The WNBA is Headed in the Wrong Direction
The WNBA has become a topic of politics instead of sports
The Women’s National Basketball Association has been around for 28 years but it has never been acknowledged by many.
Now, they have their golden ticket.
Caitlin Clark has become the phenom that has drawn heads from all sports fans.
What she did while in college with the University of Iowa Hawkeyes breaking all sorts of records in the NCAA from being the all-time NCAA Division I men’s and women’s scoring record to Iowa’s all-time leading scorer and catching the attention of the sports world.
What we have seen from her is something we don’t usually see in women’s basketball. Someone who can shoot threes from the logo and make them and make it look effortlessly.
Now she’s in the WNBA and there are more fans than ever watching the league. Something players in the WNBA have wanted for so long.
It only makes sense that the league would be on the right trend.
To the surprise of many, however, it hasn’t.
The reason isn’t because of the lack of fans. The fans are now watching because of Clark.
Arenas — due to Clark — are more packed than ever than they were years prior everywhere she goes and the viewership has gone way up.
It’s called the “Caitlin Clark Effect.”
It’s because of one word.
Jealousy.
Many former and current WNBA players have disregarded Clark’s milestones and accomplishments when she was at Iowa.
Sherly Swoopes, for example, tried to discredit Clark by providing all kinds of incorrect information about Clark including — but not limited to — how long she played at Iowa and her stats.
She invalidated Clark’s achievement of breaking the NCAA scoring record due to her playing five years of college basketball and not four.
She was wrong, Clark played for four years.
She said that Clark shoots 40 shots a game.
Once again she was wrong, Clark averaged 22.7 shots a game.
That is way less than what Swoopes said.
When Clark broke Lynette Woodard’s college women’s basketball scoring record in February, Woodard made a comment saying that she doesn’t think the scoring record was broken because of how different the game was compared to her time when there wasn’t a three-point line.
Breanna Stewart said that despite, Clark’s many feats, she still needed to win a national title to be considered an all-time great.
These were some of the remarks made about Clark regarding her accomplishments while at Iowa.
Now with Clark in the WNBA, players like Chennedy Carter have made a dirty hit on Clark in the middle of a game.
Then afterward, refused to answer any questions about the incident on the court.
But one thing that I have seen that has continued to set the WNBA back is when Angel Reese is brought into the conversation alongside Clark.
Reese, just like Clark, was also the one to watch when she was playing for the LSU Tigers. Those two were the faces of NCAA Women’s Basketball.
The viewer ratings skyrocketed in the last two March Madness tournaments because of them.
When Iowa and LSU played each other in the tournament it was a must-watch game and one of the most anticipated games in all of college sports.
It was the kind of game you marked on your calendars and made sure you watched.
Two phenoms going head to head in one of the biggest games of the season.
Now that they’ve gone professional, things are different.
Clark was drafted first overall in this year’s WNBA Draft by the Indiana Fever, while Reese was drafted eighth overall by the Chicago Sky.
They have both made a significant impact on their teams where it looks like the future is bright for both teams and players.
In this season’s WNBA Rookie of the Year award, I think it’s obvious the two frontrunners are between Reese and Clark and you can say either one of them is deserving.
They also look like they will be the faces of the league in the foreseeable future.
What a way to draw more people into watching WNBA games — but that was just not the case.
The matchups between the two have been talked about the wrong way compared to when they were in college.
Some would argue it has become White versus Black where it is almost as if you are obligated to pick a side just because of the color of your skin which is ridiculous.
Magic Johnson posted on X about how Clark and Reese reminded him of his rivalry with NBA legend, Larry Bird and that’s exactly how it should be seen as.
Don’t make it about politics. Make it about the sport.
Who cares if you knew Clark before Reese or vice versa?
Do you want a medal for that?
You know them both now. Watch them, don’t watch them.
It’s that simple.
Thank you for reading my story.
