Basketball ace Caitlin Clark has proven the sky’s the limit to her abilities, having punctuated the air multiple times with swooshing 3-point arcs since high school. As a scoring juggernaut with the University of Iowa’s Hawkeyes, she’s since been anointed as one of the greatest female players ever to grace the NCAA hardwoods.
Her signing in 2024 as a first-draft choice with the WNBA’s cellar-dwelling Indiana Fever was no surprise, although Clark faces the overwhelming responsibility of turning the team’s fortunes around in a league notoriously tough on rookies. So far, the jury’s out on a potential Fever playoff run, but since inking her contract, Clark has done something else. She’s helped to propel the WNBA from empty-seat status into must-see territory, as women’s basketball converts trip over themselves scampering to the nearest arena or television set to catch the Fever in action.
That audience, however, includes a fair share of detractors, from sexist trolls in denial over the popularity of Clark and the WNBA to media pundits and fellow athletes still doubtful of her potential. So far, Clark has managed to shrug off those nay-sayers. “People can talk about what they want to talk about and create conversations about whatever it is,” Clark said recently in a media scrum, per Bro Bible. “But I think for myself, I’m just here to play basketball.” Unfortunately, as long as those nattering nabobs continue to have their day in the sun, expect Clark to engage in battles off the court as well.
