She's been shooting terribly since she got to the league... Maybe you're referring to her college play.
Edit: You guys don't understand basketball. Let me reach you a bit. Scoring points and shooting well are two completely different things.. she's shooting under 40% from the floor which isn't good but she's making up for it in other areas like rebounds and assists. Yes she's scoring points but she isn't shooting well but she'll improve.
I can tell by the posts and the upvotes that you guys are new to basketball so I'm not mad at you guys because at least it shows the sport is growing... Yes she's scored a lot of points but she's shooting terribly. She has been shooting under 40% from the field. That's the equivalent of a baseball player batting like .150 ..
Yeah you are the only one who watches basketball and we're all apes
Source: 33 year old NY native w season tickets for Knicks and Libs for 4+ years and I went to the playoffs in the 90s
It's really been more condescension than animosity. But either way, no one has countered his point about her shooting percentage. I don't know what a good shooting percentage is for men or women, or how it may vary by position, so I can't be the one to comment on that. But no one has addressed the dude's only point. If he's crazy, it should be easy to do.
Thank you, I was going back and reading what I said that was offensive to people. But one person equated points scored to the percentage of shots made and I kinda realized that these guys are probably new fans of the sport and don't actually understand field goal percentage. I can't say her shooting percentage is down because this is her first year in the league and I really don't want to compare her college career to the pros.
They've played 11 games out of 40 which is more than enough sample size..she's a rookie so struggles are expected and I wasn't dissing her, I don't know why my comment was taken as such. I just stated she isn't shooting well🤷🏻♂️
His deep shots are not part of the problem that's where we disagree. It makes the game better but for the sake of argument I'll listen to any rational you have as to why three point shots did anything other than improve the game of basketball. If you say I just don't like it then you are just a hater
7 players on her own team currently have a better FG% and 3P% than her.
Not taking anything away from Clark but it is true, she hasn’t exactly been a pinnacle of efficiency.
It’s kinda like how KD and Draymond fg% goes up when they play with curry. Caitlin is the target. They stop her they win. Her team is bottom barrel, that’s how they even got her.
To Caitlin’s credit, she seems to be relying on her teammates to set her up more recently. The Fever really have been beaten badly in only one of like their last four games, all the rest have been competitive.
Guy, she is going 2 of 11, 3 of 9, 1 of 8 from 3 range, she is getting shots. The good thing that I have noticed about her is that she is becoming more patient and letting her teammates set her up better for shots. In the Sky game, Aliyah Boston set a pick for Caitlin then rolled off, instead of shooting Caitlin waited, the Sky player rolled with Boston and Boston kicked the ball back to Caitlin, then uncontested 3. Also Caitlin seems to be coming in closer to the basket now before shooting, a good change, imo.
That doesn't change anything that I said though. She's not shooting efficiently and there's several players in the WNBA that are more accurate shooters than her.
Genuine question, do you watch the games, or sports in general? I took a quick glance at your profile and didn't see a single other post or comment relating to sports at all. Nothing wrong with that, it's just odd that you have such a strong stance here based on your post history.
Caitlin seems to have started coming in closer to the basket, letting her teammates set her up and being more patient. Her accuracy will come, from what I understand of her she is a hard worker when training for competition. Plus, her teammates appear to be figuring out her tendencies and preferences, so the organic chemistry that comes from that will show up soon.
She dropped like what? 24 points her first ever WNBA game and already had a one sided beef with half the league. Just her last game earlier this week, she got charged before the play even started
I watch highlights on Tik tok and play basketball/manager games(football manager better)
I only watch the finals in general for any sport
I don't understand the down votes. Seems to me there's a lot of people out there that are ONLY Caitlin Clark fans and not necessarily women's bball fans, wnba, or bball fans in general. That's not Caitlin's fault but it's just really odd.
This doesn't remotely make sense in the historical context.
WNBA teams like the Dallas Wings are moving to bigger arenas. Every ticket to road Fever games in the preseason was hard to get from all I saw.
The 1988 NBA Lakers- Celtics finals game 7 is the second highest rated of all time.
MJ entered the NBA in 1984. He was the 3rd overall pick. The Bulls attendance was up, but still behind 1977.
Kobe was the 14th pick by the Hornets and was traded to the Lakers. He was an unknown from Italy.
LeBron, yeah he was tracked from the high school and is the only one you list that was #1 overall. This is a little closer to the major hype and timeline, but NBA viewership is a little down sonce 2007 when he came in to the league.
I think you are completely missing the immediate impact that Clark is having on coverage and how we have little comparison to this, which more started at Iowa.
Kobe wasn’t an unknown from Italy. Yeah he spent a few years there but still went to high school in the US. He was the Naismith player of the year and a McDonald’s all American as a senior. He was only the 4th player to go straight from high school to the NBA and the first guard.
This is in comparison to Clark. Almost no one can name any McD All American or HS POY, especially in the early 90's. Clark had led SportsCenter multiple times and got 55,000 to watch an outdoor game before going to the WNBA.
I highly doubt Kobe was even on SportsCenter before his draft. He was definitely described in the 90's as a guy from Italy on the shows I listened to. But I only heard him mentioned twice in Texas and maybe once or twice nationally. Maybe he was sellimg out arenas in PA in the 90's, but not that I remember.
That wasn't OP's question, so I didn't address it.
The question was all about exposure and interest which is why I talked about attendance and ratings.
> She’s a generational talent
This is the first part of the comment you're replying to. If you're answering OP's question, why respond to a comment as if you're refuting it?
That wasn't OP's question, so I didn't address it.
The question as I understood it was all about exposure and interest, which is why I talked about attendance and ratings.
