I just realized that I am salty about the Caitlin Clark haters.
I mean, I used to like the awesomeness of both Sheryl Swoopes and Diana Taurasi. That said, I guess this is why I liked Sue Bird and Lauren Jackson more when they led the Seattle Storm.
I never saw Dawn Staley at her peak, so seeing Sue Bird's awesomeness was cool. I always thought of Jackson as The Incredible Hulk version of Anna Kournikova.
Anyway, the thing I like about Clark is her Jason Williams-like passes. It would be best to have flair when you are a WNBA player who has to thrive on fundamentals because dunking in the league is like once in a blue moon.
The other thing? It's her unbelievable Steph Curry-like range. She became known for her logo-range shots but shooting those bombs in clutch is a different story.
Again, she's like Sue Bird with the White Chocolate passes and Steph Curry-like range.
However, there is one thing I also need to point out.
She has the Michael Jordan effect.
Yessir.
A couple of years ago, the WNBA have been battling over their NBA bros regarding attention and monetary compensation. The best WNBA player has the salary range of a vet-minimum NBA player, and at times, it's insane. Through the years, women have improved in sports. In the Philippines, five of the last seven Olympic medal winners are women. And while yeah, Hidilyn Diaz had a gold and silver medal while Nesthy Petecio had a silver and bronze medal as well. But Carlos Yulo is the lone man in the last decade to medal in the Olympics in a contingent that had more women than men as well.
In WWE, women know their place on the match card. The problem is that some women have been too good to stay in the bathroom break spots that they are ultimately shoved to the main event segment. The same can be said with Ronda Rousey back when she was still in the UFC. Women became so good that they were featured more than men.
WNBA players forced the issue, which is why the internet tore them up. While I am sympathetic to their cause, I think these players are delusional. I have seen a lot of hate on social media whenever an NBA player tries to defend or even commend a WNBA player.
And then, there's Caitlin Clark.
If you are a newbie WNBA fan outside the United States who needs a gateway franchise to root for, then the Indiana Fever is for you. This is Clark's team. That said, she's not the only great player in the squad.
Kelsey Mitchell is the second pick overall in the 2018 WNBA Draft and is one-half of the team's scary backcourt duo. Aliyah Boston is the first pick of the 2023 WNBA Draft and is considered one of the best frontcourt players in the league. NaLyssa Smith is the second pick of the 2022 WNBA Draft and is second in the Fever in terms of rebounds.
If you check out their lineup, you'll notice that high draft picks mean bad win-loss records. This is the first time since 2016 that the Fever had a winning regular season.
You have to thank Caitlin Clark for this.
The biggest contribution of Michael Jordan to the basketball world is that he brought a lot of new sets of eyes to the sport. Because of signature dunks, clutch shots, commercials, and insane charisma, basketball became a global sport. In 1992, Jordan was swarmed by fans which in some ways transformed the NBA from a basketball league into a marketing juggernaut.
Had Clark joined Team USA in Paris, she could have given the league a hint of global recognition.
But here's the problem with most of the WNBA community. Here is an actual superstar who can make the league look good, and for some reason, they are jealous. The maxim "hell hath no fury like a woman scorned" is extremely evident here, because they can't get that one woman can have this much stardom in her, while the rest of the league struggles for recognition. If Clark stayed away from the WNBA, I bet no one would even talk about the WNBA.
And yet, here we are.
And here is Clark's triple-double.