‘We were butt of the jokes’ – WNBA icon names the Caitlin Clark moment that underlined league’s $6bn takeoff
Sue Bird credits Caitlin Clark for huge WNBA growth
WNBA legend Sue Bird singled out a specific Caitlin Clark move behind record growth for the league.
Four-time WNBA champion Bird praised Clark for her unprecedented impact on the WNBA and her role in the league’s continued explosion.
Appearing on The Deal podcast, Bird explained how while the league was on a upwards trajectory already, the WNBA boom now is down to Clark with record growth in every area since her arrival into the league.
Summing her impact in seven words, Bird said: “She poured gasoline all over that thing.
“All of a sudden, this player named Caitlin Clark comes,” said Bird, who has won a WNBA championship in each of the last three decades.
“And the way I frame it is, fire was going, it was burning. And it was burning brighter,” Bird added.
“Even if you look at the 2023 viewership in the 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.”
Clark’s rivalry with Angel Reese, which crossed over from the NCAA to the WNBA has played a huge part too, as well as the continued rising standard of a league that has been on an upward trajectory.
The numbers support Bird’s assessment with the WNBA having its most successful year on record. According to the WNBA, there was a 48% increase in attendance with a total of 2.4 million taking in games in arenas across the country.
WNBA games sold out a record 154 times, a 242% increase from last year, while the average attendance was a healthy 9,807, a 48% increase from 2023.
Domestic viewership also saw record growth with regular season games averaging one million viewers. While the 2024 All-Star game saw 3.4 million tune in, a 305% increase versus last season.
A bran new $2bn broadcast deal, worth $200m a season, is likely to see salaries explode as the league goes from strength-to-strength.
Bird also explained how Clark’s iconic threes, where she shoots from the logo, is getting fans to respect the WNBA in a way that may not have been possible before.
The Indiana Fever star drained 548 threes during her time at the University of Iowa setting a record for the most three-pointers made in women’s NCAA history and she went viral when she shot from the logo.
Debate about the lack of dunks in the women’s game is age-old but Bird believes Clark has given the league an iconic play of it’s own.
“We were the butt of the jokes and it was hard to breakthrough,” said Bird when asked about why it took long for the WNBA to explode.
“[But] we, we finally had the anecdote to dunking… as 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 sh-t, that girl’s hitting logo threes. Like, I don’t think I can do that. And everybody respects that — Men, women — there’s a respect factor.”
Bird’s point challenges NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal’s view who said on Angel Reese’s podcast that the WNBA should lower its rims to facilitate dunks. https://twitter.com/IndianaFever/status/1807513535452176486
“The only thing that’s missing is the dunk. I’m not saying lower it (the ring) to 9 feet or anything, just a little bit.”
Something Reese was quick to push back on and responded, “I hate when men say that.”
There have only been 38 dunks in WNBA history, a number that is drastically lower than the NBA. Shaq for example racked up over 2,600 dunks himself during his career.
Ultimately, Bird is right to point to the correlation between Clark’s entry into the league and the explosion of the WNBA along with the rivalry that was promoted with her and Angel Reese.
Clark led the Indiana Fever to a 20-20 season, their first 20 win season since 2015 while she averaged 19.2 points, 5.7 rebounds and 8.4 assists per game.
They were beaten in the first round of the playoffs and Clark has been enjoying an offseason of golf – that saw him playing alongside world no.1 Nelly Korda earlier this week.
She has yet to commit to the new ‘Unrivaled’ league that is launching in January and has already attracted a host of names from the W – including Reese and founding members Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart.
The league remains hopeful of luring Clark to it’s three on three tournament in Miami – and with six players still available, it would be no surprise to see her join her WNBA rivals.