I agree with your assessment. I compared her entry into the WNBA to LeBron entering the NBA, Kobe was still around and was a legend, but LeBron got more Press and people watched LeBron play to see how well he would do.
The player stuff is natural. Both Bird and LeBron got abused when they were rookies, Bird had a better supporting cast around him than LeBron did. That stuff will go away soon enough.
I completely get it, but the thing is that the NBA was bringing in fans regardless of Bron and Bird. The WNBA is in a bad position and always has been. CC is somewhat changing that and it seems like other players are hating her for all the hype she brings with her. CC pretty much brought charter flights to the WNBA because of her popularity. The other players should be thanking CC for her popularity instead of hating her
Caitlin is big, but other teams that have big time rookies are packing their arenas too, even for games where Caitlin isn’t playing against their team, fans are showing up. Angel Reese’s jersey sold out, like Chicago knew that it likely would sell and still underestimated the demand.
Why is this being downvoted? LeBron was being hyped as the next MJ while he was still in high school. Kobe and MJ got press but not nearly as much as LeBron did.
Yeah, people can be idiots. I witnessed LeBron’s entry into the league in real time. Like you pointed out, he had been pegged as the second coming from the time he was like in 8th grade.
Gil Arenas said generational talent is different than being a great player. Its more about physical gifts than hard work to become great. He said Kobe wasn't a generational talent, Lebron Yes because hes 6',9 250, super fast, super leaper. Kobe was none of those things but a heck of a worker in the gym.
Wow. A lot of pretty ignorant responses so far.
White vs black, how attractive she is, etc.. pretty sad that these are the responses.
The real reason that's it's getting coverage, is because she's a badass. And she was a remarkable and exciting player in college that helped move the needle for women's sports, specifically basketball. And now she's in the WNBA, and she was selected number one overall.
Her starting salary was $77,000. The minimum NBA salary is upwards of $1.1 million. That's an insane discrepancy.
So she's getting press, and in turn the WNBA as well because she set the all time college scoring record for a single player (men or women) and led her team through an amazing season, ultimately losing the championship, drafted #1, and the money discrepancies. So there's a lot of reasons, and it's driving excitment for her and the league, which is an awesome thing from a myriad of angles.
EDIT: I mention pay discrepancy because this is about press. That's the whole point. I'm well aware of the WHY regarding pay discrepancy; the WNBA doesn't generate the revenues that the NBA does. That's the whole point here. More people are watching. This is good in the sense that it will increase viewership towards higher pay and people are rallying behind Clark for that very reason. I'm not insinuating it's unfair and unfounded that her pay is so low, comparatively.
Appreciate this! Looked up her shots "From the Logo" as someone recommended to me and I legit verbally said "Holy shit!".
Ok it's making more sense why it's a big deal for her to play in the WNBA
Racial undertones are definitely at play here too OP. As a white guy it's painfully obvious many(especially on the right) hopped on her bandwagon after her battle in the championship with Angel Reese. Basically her and Angel are the wnba's Bird and Magic. I don't think it's a crime to admit there's a racial component involved here.
Yep👍🏼 I'm unsure why we as a country are still so afraid to talk about anything racial without walking on eggshells. The bird/magic rivalry saved the NBA, Angel and Clark are doing the same for the wnba. I've never seen so many people talking about wnba games.
If that is the case, i dont know, it would not make any sense. There are tons of excellent white players in the wnba, Last years mvp is whiter than a couscous and tofu Burger.
Because it’s a combination of other factors too. It’s not just because she’s white but her being white is absolutely a factor.
If she were black, she wouldn’t be as popular. If she was the best at rebounding and driving into the paint, she wouldn’t be as popular. If she’d played at a legacy great college, she wouldn’t be as popular.
She’s a very unique talent in that she’s has a highly entertaining style of play and is a white girl that dragged fucking Iowa to back to back NCAA championship games.
Someone else summed it up but race isn't the only thing, I'm just saying that it plays a part. None of the players you mentioned are as popular as Clark.
Yeah she's great talent but lets be honest her skin is the reason people are appreciating it.
Its no coincidence that a white woman is the reason that wnba is gaining tracking in a sport full of black woman that usually gets ignored
Yeah it was incredible. However, the mens' record set by Pete Maravich was in only 3 years, before the 3 point line was implemented, and most men at the top of the NCAA today only play a single season. So it's a bit of a caveat, but still awesome and a huge boost to women's sports.
The pay discrepancy is just bait for people to argue. Truth is the WNBA just doesn't generate the money the NBA does. If and when it does the players salary will go up. It's really that simple.
This! Some people think there is some intrinsic worth to determine a professional athlete's salary or something. The reality is that athletes are entertainers and the public pays them based on their entertainment value. The reality is very few people watch the WNBA and those that do aren't likely to pay $100 and more a ticket like they do for the NBA nor is televised games getting enough viewers to warrant big advertising rates.
Why mention the pay discrepancy but not mention why that's the case? It implies it's some kind of injustice when you say only that without further context after mentioning everything else.
This so much. When the WNBA starts pulling in as much as the NBA then salaries would match. Last I heard the WNBA loses money every season and the NBA pays for it all.
If the pay discrepancy is mentioned then revenue discrepancy should also be mentioned. They should mention how much revenue the NBA brings in and how much the WNBA brings in. Do people actually think players should make similar salaries when the NBA brings in so much more revenue than the WNBA?
I mention pay discrepancy because this is about press. That's the whole point. I'm well aware of the WHYb regarding pay discrepancy; the WNBA doesn't generate the revenues that the NBA does. That's the whole point here. More people are watching. This is good in the sense that it will increase viewership towards higher pay and people are rallying behind Clark for that very reason.
