Lisa Leslie makes her feelings clear on Caitlin Clark’s NCAA amateurism comments
WNBA history-maker Lisa Leslie has admitted that she agrees with Caitlin Clark after her claim that the “amateurism” of college sports has been diminished after the introduction of the transfer portal.
The Indiana Fever point guard is well-placed to give her perspective on the issue, having played four record-breaking seasons at alma mater Iowa. The 22-year-old remained with the Hawkeyes throughout her collegiate years, with her impressive displays helping to boost the popularity of the women’s game in that time.
Now, Clark has provided her verdict on the impact of the transfer portal on the college scene as she confessed to having some misgivings about the system. Established in 2018, the introduction of the NCAA-wide database has enabled players to move between schools – without stars having to sit out a year of action.
Speaking to NFL legends Travis and Jason Kelce, Clark has now acknowledged that she feels aspects of the transfer portal have been damaging to the NCAA landscape. Appearing on the latest episode of ‘New Heights’, she said: “The transfer portal is crazy—especially in football.
“That’s where I think it’s gotten the craziest. It’s kind of sad. You lost a little bit of that amateurism of college sports. But also, it’s the world we’re living in. Now we got people on their fourth school in their seventh year. It’s getting egregious.”
Reacting to these remarks from the WNBA Rookie of the Year, aforementioned basketball legend Leslie divulged that she has had similar thoughts on the subject before today. Taking to Instagram, she wrote: “I was literally saying the same thing today!”
During a wide-ranging conversation with the Kelce siblings, the Fever sensation revealed that she played through the pain barrier during her maiden WNBA season. Divulging details in relation to a ruptured eardrum injury she sustained during the infancy of her time in Indianapolis, she said: “It was early on, like our 10th game of the year.
“We were playing in New York against the Liberty, who ended up winning the championship this year. It was early on, like our 10th game of the year. We were playing in New York against the Liberty, who ended up winning the championship this year.”
Informing the football icons that she had narrowly avoided having to undergo surgery, she added: “There’s not really much you can do. It takes months to heal so after the season the doctor had to go back in and look and see if it had closed and if it doesn’t close you have to have a minor procedure.
“Luckily enough, it closed so I was fine. You have to be careful about getting water in there, you can’t go in lakes or pools. Sometimes it’ll bleed when it pops but mine didn’t, thankfully. It’s just really annoying. Your hearing is off for a few weeks.”
