Paris Notebook: Haliburton praises Clark, NBA sells tickets in 50+ countries for Spurs-Pacers games

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 (plus is pals with fellow Kansas City Chiefs fan Taylor Swift).

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 San Antonio-Indiana matchups here, that she’s become a face of the game.

Not the women’s game. The whole game.

“I think when it comes to the game of basketball, she’s 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’s just a girl from Iowa who is just really good at basketball. And it’s really cool to see what she does.”

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 — not just Clark, the whole organization — to be “rock stars” at the forefront of growing the WNBA.

“Anything that I can do to help, I will. But I don’t think she necessarily needs my help,” Haliburton said. “I mean, she’s amazing. That group is amazing. To see what they’re doing for women’s basketball as a whole has been really cool. She’s spearheaded that, so I’m just glad to be a part of the journey and watch what she does.”

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 French star Victor Wembanyama already cemented as the face of the franchise, the Spurs — who already had an enormous following in France because of former players like Tony Parker and Boris Diaw — 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.

“Any time we have an opportunity to play internationally, we want to be in that rotation,” 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.

“It’s an expensive trip,” Buford said. “The economics say a single trip probably isn’t a big moneymaker. However, our goal is to show the community of France that we’re here for the long run.”

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 — 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’s 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 — 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: https://apnews.com/NBA