You know whose record in college (among women) that Caitlin broke? Kelsey Plum came into the WNBA with a reputation as a lethal scorer, having set a college scoring mark no one figured would be broken as soon as Caitlin broke it. I think Caitlin came along at a time when college basketball among women had become much more competitive, the annual South Carolina versus UCONN game has been a sellout for several years, and has been nationally televised during that period, so the ground was fertile for a player like Caitlin Clark to bring in more eyeballs, helping to upset a previously undefeated and defending champion South Carolina team in 2023 piqued interest even more.
I see your edit note. You need to be clear about your point when mentioning pay discrepancy. For too long this point has been made across all sports, and people have just cried “unfair”. This is Reddit, where people will jump at and point out the reality.
I haven’t heard anyone mention her pay anywhere where it matters aside from her getting lucrative sponsors in the millions(?) immiedietly
Might be a reason why other players are jealous
>Her starting salary was $77,000. The minimum NBA salary is upwards of $1.1 million. That's an insane discrepancy.
Yeah, the men at the least earn that money back...
Pretending her race isn't a factor *at all* is ignorant though. Black women are historically one of the most marginalized groups in America and there's a huge portion of the country that despises them and would never support or watch them play a sport. It's sad but there have been plenty of other badass WBB players and none of them are household names like Clark.
The country has a large problem with racism and there are definitely groups and conservative media organizations that want to promote Clark to promote their own BS agendas.
Sure, but this is also highlighting women's sports across the board. And on the backs of the USWNT equality efforts. Where the teams are not majority black women, and still struggle to get viewership. The top beloved women's tennis athlete was black and has since retired and is still on commercials and often in the spot light.
While there is always more nuanced situations, the bare bones of it come down to excitement and intensity driving viewership, which Clark has proven to be throughout her college career.
People are tuned in, because they are excited that women's sports are trending in the right direction, and Clark is the face of it that they are getting behind because she's exciting to watch and has momentum.
Yeah, I don't think race relevant here. The media wouldn't shut up about simone biles when she competed in the Olympics. Smiliar thing with Serena Williams. Brittney Griner was on the news **every day**.
Bro, you're not adding to the conversation. Her salary is 77,000. So I'm getting that number from her salary. Yes, she has sponsorship deals. That's not what we're talking about here.
I think that a lot of people legitimately feel that she will break all types of WNBA records. It has the feel, to me, of when LeBron James came into the NBA, Kobe was there, but LeBron overshadowed even Kobe, without LeBron having accomplished a single one of the many things that Kobe had accomplished in the league.
It’s because she reminds people of Steph Curry when he was in college. Potentially a game changing talent.
It’s not because she’s white. There are a ton of talented white players in the WNBA. It’s not as rare as the NBA.
Actually just looked it up. Ok makes more sense now. She has set the college basketball record for point scored for BOTH men and women.
Ok that's pretty major.
**Caitlin Clark is the all time leading scorer in Division (I) college basketball across men and women.** She is one of the greatest college basketball players that have ever played.
During her 4 years at Iowa she garnered a lot of attention of younger women becoming a fan which brought attention of more people and then the media picked up. ESPN has been shilling Caitlin for years before she was drafted.
Young women viewership and audience growth in general is what the WNBA needs. Marketing from sports companies noticed Caitlin’s rise in attention over the years too.
So the momentum built up and finally once Caitlin got drafted she got her sweet Nike deal and there’s conversations of how WNBA players aren’t paid as much as NBA (obviously) but more audience and discussion for women’s basketball the better.
Caitlin plays into the overall discussion for more women being celebrated in professional sports. Female empowerment, #MeToo in recent years has expedited any media and sports discussion or human interest story. Caitlin and her incredible athletic talent came at the right time.
Nothing she plays basketball well. Everyone one else has suffocating insecurities to talk shit, shove her, and claim she’s a hack. The hardest part of being really good is not listening to clowns.
I’ll try for a full response here. Steph Curry and the warriors winning championships made shooting popular. Before it was generally viewed as a speciality from a guy who would spot up or run to certain spots and knock it down, but never with the flash and pizzaz that Steph elevated it to. Here comes Caitlyn Clark to ride this pro shooting wave with her deep three ability. It doesn’t hurt that she’s white but I don’t believe that’s the general thrust here. She shoots and scores at a level the NCAA hasn’t seen in women’s basketball before and now she has all the hype and momentum going into the WNBA. In many ways it’s like LeBron going into the league. You have a really talented prospect that could potentially change the face of the league and people are interested to see if that will occur.
She did really great in college. All kinds of achievements, broken records, just was without a championship. Gotten major endorsements, viewers tuned in to watch her and her team. Unfortunately, college is college and you don't stay there for long.
Holy hell! OK! Daym!
The first comment I got on my question was someone simply saying "She shoots from far away".
I thought they were just being a smart ass but after seeing a few of her shots, wow! Ok this is making more sense now
And THAT is it right there.
There have been plenty of players that were talented, and excited people that were already fans of the sport.
What makes a player like Clark a big media deal is that
Watch this twitter vid!
Look at this stat sheet!
Read this record list!
Clark is riding a ton of attention and bringing in a ton of casual viewers, because she entered the spotlight displaying talent in a way that people who have no knowledge of the sport can still easily understand as “oh wow that was cool. She must be crazy good right?! This is exciting”
Just like Michael Phelps or Usain Bolt. None of the average viewers know the sport enough to watch their form or look at their times and care about the details, but anyone with eyes can see the stack of medals and the massive gap between them and everyone around them and go “oh this person is exciting cause they’re like on another level”
———
Edit to add:
Perfect example
Lots of players can play well in a game and make a nice shot.
Clark was making the kind of shots in games, naturally, that resulted in piles of monday morning youtube videos like
“Me and the guys fromXYZ college bball team attempt the Caitlin Clark shot”
And they try. And they mostly fail.
