Adam Silver on Caitlin Clark treatment: ‘It’s generating tremendous additional interest’

BOSTON — The hard fouls. The taunts. The apparent jealousy, developing rivalry and real discussions of race and sex in women’s basketball.

All of those things are a part of WNBA rookie and, let’s face it, superstar Caitlin Clark’s first few weeks in the league, and NBA commissioner Adam Silver said most of it “can be ultimately good for the sport.”

“As a fan, it’s nothing new in basketball that there’s sort of ‘welcome to the league’ moments, especially for heralded rookies,” Silver said during his annual pre-Finals news conference Thursday night in response to questions about Clark, whose WNBA debut has sparked enormous interest.

The NBA, which Silver leads, owns the WNBA, and WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert reports to Silver.

“Of course, I want to see Caitlin treated fairly and appropriately in the league,” Silver said. “I would say it seems like she can take care of herself. She’s a tough player.

“I think ultimately this is very healthy for women’s basketball in the WNBA. It’s generating tremendous additional interest. In fairness to the other players and in fairness to commissioner Engelbert, this didn’t just start this year.”

Silver continued: “Certainly we are seeing an acceleration of it with Caitlin, but there are many…