what he represents and the dedication he has to the game of basketball. However, over the last few years, he has distanced himself from paying attention to what the media has to say.

When he was recently asked to comment on the raging discussion, he said, “It’s unfortunate, but why do you want to be the face of the league when all the people that cover our game and talk about our game on a day to day basis sh*t on everybody?” LeBron doesn’t want that “weird energy” to have any place in his daily routine.

Outside of the media’s negativity, he is still just as committed to playing the game with integrity as he was when he started. He also understands why someone as skilled and deserving as Ant doesn’t want to wear that once-coveted crown. LeBron’s responsibility now is restricted only to the game itself.

Post Edited By: Dhruv Rupani
Caitlin Clark LeBron James

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Prateek Singh

Prateek is a Senior NBA Writer for The SportsRush. He has over 900 published articles under his name. Prateek merged his passion for writing and his love for the sport of basketball to make a career out of it. Other than basketball, he is also an ardent follower of the UFC and soccer. Apart from the world of sports, he has followed hip-hop religiously and often writes about the origins, evolution, and the biggest stars of the music genre.

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