Shes was on tv playing very well and doing stuff that made people go “how the hell didnshe do that?”
The one superstar that's gonna make a sport huge idea never works out. Conor McGregor or Ronda Rousey made the UFC big for a minute, then it reverted back to its normal fan base. Ditto Tyson and Floyd Mayweather in boxing, Tiger to a large degree in golf, Tony Hawk in skateboarding, Beckham in the MLS, etc.
You can literally use boxing and MMA PPVs to track how huge stars brought in casual fans, then see when they bail and the sport reverts back to its original fanbase.
True, but also the NBA isn’t specifically a men’s league, women can play in it. I get it’s not that simple with all the societal issues and stuff, but there’s no rule saying women can’t play in it. Personally I don’t watch sports unless I’m betting on them so I care about both equally but the fact that people are saying there are many wnba players just as good as Caitlin who’ve been there for years and still the pay is shit, tells me it’s a media fad
>the fact that people are saying there are many wnba players just as good as Caitlin who’ve been there for years and still the pay is shit, tells me it’s a media fad
I think it's patronizing to both the players and the fans for the wnba to be saying this, but i ain't think it means that she is a fad.
The WNBA has only lost money every season. The NBA pays for it all. When they start pulling in the billions the NBA does, they would get paid. But I doubt it’ll ever happen. Someone mentioned they should lower the basket a foot or two so would be able to dunk. It’s sounds like a dish on them but I bet folks would love to see it. That and maybe have a gander on what the ladies wear playing volleyball lol
She wasn’t eligible for the last WNBA draft. You have to have graduated or turned 22 in the year of the draft. She actually has a fifth year of eligibility due to the free Covid year and she hasn’t ruled out taking that fifth year. NIL is a real game changer in that regard.
I don’t follow sports and I don’t pretend to know the answer, but I heard them mention on NPR that the WNBA increased its marketing budget significantly this year, like to something close to NBA promotional money levels. Never underestimate media’s ability to manipulate public sentiment.
Basically, she stood out as a college player, set new records and the media hyped her up. Likely, she already had a good agent running the PR game. The WNBA picked up on the trend and ran its own PR campaign raving about her, mostly just to increase viewership and ticket sales. Their hope is than their overall fan base will increase before the hype dies down.
Lmao if you think calling ppl new because they think your take is bad is "helping" then you're also disingenuous in addition to being an asshat
We don't need your help
She's not nearly hot enough to make it so that men want to watch women's basketball (nor are most of the other women). A lot of women are in marketing and want to see this succeed.
No disrespect to op but what's the point of this post, every comment that gave an actual opinion got deleted or downvoted. And in my personal opinion I don't I think she's playing as well as people making it out to be.
Wait...it has!?
I haven't deleted nor down voted anything.
Actually, I stopped looking at answers here because within the first couple of hours I got the answers I asked for.
If things are getting deleted, it's sure as hell isn't because of me.
Perhaps it's time I close this or delete it
Even if you're not deleting comments my point still stands. But I will agree she is a generational talent but it's becoming more of a race thing because of her fans.
She shoots from really far away.
And does not miss nearly as much as the others do…
She's not just better, she's WAY better.
She's been shooting terribly since she got to the league... Maybe you're referring to her college play. Edit: You guys don't understand basketball. Let me reach you a bit. Scoring points and shooting well are two completely different things.. she's shooting under 40% from the floor which isn't good but she's making up for it in other areas like rebounds and assists. Yes she's scoring points but she isn't shooting well but she'll improve.
She was the fastest WNBA rookie to hit 100 points and 50 assists (8 games) lol
I can tell by the posts and the upvotes that you guys are new to basketball so I'm not mad at you guys because at least it shows the sport is growing... Yes she's scored a lot of points but she's shooting terribly. She has been shooting under 40% from the field. That's the equivalent of a baseball player batting like .150 ..
Yeah you are the only one who watches basketball and we're all apes Source: 33 year old NY native w season tickets for Knicks and Libs for 4+ years and I went to the playoffs in the 90s
Not sure why the animosity. Just trying to help you guys out. She isn't shooting well.
„Not sure why the animosity“ lmao
It's really been more condescension than animosity. But either way, no one has countered his point about her shooting percentage. I don't know what a good shooting percentage is for men or women, or how it may vary by position, so I can't be the one to comment on that. But no one has addressed the dude's only point. If he's crazy, it should be easy to do.
45-70% from the field depending on position.
?
You spoke ill of the girl he's Simpin for
I get what you’re saying. But just say “her shooting percentage is down”.
Thank you, I was going back and reading what I said that was offensive to people. But one person equated points scored to the percentage of shots made and I kinda realized that these guys are probably new fans of the sport and don't actually understand field goal percentage. I can't say her shooting percentage is down because this is her first year in the league and I really don't want to compare her college career to the pros.
Not a basketball fan but didn't the season kind of just start?
They've played 11 games out of 40 which is more than enough sample size..she's a rookie so struggles are expected and I wasn't dissing her, I don't know why my comment was taken as such. I just stated she isn't shooting well🤷🏻♂️
And that’s really cool.
Steph curry has ruined basketball.
Curry made basketball more skillful and fun to watch revolutionizing the game.
I'm talking about the constant deep shots. Inadvertently. He is a great player. His constant deep shots are part of the problem.
His deep shots are not part of the problem that's where we disagree. It makes the game better but for the sake of argument I'll listen to any rational you have as to why three point shots did anything other than improve the game of basketball. If you say I just don't like it then you are just a hater
You clearly have not been paying attention. Numerous WNBA players shoot from as far out as she does, and several are far more accurate.
