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Thunder Dan Palyo examines the potential impact of Caitlin Clark's WNBA debut on her new team, the league, and the future of women's professional sports.
For the last two years, she was the most famous woman in women's collegiate sports, but Caitlin Clark has never shied away from the spotlight.
Now as the top pick in the WNBA draft, she's expected to help elevate the Indiana Fever into contention for a title like she led Iowa to back-to-back National Championship games in her junior and senior seasons.
But there's so much more riding on Clark's WNBA performance than just the playoff hopes of her new team. Many have dubbed her as the type of superstar who can elevate the entire league and bring women's professional basketball more into the mainstream. Can Clark increase the popularity of the WNBA to the same extent that she did women's college basketball during her four years in Iowa?
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Rewriting The NCAA History Books
In case you have been living in a cave, or just perhaps not paying much attention to women's college basketball, Caitlin Clark is coming off another incredible season at Iowa that saw her break the all-time scoring records for both women AND men.
Over her four-year career at Iowa, she averaged 28.4 points, 7.1 rebounds, 8.2 assists, and 3.9 made threes. She averaged 31.6 points per game in her senior season, attempting a whopping 13.6 three-pointers per game and knocking them down at a 38% clip. The male player that she is so often compared to - Stephen Curry - for reference only attempted 12 threes per game this season. She became well-known for pulling up from well outside the three-point line and it was quite poetic that she broke the scoring record on such a shot.
The shot that made history for Caitlin Clark was, fittingly, a logo triple 🎯
🎥 @BigTenNetworkpic.twitter.com/5fI5LsHcDd
— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) February 16, 2024
Her list of accolades is long, but most notably she collected the Wooden and Naismith awards in her junior and senior seasons while also being voted the AP Player of the Year. She took Iowa to the championship game twice, but lost to LSU in 2023 and then South Carolina in 2024. Clark shined in both games, but her individual performances couldn't overcome the fact that her teams were outmatched by deeper teams that had long-standing success in the women's game.
Clark could have skipped her senior season and been a top pick in the WNBA draft last year, but she wanted a shot at the scoring record and a chance to win a title with her team in her senior season. She had little financial incentive to leave college, too, as she was set to make around three million dollars across 11 different NIL deals and her starting salary in the WNBA would only be around $75,000. Nike, Gatorade, and State Farm are among the most notable partnerships for Clark who likely isn't done with endorsement deals and commercials anytime soon.
Caitlin Clark landing a $20 million-plus signature shoe deal with Nike should end all debate on whether she made the right financial decision going to the WNBA.
Not only did she already have an NIL deal with Nike, but Iowa is a Nike school, and she wouldn't have had the free… pic.twitter.com/nXrEgRBXnq
— Joe Pompliano (@JoePompliano) April 18, 2024
Clark's style of play - from her ability to slash to the hoop to her incredible range from deep - has generated more buzz around women's basketball than ever before. And while she is just one of dozens of other extremely talented young women playing the game (get ready for Paige Bueckers's senior season at UCONN next year), Clark is arguably more famous than any other professional women's basketball player has ever been - before she has even played in her first regular season game!
The Hype Surrounding Clark's WNBA Debut
Caitlin will play her first WNBA game on Tuesday night at a sold-out venue (Mohegan Sun Arena) where the cheapest ticket I could find for resale was $130. The game will be televised on ESPN2 and will also be the first live sports event available to stream on Disney+. The WNBA has never been featured like this before as Clark's debut has generated a new level of buzz surrounding the sport.
The WNBA is set to start its 28th season and while the league has been slowly growing in popularity, Clark's arrival is already thrusting the league further into the mainstream of American professional sports.
Clark played two preseason games for Indiana already, finishing with a modest 16.5 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 3.0 assists per game. But the type of highlight plays we became accustomed to seeing at Iowa were visible even if she did struggle a bit from beyond the arc (7-22).
four defenders weren't enough to stop Caitlin Clark 😈 pic.twitter.com/Kiy0LMeLkf
— Indiana Fever (@IndianaFever) May 9, 2024
Over 13,000 fans attended the Indiana preseason home opener to catch a glimpse of Clark in action. Last season, Indiana's most attended home game in the regular season was just 7,356. The Clark effect is real and could just be the beginning for Indiana and the rest of the league.
Clark will be playing alongside the reigning WNBA rookie of the year in Indiana, last year's top pick Aliyah Boston. The two number-one picks should make for a formidable duo on the pick-and-roll as Clark won't be asked to put up as many shots as she did at Iowa where she had to carry so much of the scoring burden.
Caitlin Clark taking the range to the WNBA. 🏀🔥🎯pic.twitter.com/I0bJhqtNeP
— The Comeback (@thecomeback) May 10, 2024
But make no mistake, Clark will still be firing from well behind the arc - and playing with the same intensity and tenacity that made her must-watch television during her college years. Whether or not she enjoys the same massive success in the WNBA as she did in college remains to be seen - and at this point might be somewhat irrelevant. The excitement that she has brought to the league is palpable.
I know I will be watching, and so will my daughters and so many other young women across the nation. Clark has embraced the pressure and expectations of being a role model for female athletes - it comes with the territory of superstardom. It's hard to imagine that Clark will do anything but shine even bigger and brighter at the next level - stay tuned.
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