Caitlin Clark came into the WNBA with enormous hype, the like of which we had never seen before, and she has lived up to it. Clark's heroics have led to more and more eyeballs on the WNBA and Basketball Hall of Famer Nancy Lieberman thinks she will go on to have the kind of impact that Michael Jordan had on the NBA.
"What Caitlin Clark has done for the game is generational," Lieberman said. "As a baller to a baller, I just want to say thank you to you Caitlin Clark for just lifting our game up. You and so many great players, but what you're doing, you're going to make all these women multi-millionaires one day like Tiger (Woods) did, like Michael Jordan did. And we shouldn't hate on her, we should celebrate her, not tolerate her."
Lieberman made those comments during the game between the Indiana Fever and the Dallas Wings, which, by the way, had a sellout crowd. When Clark is in town, there is almost a guarantee that's going to happen. As Lieberman stated, it's time to stop the hate and celebrate her for what she has done for the league.
Is Clark the greatest prospect to ever enter the WNBA? Probably not. Is she the best player in the WNBA right now? Certainly not, but no player in the history of the league has had anywhere near the impact she has had. Clark is box office in a way that none of the greats who came before her were and is exactly who the WNBA needed, to finally take off.
I don't think Jordan is the right player to compare Clark to, though. Her impact is more like that of Magic Johnson and Larry Bird.
Many incredible players had played in the NBA before Johnson and Bird arrived, but their iconic rivalry was what took the league to the mainstream. They set the stage for Jordan to elevate it to a global, multibillion-dollar industry with his excellence on the court.
Similarly, Clark is primarily responsible for the WNBA getting to the mainstream, with her own excellence and her rivalries with the likes of Angel Reese. Did the league have great players before she showed up? Certainly, but for a multitude of reasons, they weren't able to take the WNBA to where this 22-year-old has taken it.
Clark probably will make those who came after multi-millionaires, the same way Johnson and Bird did. While I doubt she'll ever be revered like those two are, I think she'll get more appreciation years down the road.
Related: Shannon Sharpe: Caitlin Clark’s Hype In The WNBA Similar To LeBron James Coming To The NBA
Caitlin Clark And The Fever Are On A Roll
Clark has managed to block out all the noise surrounding her and is having quite an impressive rookie season. She is currently averaging 18.7 points, 5.6 rebounds, 8.4 assists, 1.4 steals, and 0.8 blocks per game in the 2024 season.
Clark's displays are now leading to wins for the Fever too, which wasn't the case at the start of the campaign. They have now won four games in a row to improve to 17-16 on the season and have clinched a playoff spot for the first time since 2016. I can only imagine what the ratings are going to be like for her first playoff series.
At this point, it appears quite likely that Clark will win Rookie of the Year too. Reese might have had the lead at one point, but those numbers and team success should result in the Fever guard getting the award.
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