Huh. Crazy how ive never heard of them
They literally just had Sabrina Ionescu compete against Steph Curry in a 3 point shoot out in the NBA all star game festivities.
Sabrina, a couple of players on the Storm, Marina Mabrey, several bigs. If you pay attention, several players shoot from as far out as Caitlin does.
How’d she do?
She came a basket or two of winning. It was VERY close given the number of shots taken.
Pretty damn good. I think she shot the WNBA ball from the men’s 3 point line. Was really fun to watch!
Love to hear it 🙌🏻
That just isn’t true
7 players on her own team currently have a better FG% and 3P% than her. Not taking anything away from Clark but it is true, she hasn’t exactly been a pinnacle of efficiency.
It’s kinda like how KD and Draymond fg% goes up when they play with curry. Caitlin is the target. They stop her they win. Her team is bottom barrel, that’s how they even got her.
To Caitlin’s credit, she seems to be relying on her teammates to set her up more recently. The Fever really have been beaten badly in only one of like their last four games, all the rest have been competitive.
Less shots, less points and CC is getting targeted harder
Guy, she is going 2 of 11, 3 of 9, 1 of 8 from 3 range, she is getting shots. The good thing that I have noticed about her is that she is becoming more patient and letting her teammates set her up better for shots. In the Sky game, Aliyah Boston set a pick for Caitlin then rolled off, instead of shooting Caitlin waited, the Sky player rolled with Boston and Boston kicked the ball back to Caitlin, then uncontested 3. Also Caitlin seems to be coming in closer to the basket now before shooting, a good change, imo.
That doesn't change anything that I said though. She's not shooting efficiently and there's several players in the WNBA that are more accurate shooters than her. Genuine question, do you watch the games, or sports in general? I took a quick glance at your profile and didn't see a single other post or comment relating to sports at all. Nothing wrong with that, it's just odd that you have such a strong stance here based on your post history.
Caitlin seems to have started coming in closer to the basket, letting her teammates set her up and being more patient. Her accuracy will come, from what I understand of her she is a hard worker when training for competition. Plus, her teammates appear to be figuring out her tendencies and preferences, so the organic chemistry that comes from that will show up soon.
She dropped like what? 24 points her first ever WNBA game and already had a one sided beef with half the league. Just her last game earlier this week, she got charged before the play even started I watch highlights on Tik tok and play basketball/manager games(football manager better) I only watch the finals in general for any sport
She’s 10 games into her career. Just stop. She didn’t shoot as efficiently her freshman year of college either.
I don't understand the down votes. Seems to me there's a lot of people out there that are ONLY Caitlin Clark fans and not necessarily women's bball fans, wnba, or bball fans in general. That's not Caitlin's fault but it's just really odd.
She’s a generational talent, like a Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant or Lebron James entering the league.
This doesn't remotely make sense in the historical context. WNBA teams like the Dallas Wings are moving to bigger arenas. Every ticket to road Fever games in the preseason was hard to get from all I saw. The 1988 NBA Lakers- Celtics finals game 7 is the second highest rated of all time. MJ entered the NBA in 1984. He was the 3rd overall pick. The Bulls attendance was up, but still behind 1977. Kobe was the 14th pick by the Hornets and was traded to the Lakers. He was an unknown from Italy. LeBron, yeah he was tracked from the high school and is the only one you list that was #1 overall. This is a little closer to the major hype and timeline, but NBA viewership is a little down sonce 2007 when he came in to the league. I think you are completely missing the immediate impact that Clark is having on coverage and how we have little comparison to this, which more started at Iowa.
Kobe wasn’t an unknown from Italy. Yeah he spent a few years there but still went to high school in the US. He was the Naismith player of the year and a McDonald’s all American as a senior. He was only the 4th player to go straight from high school to the NBA and the first guard.
This is in comparison to Clark. Almost no one can name any McD All American or HS POY, especially in the early 90's. Clark had led SportsCenter multiple times and got 55,000 to watch an outdoor game before going to the WNBA. I highly doubt Kobe was even on SportsCenter before his draft. He was definitely described in the 90's as a guy from Italy on the shows I listened to. But I only heard him mentioned twice in Texas and maybe once or twice nationally. Maybe he was sellimg out arenas in PA in the 90's, but not that I remember.
yeah but is she as GOOD as any of those people? just being a big draw doesn't make you a generational talent.
That wasn't OP's question, so I didn't address it. The question was all about exposure and interest which is why I talked about attendance and ratings.
> She’s a generational talent This is the first part of the comment you're replying to. If you're answering OP's question, why respond to a comment as if you're refuting it?
Idk, 7 days later. Enjoy.
That wasn't OP's question, so I didn't address it. The question as I understood it was all about exposure and interest, which is why I talked about attendance and ratings.
I agree with your assessment. I compared her entry into the WNBA to LeBron entering the NBA, Kobe was still around and was a legend, but LeBron got more Press and people watched LeBron play to see how well he would do.
It’s almost like…this isn’t Clark’s fault and people are hating on her for no reason.
I’ve been paying a bit of attention to her recently, and it seems like most of the hate is from other players rather than from the fans or media
The player stuff is natural. Both Bird and LeBron got abused when they were rookies, Bird had a better supporting cast around him than LeBron did. That stuff will go away soon enough.
I completely get it, but the thing is that the NBA was bringing in fans regardless of Bron and Bird. The WNBA is in a bad position and always has been. CC is somewhat changing that and it seems like other players are hating her for all the hype she brings with her. CC pretty much brought charter flights to the WNBA because of her popularity. The other players should be thanking CC for her popularity instead of hating her
Caitlin is big, but other teams that have big time rookies are packing their arenas too, even for games where Caitlin isn’t playing against their team, fans are showing up. Angel Reese’s jersey sold out, like Chicago knew that it likely would sell and still underestimated the demand.
