Caitlin Clark’s impact on the WNBA has undoubtedly been positive for the growth of the league in terms of its popularity and reach in the sports landscape. But for as great as Clark’s impact has been in that element, it has also brought elements of divisiveness that women’s sports writer Howard Megdal discussed openly on the most recent episode of the Awful Announcing Podcast.
The treatment of Clark from fellow WNBA players has been discussed extensively by many media members. Some claim that it is jealousy from Clark’s peers in the WNBA, while some believe that there is genuine “hatred” coming from some players, particularly Angel Reese, toward Clark.
Howard Megdal has seen all of the conversations surrounding Clark’s relationship with her peers in the WNBA. And ultimately, Megdal largely believes that there is no one reason for what seems to be some kind of animosity towards Clark from players in the WNBA.
Instead, Megdal believes that it is a combination of factors, including constant questions from media members to players about Clark, and the competitive nature of the WNBA.
“The conversation is so one-dimensional for some folks,” said Megdal. “There is this idea that the WNBA players can either be uniformly grateful and excited that Caitlin Clark has helped supercharge growth. Or, they can hate Caitlin Clark and want her to leave the league. And of course, the answer is neither of those things. These are the most competitive and best players in the world. So, at the same time, you can say that, ‘I am delighted that 17,000 people are watching me play when I go to Indiana.’ And be excited about the popularity and growth of the WNBA.
“And at the same time, when we come in to talk to folks ten minutes after a game has ended. You just had to battle against Caitlin Clark, and Aliyah Boston, and Kelsey Mitchell for 40 minutes. Only to come in and (hear), ‘Oh, are you thrilled about Caitlin Clark being in the league?’ Well, probably not at that moment. Probably not at a moment where you had to battle. Maybe at shootaround, when you have answered your 100th question about Caitlin Clark, who is not even on your own team.
“You are gonna be excited if the media rights deal means that salaries are gonna go up exponentially. But maybe that wasn’t the most exciting thing to do at 10:30 in the morning. And again, I understand why these questions are asked. But it’s the duality of people who can contain multitudes.”
Megdal would go on to outline how new fans of the league may be surprised to see animosity towards Clark around the league. But Medgal compared the situation to how the Bad Boy Detroit Pistons treated Michael Jordan during the early portions of his career.
“I think there are some people who may be new to the league who may be surprised about it,” added Medgal. “There are some people who may be measuring it in a gendered way. I am 45. So I grew up on the Jordan Rules and have seen the way Michael Jordan was treated in the NBA through the mid-to-late 1980s. It looks like a very similar playbook to the way Caitlin Clark has been treated in the WNBA over the first couple of years as well. So, I don’t necessarily think it’s one thing or the other. We all need to live in the gray area. And I think in our online culture, we are trying to find the one applicable thing.”
The one glaring difference between how Jordan was treated by the Pistons and how Clark is being treated early in her WNBA career by her peers is that everything that happens to Clark game in and game out is of course amplified on social media, which was obviously not the case for Jordan.
Megdal also sees how the negativity often spread on social media from WNBA fans brings its own set of challenges for the league due to the rapid growth of the sport. In particular, divisive conversations around race and gender have been quite rampant around the WNBA social media space, which brings the need for the WNBA to “protect” its players, according to Megdal.
“It’s all fascinating, right? There is the fact that it’s happening within 2025 America,” said Megdal. “And so that carries with it, its own burdens of the racial element, the gendered element, an empowering of women element. The fact that whenever there has been growth in women’s sports, and frankly any sort of feminist growth as a whole, there is always backlash. The reason why it’s less surprising is that every time you see women’s basketball grow in this country, there is a backlash to it. The pushback is always deliberate. And it’s something that we’re definitely gonna have to keep a close eye on now and going forward.
“I don’t think you can proactively do a ton. I think you can make sure that there is a zero tolerance policy. Is someone is coming into the WNBA space and spouting racist things, you make sure they are thrown out of the game and make sure they don’t come back. With social media, I don’t think anyone has figured out how to fix that. But you simply make sure and take whatever tools are at your disposal to protect going forward.”
The unfortunate reality for the WNBA is that as the sport continues to grow, the controversy surrounding the sport has continued to grow with it. But on the bright side, the league has never been in a better spot in terms of the actual on-court product and the coverage the league has received, which pretty clearly outweighs some of the negative elements that have come along with that.
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About Reice Shipley
Reice Shipley is a staff writer for Comeback Media that graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in Sports Media. He previously worked at Barrett Sports Media and is a fan of all things Syracuse sports.