PARIS (AP) 鈥� Caitlin Clark turned 23 on Wednesday. And as a birthday gift of sorts, Tyrese Haliburton offered her some more high praise.
Haliburton stars for the Indiana Pacers. Clark stars for the WNBA's Indiana Fever and is that league's reigning rookie of the year
Haliburton and Clark have become fast friends, both complimenting the other on multiple occasions. Haliburton went as far as to say in Paris on Wednesday, on the eve of the first of two here, that she's become a face of the game.
Not the women's game. The whole game.
鈥淚 think when it comes to the game of basketball, she鈥檚 probably in the top-five most famous people that are playing now, just in general. That includes our league as well," Haliburton said. "And she handles it with such grace. She's such a cool person. At the end of the day, she鈥檚 just a girl from Iowa who is just really good at basketball. And it's really cool to see what she does.鈥�
It makes sense that Haliburton and Clark would hit it off. Both are kids from the Midwest, both are the faces of their franchises, both are point guards who can score and shoot from anywhere and, obviously, both now call Indianapolis home. They haven't collaborated on anything big yet, but Haliburton is hopeful that such a pairing happens.
Haliburton says he considers the Fever 鈥� not just Clark, the whole organization 鈥� to be 鈥渞ock stars鈥� at the forefront of growing the WNBA.
鈥淎nything that I can do to help, I will. But I don鈥檛 think she necessarily needs my help," Haliburton said. "I mean, she鈥檚 amazing. That group is amazing. To see what they鈥檙e doing for women鈥檚 basketball as a whole has been really cool. She鈥檚 spearheaded that, so I鈥檓 just glad to be a part of the journey and watch what she does.鈥�
Future Paris games
The NBA doesn't announce things too far ahead, but it's safe to guess that more games in Paris are coming in future years.
And if the San Antonio Spurs get asked, they'll jump at the chance.
With , the Spurs 鈥� who already had an enormous following in France because of former players like Tony Parker and Boris Diaw 鈥� are seeing even more interest here.
Being here this week for a pair of games with Indiana is only strengthening the Spurs' ties with France.
鈥淎ny time we have an opportunity to play internationally, we want to be in that rotation,鈥� Spurs CEO R.C. Buford said Wednesday.
The Spurs even arranged for a pop-up shop to happen during this visit, featuring exclusive merchandise, items showcasing Wembanyama and Chris Paul, plus jerseys for team greats like Parker, Manu Ginobili and Tim Duncan.
鈥淚t鈥檚 an expensive trip," Buford said. 鈥淭he economics say a single trip probably isn't a big moneymaker. However, our goal is to show the community of France that we鈥檙e here for the long run.鈥�
Global games
There will be a lot of French people at these games Thursday and Saturday, as would be expected in Paris.
But these games will also be global 鈥� truly global.
The NBA said fans from at least 53 different countries and territories have purchased tickets for the Spurs-Pacers games, a record for any league event anywhere in the world.
These will be the NBA鈥檚 96th and 97th games in Europe and the 14th and 15th games in France, all happening in a season that marks the 40th anniversary of the league's inaugural games in Europe 鈥� back when the Seattle Supersonics played exhibition games in Germany, Switzerland and Italy against local professional teams.
San Antonio is playing in France for the first time since the preseason in 2006. Indiana is playing in France for the first time.
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AP NBA:
Tim Reynolds, The Associated Press