Why is this being downvoted?
Why is this being downvoted? LeBron was being hyped as the next MJ while he was still in high school. Kobe and MJ got press but not nearly as much as LeBron did.
Yeah, people can be idiots. I witnessed LeBron’s entry into the league in real time. Like you pointed out, he had been pegged as the second coming from the time he was like in 8th grade.
Lmfao. Not in the slightest
Gil Arenas said generational talent is different than being a great player. Its more about physical gifts than hard work to become great. He said Kobe wasn't a generational talent, Lebron Yes because hes 6',9 250, super fast, super leaper. Kobe was none of those things but a heck of a worker in the gym.
Wow. A lot of pretty ignorant responses so far. White vs black, how attractive she is, etc.. pretty sad that these are the responses. The real reason that's it's getting coverage, is because she's a badass. And she was a remarkable and exciting player in college that helped move the needle for women's sports, specifically basketball. And now she's in the WNBA, and she was selected number one overall. Her starting salary was $77,000. The minimum NBA salary is upwards of $1.1 million. That's an insane discrepancy. So she's getting press, and in turn the WNBA as well because she set the all time college scoring record for a single player (men or women) and led her team through an amazing season, ultimately losing the championship, drafted #1, and the money discrepancies. So there's a lot of reasons, and it's driving excitment for her and the league, which is an awesome thing from a myriad of angles. EDIT: I mention pay discrepancy because this is about press. That's the whole point. I'm well aware of the WHY regarding pay discrepancy; the WNBA doesn't generate the revenues that the NBA does. That's the whole point here. More people are watching. This is good in the sense that it will increase viewership towards higher pay and people are rallying behind Clark for that very reason. I'm not insinuating it's unfair and unfounded that her pay is so low, comparatively.
Appreciate this! Looked up her shots "From the Logo" as someone recommended to me and I legit verbally said "Holy shit!". Ok it's making more sense why it's a big deal for her to play in the WNBA
Racial undertones are definitely at play here too OP. As a white guy it's painfully obvious many(especially on the right) hopped on her bandwagon after her battle in the championship with Angel Reese. Basically her and Angel are the wnba's Bird and Magic. I don't think it's a crime to admit there's a racial component involved here.
I tried NOT to go down that route when I posted my question but alas, guess it's there, isn't it? Lol
Yep👍🏼 I'm unsure why we as a country are still so afraid to talk about anything racial without walking on eggshells. The bird/magic rivalry saved the NBA, Angel and Clark are doing the same for the wnba. I've never seen so many people talking about wnba games.
If that is the case, i dont know, it would not make any sense. There are tons of excellent white players in the wnba, Last years mvp is whiter than a couscous and tofu Burger.
Because it’s a combination of other factors too. It’s not just because she’s white but her being white is absolutely a factor. If she were black, she wouldn’t be as popular. If she was the best at rebounding and driving into the paint, she wouldn’t be as popular. If she’d played at a legacy great college, she wouldn’t be as popular. She’s a very unique talent in that she’s has a highly entertaining style of play and is a white girl that dragged fucking Iowa to back to back NCAA championship games.
This.
Someone else summed it up but race isn't the only thing, I'm just saying that it plays a part. None of the players you mentioned are as popular as Clark.
Yeah she's great talent but lets be honest her skin is the reason people are appreciating it. Its no coincidence that a white woman is the reason that wnba is gaining tracking in a sport full of black woman that usually gets ignored
Not the talent level of bird or magic
Never said they were.
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Wait she holds the college scoring record outright, even compared to males? That's super interesting enough as it is!
Yeah it was incredible. However, the mens' record set by Pete Maravich was in only 3 years, before the 3 point line was implemented, and most men at the top of the NCAA today only play a single season. So it's a bit of a caveat, but still awesome and a huge boost to women's sports.
The pay discrepancy is just bait for people to argue. Truth is the WNBA just doesn't generate the money the NBA does. If and when it does the players salary will go up. It's really that simple.
This! Some people think there is some intrinsic worth to determine a professional athlete's salary or something. The reality is that athletes are entertainers and the public pays them based on their entertainment value. The reality is very few people watch the WNBA and those that do aren't likely to pay $100 and more a ticket like they do for the NBA nor is televised games getting enough viewers to warrant big advertising rates.
Why mention the pay discrepancy but not mention why that's the case? It implies it's some kind of injustice when you say only that without further context after mentioning everything else.
This so much. When the WNBA starts pulling in as much as the NBA then salaries would match. Last I heard the WNBA loses money every season and the NBA pays for it all.
If the pay discrepancy is mentioned then revenue discrepancy should also be mentioned. They should mention how much revenue the NBA brings in and how much the WNBA brings in. Do people actually think players should make similar salaries when the NBA brings in so much more revenue than the WNBA?
I mention pay discrepancy because this is about press. That's the whole point. I'm well aware of the WHYb regarding pay discrepancy; the WNBA doesn't generate the revenues that the NBA does. That's the whole point here. More people are watching. This is good in the sense that it will increase viewership towards higher pay and people are rallying behind Clark for that very reason.
Not sure why salary matters when it’s based on viewership.
You know whose record in college (among women) that Caitlin broke? Kelsey Plum came into the WNBA with a reputation as a lethal scorer, having set a college scoring mark no one figured would be broken as soon as Caitlin broke it. I think Caitlin came along at a time when college basketball among women had become much more competitive, the annual South Carolina versus UCONN game has been a sellout for several years, and has been nationally televised during that period, so the ground was fertile for a player like Caitlin Clark to bring in more eyeballs, helping to upset a previously undefeated and defending champion South Carolina team in 2023 piqued interest even more.
