The Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark is arguably the most famous athlete in the world of women’s sports right now.
But that might be an understatement. The popular podcast host Bill Simmons actually believes Clark is a bigger star than many NBA players – and he’s right!
Simmons Sounds Off
“I literally did not care about women’s college basketball 10 years ago in any way, shape or form. So, I think some things have moved forward, just the quality of play is more fun to watch,” Simmons explained, speaking of Clark specifically. “She seems to be some sort of catalyst that is like before or after, and now we’re in the after.”
“You have this history with these women’s players in college for three years, you kind of have a sense of their game,” he continued.” So when they come to the WNBA, you know what they can do.”
This was definitely true of Clark, who went from NCAA superstar right into WNBA superstar. Everyone who surmised that she would be able to step into the pros was absolutely right.
“Her stardom in a way has changed many conversations about sports, I feel like, especially women’s sports,” Chuck Klosterman chimed in to add. “Part of it is, it’s real difficult now for a guy to become famous in basketball at the collegiate level. It still seems very plausible for a woman.”
Just think – other than a few big names like LeBron, Anthony Davis, Kyrie Irving, and a handful of others, few pedestrians could name off NBA players. That is not the case with Clark.
Related: Fans Are Loving This Video Of Caitlin Clark Giving Refs a Piece Of Her Mind From the Stands
Clark Brings Big Ratings To The WNBA
Indeed, some of Clark’s regular-season games brought in bigger audiences than playoff games that didn’t feature her. In fact, Clark’s matchups with Angel Reese drew in some of the largest audiences in WNBA history.
Meanwhile, NBA ratings have been decreasing in a way that they never were before Clark joined the WNBA. This comes after NBA Commissioner Adam Silver praised Clark for the popularity that she’s brought to women’s basketball.
“Caitlin Clark set the world on fire, not just this community,” Silver said. “She’s brought so much attention to the entire league. People are seeing how deep this league is, how good the qualify of basketball is… It’s wonderful to see.”
WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert has also addressed all that Clark has done for women’s basketball.
“She’s clearly an unbelievable player. Came in with an unbelievable following, has brought a lot of new fans to the league,” Engelbert said. “If you look at our historic season in terms of our attendance, viewership – Caitlin, Angel Reese, too, Rickea Jackson, Cameron Brink. This class of rookies, we will be talking about them a generation from now.”
“No league is ever about one player,” she continued. “That one player could get hurt, or whatever. So I think it’s just to give recognition that in sports, people watch for compelling content and rivalries, and you can’t do that alone as one person.”
Reese Addresses Clark Rivalry
Angel Reese, who for all intents and purposes plays the foil to Clark, recently addressed their rivalry by saying, “I don’t have any hard feelings towards her.”
“I’ve been playing against Caitlin since we were probably in eighth or ninth grade,” she explained. “We were both really competitive, I went to Maryland, she went to Iowa and we competed there, so people don’t know the legacy of us being able to play against each other for a really long time.”
“Obviously social media is going to pit two women against each other and I think that it’s something that’s been negative but also positive,” Reese concluded. “It shines light on women’s basketball so I’ll take that, being the person that gets the hate, but at the end of the day I know I’m the person that’s growing basketball and helping women’s basketball.”
Full Story: Angel Reese Reveals What’s Behind Rivalry With Caitlin Clark – Says She’s The ‘Person That Gets The Hate’
Whether you’re a fan of Clark’s or not, you can’t deny all that she’s done for women’s basketball. We can’t wait to see all that she accomplishes in the years to come!
More about:WNBA News
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