Recent No. 1 overall pick in the WNBA Draft Caitlin Clark has become the face of women’s basketball over the past two years. Elevating the sport as a whole in an unprecedented way on and off the court with her play style, success, and ability to draw an audience.
Clark was one of the top basketball prospects coming out of high school, but has had a journey thus far that’s been hard to compare to any other women’s player. And Wednesday on The Pat McAfee Show, she was asked if she saw this kind of success and impact on the game coming during her career.
“I feel like I always had super big goals, and dreams, and aspirations,” Clark said. “But at the same time this is a place women’s basketball has really never been before. So it’s like no, I never really imagined it on this magnitude, but also I’ve always been a supporter of women’s basketball. It’s always been something I’ve loved ever since a young age.”
Clark spoke about her fandom of Maya Moore growing and the mentorship she’ll have from WNBA legend Tamika Catchings now that she’s a member of the Indiana Fever as she now embarks on living out her childhood dream of becoming a WNBA player.
But Clark isn’t just another WNBA player, she’s the center of attention after helping elevate women’s college basketball to new, historic heights in terms of viewership and fan engagement. Entering the pros with expectations to do the same for the WNBA and critics who believe her game may not translate to the professional level.
“But I think with the magnitude of where everything’s gone I feel like I’ve tried to stay like right in the middle. I think one of the best pieces of advice that somebody gave me is at the level you feel like all the praise, that’s the same level you’ll feel all the hate. So I try to stay right in the middle,” Clark explained.
“But yeah, I mean it doesn’t really bother me. I think it’s just what comes with it and growing up my mom always said, people want to see you fail, that’s just kind of how our world is which is really sad. But at the same time I don’t like think about that type of stuff, I just go out there and do me.”
Doing her has done Clark well so far in her career, becoming the all-time leading scorer in men’s or women’s college basketball this past season to add to her outstanding list of individual records and accomplishments. Feats that have come with backlash regarding her status as college basketball’s GOAT, doubters as she transitions to the WNBA, and tremendous pressure in shepherding the growth of women’s basketball as a whole.
“Yeah, I think people are just competitive. Like I don’t think it’s anything that’s out of the ordinary. I feel like it’s things rookies have faced their entire career, the entire existence of the WNBA,” Clark said. “But I don’t feel like any pressure take it to a place it’s never been before. Like I think that’s just gonna happen with the way we’re on TV more, with the way people are following from the college game to the WNBA.”
Factors like future WNBA expansion and the rise of nationally televised broadcasts will certainly help grow the game. But there’s no denying that Clark mirroring her college success at the professional level could move the needle for the WNBA in a historic way.
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