There’s been plenty said and written about Caitlin Clark’s dynamic impact on the WNBA. Her rookie season brought a boom in attendance, TV ratings and merchandise sales for the league.
But there’s still debate about what has made her such a transcendent figure. There have been many other great WNBA players who did not have the same impact. And for those who use race to explain the Clark phenomenon, there have been a number of other white stars in the league.
Sue Bird certainly fits that description. The former WNBA star appeared on The Deal with Alex Rodriguez and Jason Kelly podcast this week, and perfectly defined how Clark has transformed the WNBA.
Bird, a 13-time WNBA All-Star and four-time champion, explained that the league had been growing in popularity in recent years, but still struggled attracting casual fans.
“The casual fan, the one that isn’t really into it but is going because their friends are going and it’s cool to be there,” Bird said. “So we’ve always struggled in that … I mean, we were the butt of the jokes. It was really hard to break through.”
Enter Clark.
“The fire was going … and it was burning brighter,” Bird said. “Even if you look at the viewership in the 2023 WNBA Finals, it was way higher than 2022. It was starting, the fire was there. But Caitlin came and she poured gasoline all over that thing and just took it to another level. She broke through, I think, with her logo 3s … we finally had the antidote to dunking.
“Because all anybody ever wants to say is — they don’t literally say this, but what they are saying, the translation is like, ‘You’re not worth it, I can probably beat you, you can’t even dunk.’ But now it’s, ‘Oh s***, that girl’s hitting logo 3s, I don’t think I can do that.'”
Sue Bird talks about what happened in the #WNBA to take it from a league people made fun of, to having the “Cool Factor”.
(Wonder if you can guess?)#Feverrisng
Full Video Here: https://t.co/Ghtw9E9SMz pic.twitter.com/3NvoPFZ7hK
— Ken Swift (@kenswift) November 14, 2024
Bird’s take makes sense. Even NBA stars have expressed amazement at Clark’s incredible range and accuracy from 3-point range.
“And everybody respects that, men, women,” Bird said. “There’s a respect factor.”
[Ken Swift]
