Caitlin Clark has emerged as the new star of the WNBA in just one season. She has so much pull that the Indiana Fever has oriented ticket prices around her. And while Paul George is delighted to see how quickly she’s burst onto the scene, he still doesn’t believe she’s the sole face of the WNBA.
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Clark injured her quad in a recent game against the New York Liberty, forcing her to miss two weeks. It’s a bit of a bummer for fans. However, it’s good that the team is playing it safe so early in the season.
Clark is a big draw and normally sells out crowds, home and away, when she’s playing. But while Clark is injured, ticket prices have plummeted from $137 to $80 for the next four Fever home games. That’s a 71% drop just because she won’t be playing.
“Wow! Talk about aura,” Paul George said on Podcast P. “That’s a hell of an aura.”
The staggering drop shows how everyone who goes to Fever games is mostly there to cheer for Clark. She’s simply a can’t-miss event with her tight ball-handling and mesmerizing shooting range.
Yet, Clark has also been a target to some players since entering the league. It’s been noticeable how much harder she’s fouled than others at times. It seems as though some of the players are sick of the attention she garners, or think it’s unfair. PG had his take on the situation.
“You’ve got to put it in perspective. They’ve been grinding to grow the sport to the world, the viewership. They’ve been grinding for all of this,” said George.
“And then you have this girl that comes along from college and is an instant change. She’s handed pretty much being the face of the league,” he pointed out.
“Obviously, we know she deserves it. But in their eyes, whether they think she deserves it or not, like she’s being handed the face of the league. So, there are going to be girls that are offended by that. And there’s going to be girls that think she’s got to earn it and she doesn’t deserve this this early,” added George.
Fans who are obsessed with Clark should also understand that there are other women in the WNBA have also excelled and become legends in the game. It’s going to be hard for them to accept the fact that a mostly unproven second-year player is the face of the league.
George named some of the prominent players who should be included in the face of the WNBA conversation.
“I think she’s the rightful face of the WNBA up there with Aja Wilson, with Napheesa [Collier], with still some of the legends, Breanna Stewart, Kelsey Plum,” George listed.
We can’t miss Wilson when we talk about WNBA today. She’s even on the cover of the new NBA 2K video game, and is the reigning MVP.
Collier just won the Unrivaled 3v3 league’s MVP award, and is making an extremely early push for the W’s trophy too. Plum, who made the switch from Las Vegas to Los Angeles this summer, is settling in with her new team and looks as dangerous as ever.
But it’s hard to deny that Clark grew the popularity of the league exponentially overnight when she was drafted. The ticket prices, viewership ratings, and general attention since then all speak for themselves.
Is Clark the undisputed face of the W?
While PG has given the W’s legends the respect they so rightfully deserve, there have been a lot of former NBA players who have taken it upon themselves to anoint Clark as the sole face of the league.
“THE FACE OF THE NBA IS CAITLIN CLARK!!! Yea I said it!!!! She has handled criticism better than the people you consider THE GREATEST OF ALL TIME!!!!!” former Timberwolves player Rashad McCants posted on X.
And he’s completely correct. Since entering the league, Clark has forced the WNBA to explore new television deals to get more of her games on national TV.
Additionally, games between the Chicago Sky and Indiana Fever, a matchup billed as the hottest rivalry in the league, are now being played in the Chicago Bulls arena, which is the largest stadium in the NBA.
Clark is forcing the league and others to pay attention to her. The same couldn’t be said in the past for some of the stars that George listed. Even though they are incredible players in their own right. They just don’t have the “aura” of Clark.
