Caitlin Clark has radically changed the game of women’s basketball in a way no player has shifted their sport in a long time. The impact of the WNBA’s first overall pick could have perhaps changed the way many viewers perceive women’s basketball. This year, for the first time since television viewing numbers were recorded, more people tuned into the women’s national championship between South Carolina and Iowa than UConn’s battle with Purdue in the men’s national championship. Despite Clark’s defeat at the hands of another future top-10 WNBA pick in Kamila Cardoso and her South Carolina Gamecock’s, Clark shined in the championship game, putting up 30 points on 5-13 shooting from three-point range. Clark was hailed as the obvious choice for the Indiana Fever with the first overall pick, as throughout the season Clark proved herself, including breaking Pete Maravich’s all-time NCAA scoring record. And as expected, Clark did in fact go first overall to the Fever.
Within hours of being drafted, Clark’s jersey was sold out, setting a record that ultimately would be broken shortly after by the Chicago Bears’ Caleb Williams for fastest sellout of a rookie jersey. Hype was building around Clark and the Fever, with Indiana earning 36 nationally televised games out of their 40 overall, and multiple teams moving their games against Indiana from smaller to larger venues, such as the Las Vegas Aces moving from the usual 12,000 seat Michelob Ultra Arena to the 20,000 seat T-Mobile Arena. Unfortunately for Clark and her team, struggles on the court have plagued the team to start the year, as they have come out the gates to an 0-5 start.
Clark’s rise to the WNBA has not come without controversy. Sports journalist Jemele Hill claimed that Clark’s popularity can be attributed not to her success on the floor but rather due to the fact of her identity as a heterosexual, white woman. “We would all be very naive if we didn’t say race and her sexuality played a role in her popularity,” Hill said. While Clark’s talent on the court is clearly present, many fans hope that issues like this do not overshadow her rookie campaign.