{"id":592368,"date":"2026-06-06T04:30:18","date_gmt":"2026-06-06T04:30:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/592368\/"},"modified":"2026-06-06T04:30:18","modified_gmt":"2026-06-06T04:30:18","slug":"jason-whitlock-defends-caitlin-clark-to-la-sparks-take-with-wayne-gretzky-reminder","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/592368\/","title":{"rendered":"Jason Whitlock defends Caitlin Clark to LA Sparks take with Wayne Gretzky reminder"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jason Whitlock has defended his Caitlin Clark<\/a> to Los Angeles Sparks<\/a> argument by pointing to one of the most famous superstar moves in North American sports history.<\/p>\n

The idea of Clark leaving the Indiana Fever<\/a> still has no confirmed reporting behind it, but Whitlock is not arguing from a normal basketball angle. He is framing the rumor as a league-growth decision.<\/p>\n

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That is why his comparison was not about another WNBA player. He reached for Wayne Gretzky, whose move to Los Angeles<\/a> changed how the NHL was viewed in the United States.<\/p>\n

\"Photo<\/p>\n

Photo by B Bennett\/Bruce Bennett Studios via Getty Images Studios\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Jason Whitlock compares Caitlin Clark Sparks rumor to Wayne Gretzky\u2019s Los Angeles move<\/p>\n

Jason Whitlock on X<\/a> defended his Caitlin Clark to Los Angeles Sparks take by comparing it to the NHL sending Wayne Gretzky from Canada to the Los Angeles Kings.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe NHL moved Wayne Gretzky out of Canada to Los Angeles because it made $ense for the entire league,\u201d Whitlock tweeted.<\/p>\n

He added, \u201cIf you think the WNBA won\u2019t move Caitlin Clark to LA, you\u2019re not paying attention. Lin Dunn, Stephanie White, etc are following instructions. Caitlin is, too.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Whitlock\u2019s point is that leagues sometimes think bigger than one franchise. Gretzky\u2019s 1988 move from the Edmonton Oilers to the Kings helped push hockey into a major US market, grew attention in California, and gave the NHL a stronger American business story.<\/p>\n

By using that example, Whitlock is suggesting Clark could serve a similar purpose for the WNBA if she were moved from Indiana to Los Angeles.<\/p>\n

Caitlin Clark to Los Angeles Sparks claim remains loud but unproven<\/p>\n

The business logic is easy to understand. Clark already moves tickets, ratings, attention, and merchandise, so placing her in Los Angeles would connect the WNBA\u2019s biggest draw with one of the country\u2019s most powerful media markets.<\/p>\n

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That does not make the rumor true. There is still no credible confirmation that the Fever plan to trade Clark, and moving a franchise cornerstone would be a massive risk for Indiana.<\/p>\n

Whitlock\u2019s mention of Lin Dunn and Stephanie White adds another layer to the claim, because he is implying Fever leadership is operating within a bigger league plan. That is a serious suggestion, but it remains speculation unless real reporting follows.<\/p>\n

For now, the Gretzky comparison explains how Whitlock sees the situation. He believes Clark is bigger than the Fever, and that the WNBA may eventually treat her like a league-wide business asset.<\/p>\n

Read more:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Jason Whitlock has defended his Caitlin Clark to Los Angeles Sparks argument by pointing to one of the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":592369,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5126],"tags":[4615,146,5,16921,65908,186,1760,240,5303,65910,793,145,12486,5304,5302,4,65909,279],"class_list":["post-592368","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles-kings","tag-caitlin-clark","tag-edmonton-oilers","tag-hockey","tag-indiana-fever","tag-jason-whitlock","tag-kings","tag-la","tag-la-kings","tag-lakings","tag-lin-dunn","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-kings","tag-los-angeles-sparks","tag-losangeles","tag-losangeleskings","tag-nhl","tag-stephanie-white","tag-wayne-gretzky"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116701287356741875","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/592368","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=592368"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/592368\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/592369"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=592368"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=592368"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=592368"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}