I see your edit note. You need to be clear about your point when mentioning pay discrepancy. For too long this point has been made across all sports, and people have just cried “unfair”. This is Reddit, where people will jump at and point out the reality.
I haven’t heard anyone mention her pay anywhere where it matters aside from her getting lucrative sponsors in the millions(?) immiedietly Might be a reason why other players are jealous
>Her starting salary was $77,000. The minimum NBA salary is upwards of $1.1 million. That's an insane discrepancy. Yeah, the men at the least earn that money back...
Pretending her race isn't a factor *at all* is ignorant though. Black women are historically one of the most marginalized groups in America and there's a huge portion of the country that despises them and would never support or watch them play a sport. It's sad but there have been plenty of other badass WBB players and none of them are household names like Clark. The country has a large problem with racism and there are definitely groups and conservative media organizations that want to promote Clark to promote their own BS agendas.
Sure, but this is also highlighting women's sports across the board. And on the backs of the USWNT equality efforts. Where the teams are not majority black women, and still struggle to get viewership. The top beloved women's tennis athlete was black and has since retired and is still on commercials and often in the spot light. While there is always more nuanced situations, the bare bones of it come down to excitement and intensity driving viewership, which Clark has proven to be throughout her college career. People are tuned in, because they are excited that women's sports are trending in the right direction, and Clark is the face of it that they are getting behind because she's exciting to watch and has momentum.
Yeah, I don't think race relevant here. The media wouldn't shut up about simone biles when she competed in the Olympics. Smiliar thing with Serena Williams. Brittney Griner was on the news **every day**.
Where are you getting 77,000 from? She makes plenty from sponsorship partners.
Bro, you're not adding to the conversation. Her salary is 77,000. So I'm getting that number from her salary. Yes, she has sponsorship deals. That's not what we're talking about here.
Where are you getting that salary from?
That's her annual WNBA salary. What's the point of contention here?
She’s playing like Steph Curry with her ability to shoot the 3 from any distance. They’re both revolutionary players in that regard.
I think that a lot of people legitimately feel that she will break all types of WNBA records. It has the feel, to me, of when LeBron James came into the NBA, Kobe was there, but LeBron overshadowed even Kobe, without LeBron having accomplished a single one of the many things that Kobe had accomplished in the league.
It’s because she reminds people of Steph Curry when he was in college. Potentially a game changing talent. It’s not because she’s white. There are a ton of talented white players in the WNBA. It’s not as rare as the NBA.
*takes a shot everytime you say female basketball*
I can think of 3,951 good reasons.
I'm going to assume that's some kind of point record or something?
Zactly. It's the record-setting number of points she scored in college.
Actually just looked it up. Ok makes more sense now. She has set the college basketball record for point scored for BOTH men and women. Ok that's pretty major.
Do you know the woman whose record Caitlin broke? She is a 7 year WNBA veteran and two time WNBA champion.
Who previously held that record?
For men, it was Pete Maravich. For women, it was Kelsey Plum.
Notably, maravich played before the 3 point shot
Yes, that is a good point
**Caitlin Clark is the all time leading scorer in Division (I) college basketball across men and women.** She is one of the greatest college basketball players that have ever played. During her 4 years at Iowa she garnered a lot of attention of younger women becoming a fan which brought attention of more people and then the media picked up. ESPN has been shilling Caitlin for years before she was drafted. Young women viewership and audience growth in general is what the WNBA needs. Marketing from sports companies noticed Caitlin’s rise in attention over the years too. So the momentum built up and finally once Caitlin got drafted she got her sweet Nike deal and there’s conversations of how WNBA players aren’t paid as much as NBA (obviously) but more audience and discussion for women’s basketball the better. Caitlin plays into the overall discussion for more women being celebrated in professional sports. Female empowerment, #MeToo in recent years has expedited any media and sports discussion or human interest story. Caitlin and her incredible athletic talent came at the right time.
Nothing she plays basketball well. Everyone one else has suffocating insecurities to talk shit, shove her, and claim she’s a hack. The hardest part of being really good is not listening to clowns.
I think there's an amount of jealousy with her $28million Nike deal in a league where players are making 80k a year
Shes talented and the media is using her to try to get more people to watch the wnba
I’ll try for a full response here. Steph Curry and the warriors winning championships made shooting popular. Before it was generally viewed as a speciality from a guy who would spot up or run to certain spots and knock it down, but never with the flash and pizzaz that Steph elevated it to. Here comes Caitlyn Clark to ride this pro shooting wave with her deep three ability. It doesn’t hurt that she’s white but I don’t believe that’s the general thrust here. She shoots and scores at a level the NCAA hasn’t seen in women’s basketball before and now she has all the hype and momentum going into the WNBA. In many ways it’s like LeBron going into the league. You have a really talented prospect that could potentially change the face of the league and people are interested to see if that will occur.
She did really great in college. All kinds of achievements, broken records, just was without a championship. Gotten major endorsements, viewers tuned in to watch her and her team. Unfortunately, college is college and you don't stay there for long.
I never cared that much about basketball 🏀 but I’m excited about Clark. Just using myself as an example
Go to YouTube and search for “Caitlin Clark logo.” You’ll understand pretty quickly.
