ESPN Under Fire for Controversial Caitlin Clark Ranking

“Clark dazzled as a rookie, particularly in the second half of the season, on her way to earning first-team All-WNBA honors and finishing fourth in MVP voting,” Alexa Philippou wrote. “Now, with a real offseason under her belt to work on her game and some time to mentally recharge, she looks poised to have a memorable sophomore campaign.

“With a new coach and some key free agency additions, Clark will have to adjust to playing in a new system and with new teammates, but spending all offseason training in Indianapolis with Fever coach Stephanie White and her staff should help ease the transition.”

And while most would agree Clark is certainly worthy of a top-five spot on the list, some fans felt ESPN still slighted her by not putting her closer to the top after he record-breaking debut season in which she was a near-unanimous Rookie of the Year winner and finished in the top four in MVP voting.

“ESPN is such a [expletive] joke,” one fan scoffed.

“What a bunch of clowns. Every GM in the WNBA would trade their entire roster for Clark,” another fan exclaimed.

“Let's be real... are there really 3 players better than her?” a third fan asked.

“Who’s ahead of her other than A’ja (Wilson) and (Breanna) Stewart?” questioned one user.

“She should be ranked #1 wtf,” another user added.

“If Caitlin isn't 1st it's BS,” one fan proclaimed.

“Caitlin should be number 1. Send all the frauds way back. Like start them at number 3 because 2 deserves to be empty because of how good Caitlin is,” another fan asserted.

While it’s certainly understandable why fans believe Clark should top ESPN’s list, the players the network ranked ahead of her is a who’s who of the WNBA’s elite.

Las Vegas Aces center A’ja Wilson, who occupied the No. 1 ranking, is the reigning tree-time MVP who set new career highs in points (26.9), rebounds (11.9), blocks (2.6), and steals (1.8) per game. She also led the league in scoring and was second in rebounding last year.

ESPN ranked Minnesota Lynx forward Napheesa Collier No. 2 and New York Liberty forward Breanna Stewart No. 3. Stewart led New York to a WNBA title over Collier’s Lynx last season, and they both tied for fourth in the league in scoring (20.4 points per game).