Even before Caitlin Clark embarked on her historic senior year with Iowa in 2023, the consensus was that she’d be the first overall pick in the 2024 WNBA draft regardless of which team won the lottery. However, Indiana Fever general manager Lin Dunn had her eyes set on landing the guard as early as 2021.
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During a telephonic interview with Sirius XM NBA Radio, the 77-year-old women’s basketball icon revealed that she made drafting Clark the franchise’s priority during the latter’s sophomore season with Iowa. Dunn said,
“Well I think it was her sophomore year in college when I was watching her and thinking, ‘I got to figure out how to get this player. This is the next generational player that’s gonna be in the WNBA. We got to have her with the Fever.'”
“We got to have her with the Fever.”
When Lin Dunn joined @TheFrankIsola & @Scalabrine she recalls the time she knew she had to find a way to draft Caitlin Clark#FeverRising | @IndianaFever pic.twitter.com/xOLr6wXnYX
— SiriusXM NBA Radio (@SiriusXMNBA) September 20, 2024
Dunn, who was Sue Bird’s head coach in her rookie year with the Seattle Storm, believed the Hawkeyes sensation would flip the franchise’s fledgling fortunes. However, their quest to acquire the top pick and, by extension, the Iowa guard, entailed some dark times that improved their odds in the draft lottery.
They finished 5-31 in 2022 and 13-27 in 2023, which was the lowest win percentage over those two campaigns. This put them in position to secure the first overall pick.
It worked out precisely how they’d hoped for, as they won the lottery, got the first pick, and selected Clark. And as Dunn envisioned, the guard flipped the franchise’s fortunes as soon as she arrived.
Caitlin Clark’s historic debut season
The Hawkeyes star had a rough start to life in the WNBA, but slowly acclimatized to the pace and physicality of the league. Her impact grew with every passing week and she began posting numbers similar to those from her college days. She earned her first All-Star nod in her rookie year and even emerged as the frontrunner to win the Rookie of the Year award. However, the best was yet to come.
Following the league’s month-long Olympic hiatus, the guard returned rejuvenated and played at a near-MVP level in the Fever’s final 14 games. She averaged 23.1 points, 8.8 assists, and 5.4 rebounds per game, leading her team to nine wins and a sixth-place finish in the WNBA standings.
WHAT A SZN FOR WNBA ON ION
Viewership on ION in 2024 increased by 133% from 2023
ION attracted 23.37 million unique viewers across games and wrap shows.
WNBA games on ION averaged 670,000 P2+ viewers, a 133% increase from 2023
7 telecasts exceeded an… pic.twitter.com/6oizziaEjc
— Vanshay Murdock (@VanshayM) September 19, 2024
While Clark was exceptional on the court, her impact from a numbers perspective was just as spectacular. She featured in every game that drew over a million viewers and the Fever, as well as every team that faced them, enjoyed an unprecedented spike in ticket sales.
WNBA attendance this season …
Average, Fever games: 16,084.
Average, non-Fever games: 8,552.
(That’s an 88% difference. That’s Caitlinmania.)Here’s a breakdown of what teams averaged at home in Caitlin games and non-Caitlin games: pic.twitter.com/vnaFNxAutn
— Tim Reynolds (@ByTimReynolds) September 20, 2024
The 22-year-old is expected to win the Rookie of the Year award, feature in the All-WNBA First Team, and finish top-five in the MVP race. Lin Dunn earmarked her as the future of women’s basketball in 2021. However, she likely wouldn’t have envisioned that the guard would alter the entire landscape of the sport.
