Caitlin Clark’s Strong Statement on Her WNBA Impact

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Robert Marvi | Last updated May 22, 2025 8:55 PM ET

Caitlin Clark has taken women's basketball by storm over the past year or so, and in doing so, she has transformed the sport from a punchline to a hot commodity.

The surge in interest in women's basketball, particularly in the WNBA, has made her a major star, perhaps as much as any men's basketball superstar. By all accounts, she has handled her fame very well.

She sat down for an interview with Dominic Miranda for WTHR, an Indianapolis-based NBC affiliate, and she talked about the impact she has had on basketball and on fans.

"I didn't know exactly how it would translate," Clark said. "Obviously, I expected it to translate on some level -- the fans and the excitement. I could feel it before we ever played a game here in Gainbridge [Fieldhouse]. ... You certainly feel the impact. I think I feel it the most when you're signing autographs for young boys and young girls and they're screaming and it's the best memory of their year."

"You certainly feel the impact. I think I feel it the most when you're signing autographs for young boys and young girls and they're screaming and it's the best memory of their year."

Watch our full sit down with @CaitlinClark22 on our Pregame special tonight at 7p on @WTHRcom pic.twitter.com/77Rh5xrfoR
— Dominic Miranda (@DomMirandaTV) May 22, 2025

Clark first made her name at Iowa, where she led the school to back-to-back appearances in the women's NCAA championship game in 2023 and 2024. In her four seasons there, she averaged 28.4 points, 8.2 assists and 7.1 rebounds a game, and she led all of women's Division I basketball in scoring in three of those four years.

Late in her final season with the Hawkeyes, she became college basketball's all-time leading scorer among both women and men, which captured the attention of the public.

Last year, Clark put up 19.2 points and a WNBA-high 8.4 assists a game while earning an All-Star berth and the Rookie of the Year award. The Fever, who hadn't made the playoffs since 2016, went 20-20 and returned to the postseason, where they were swept in the first round by the Connecticut Sun.

Thanks to their young core of Clark, Kelsey Mitchell and Aliyah Boston, as well as the additions of veterans Natasha Howard and DeWanna Bonner, they're expected to seriously compete for the championship this year.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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