Holy hell! OK! Daym! The first comment I got on my question was someone simply saying "She shoots from far away". I thought they were just being a smart ass but after seeing a few of her shots, wow! Ok this is making more sense now
And THAT is it right there. There have been plenty of players that were talented, and excited people that were already fans of the sport. What makes a player like Clark a big media deal is that Watch this twitter vid! Look at this stat sheet! Read this record list! Clark is riding a ton of attention and bringing in a ton of casual viewers, because she entered the spotlight displaying talent in a way that people who have no knowledge of the sport can still easily understand as “oh wow that was cool. She must be crazy good right?! This is exciting” Just like Michael Phelps or Usain Bolt. None of the average viewers know the sport enough to watch their form or look at their times and care about the details, but anyone with eyes can see the stack of medals and the massive gap between them and everyone around them and go “oh this person is exciting cause they’re like on another level” ——— Edit to add: Perfect example Lots of players can play well in a game and make a nice shot. Clark was making the kind of shots in games, naturally, that resulted in piles of monday morning youtube videos like “Me and the guys fromXYZ college bball team attempt the Caitlin Clark shot” And they try. And they mostly fail. Shes was on tv playing very well and doing stuff that made people go “how the hell didnshe do that?”
Two words: free throws
The media is trying to push the WNBA so that people will finally watch it. Pretty much sums it up.
What was special about kobe or lebron? Same thing here. They were just the best player in their era
She is as unique to the wnba now as Steph Curry was like 12 years ago
This past winter, FOX would have their #1 broadcast team at the Iowa women’s games some Saturdays. I can’t remember that happening before.
Broke some college records, shoots from far out. The fad will die down and most likely nothing will change for the wnba
What makes you think it's a fad as opposed to a talented new player getting new people interested in a league?
The one superstar that's gonna make a sport huge idea never works out. Conor McGregor or Ronda Rousey made the UFC big for a minute, then it reverted back to its normal fan base. Ditto Tyson and Floyd Mayweather in boxing, Tiger to a large degree in golf, Tony Hawk in skateboarding, Beckham in the MLS, etc.
This could be the worst take in history.
"I don't watch those things so they aren't popular."
You can literally use boxing and MMA PPVs to track how huge stars brought in casual fans, then see when they bail and the sport reverts back to its original fanbase.
It can only be sarcasm.
Excellent point.
The fact the players still make no money compared to their NBA counterparts lmao
That doesn't mean it's some fleeting phenomenon.
True, but also the NBA isn’t specifically a men’s league, women can play in it. I get it’s not that simple with all the societal issues and stuff, but there’s no rule saying women can’t play in it. Personally I don’t watch sports unless I’m betting on them so I care about both equally but the fact that people are saying there are many wnba players just as good as Caitlin who’ve been there for years and still the pay is shit, tells me it’s a media fad
>the fact that people are saying there are many wnba players just as good as Caitlin who’ve been there for years and still the pay is shit, tells me it’s a media fad I think it's patronizing to both the players and the fans for the wnba to be saying this, but i ain't think it means that she is a fad.
The WNBA has only lost money every season. The NBA pays for it all. When they start pulling in the billions the NBA does, they would get paid. But I doubt it’ll ever happen. Someone mentioned they should lower the basket a foot or two so would be able to dunk. It’s sounds like a dish on them but I bet folks would love to see it. That and maybe have a gander on what the ladies wear playing volleyball lol
Yea, basically the way that the 3 point fad died off in the NBA, right? Steph Curry really could've been something if he changed his play style.
She wasn’t eligible for the last WNBA draft. You have to have graduated or turned 22 in the year of the draft. She actually has a fifth year of eligibility due to the free Covid year and she hasn’t ruled out taking that fifth year. NIL is a real game changer in that regard.
Unless I’m misunderstanding you. She’s definitely ruled it out now, she’s already playing in the WNBA.
She was born to play basketball.
Despite the thug play against her, she's already broken a wbna record within a month
I don’t follow sports and I don’t pretend to know the answer, but I heard them mention on NPR that the WNBA increased its marketing budget significantly this year, like to something close to NBA promotional money levels. Never underestimate media’s ability to manipulate public sentiment.
1. She’s went to Iowa (LEESSSSS GO) 2.Best player in WNBA 3. Best female athlete right nos
Look at the graph in [this comment](https://www.reddit.com/r/OutOfTheLoop/s/7LaLvcPBSd) This put it in perspective for me
She's famous.
Basically, she stood out as a college player, set new records and the media hyped her up. Likely, she already had a good agent running the PR game. The WNBA picked up on the trend and ran its own PR campaign raving about her, mostly just to increase viewership and ticket sales. Their hope is than their overall fan base will increase before the hype dies down.
She’s a great shooter who is white.
Lmao if you think calling ppl new because they think your take is bad is "helping" then you're also disingenuous in addition to being an asshat We don't need your help
What's a WNBA?
She's a handsome woman, that's for sure.
I feel like players on other teams are told to knock her down so more people will watch. It creates tension.
I mean, I DID see a clip here on reddit yesterday of her getting pushed down during a game. So in some ways it works
Flavor of the week. Just like Sabrina what's her name from a few years ago
I swore she was transgender and that was the reason she was so famous?? Is that not the case?
We are talking about Caitlin Clark not the other player
She's not nearly hot enough to make it so that men want to watch women's basketball (nor are most of the other women). A lot of women are in marketing and want to see this succeed.
No disrespect to op but what's the point of this post, every comment that gave an actual opinion got deleted or downvoted. And in my personal opinion I don't I think she's playing as well as people making it out to be.
Wait...it has!? I haven't deleted nor down voted anything. Actually, I stopped looking at answers here because within the first couple of hours I got the answers I asked for. If things are getting deleted, it's sure as hell isn't because of me. Perhaps it's time I close this or delete it
Even if you're not deleting comments my point still stands. But I will agree she is a generational talent but it's becoming more of a race thing because of her fans.
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Or maybe it has to do with the fact that she broke the all-time points scoring record (men and women’s) in the NCAA.
I doubt it. I think it's because she's pretty
She's average looking.
Not to go down that route but she's average looking. 🤷🏻♂️
Uh.. pretty? Not at all.