Is Caitlin Clark a bigger star than any of the young NBA talent?

[Mephariel]

Yes obviously she is and it's not even close. Who is a young NBA star? SGA? Haliburton? Nobody outside of NBA fanatics cares about those guys

Forget Caitlyn Clark. I think the argument is whether Angel Reese is a bigger star than the young NBA stars, and I think she may just be.

Reese? The unskilled player? LOL

SGA has 4 million followers on IG and hes on the verge of winning the championship. Thats more than Clark.

Edwards has 5 million.

Luka has 10 million and is on the Lakers now.

This isn't even close.

Clark doesn't have a worldwide presence. I think she may be more well known in the USA, but she is certainly not a bigger star worldwide. A star like Luka is definitely more popular than Clark overall. Also, Clark might be more well known, but do people engaged in her as much as NBA players? I feel like it is possible a lot of people probably heard of her, have opinions about her, or even catch a game or two, but they are not actively engage in following her on social media.

[Lunartic]

Yes she's the biggest player in basketball save for LeBron.

She doesn't play for a few games and ratings tank. Any NBA player misses a game and ratings remain consistent.

[JustBuzzin]

What the hell is this topic about?

A bunch of grown men discussing if Clark is more popular than specific NBA players lmao


Cmon guys do better.

[jc23]

Well it’s a race thing but she is really talented. WNBA is going through their Bird and Magic stage it feels like but good for them. The players should financially benefit from the increased attention come their next CBA.

Yep.

As much as I credit Clark for carrying a trash league and also being a bigger deal than anyone not named Bron/Curry. The elephant in the room is she's white. How much hype does it account for though? A portion of it? Half of it? All of it? I can't answer that. But let's not ignore the elephant. Either way, she's still a bigger deal than your teams favorite player. Not mines tho. She ain't bigger than LeGoat.

this is progress. it took 15 pages before this doltish insight came up. past GB Clark threads it was closer to page 1. To even loosely hypothesize that the color of her skin would account for all of her accomplishments and fame is .

nobody says the color of her skin is factorless because just by having different category's of race requires it be a factor. its just such a simple af observation. I do not remember it being such an issue with Tiger or Serena. plenty of star white wnba players that came before CC, none of them touched this level of popularity. Its her game. and if you know ball then there is no need to question that.

[Mephariel]

Well it’s a race thing but she is really talented. WNBA is going through their Bird and Magic stage it feels like but good for them. The players should financially benefit from the increased attention come their next CBA.

Yep.

As much as I credit Clark for carrying a trash league and also being a bigger deal than anyone not named Bron/Curry. The elephant in the room is she's white. How much hype does it account for though? A portion of it? Half of it? All of it? I can't answer that. But let's not ignore the elephant. Either way, she's still a bigger deal than your teams favorite player. Not mines tho. She ain't bigger than LeGoat.

this is progress. it took 15 pages before this doltish insight came up. past GB Clark threads it was closer to page 1. To even loosely hypothesize that the color of her skin would account for all of her accomplishments and fame is .

nobody says the color of her skin is factorless because just by having different category's of race requires it be a factor. its just such a simple af observation. I do not remember it being such an issue with Tiger or Serena. plenty of star white wnba players that came before CC, none of them touched this level of popularity. Its her game. and if you know ball then there is no need to question that.

It is definitely more than just her race. I think it is combination of her game, she is white, she is straight, and she gives off a small town, blue collar vibe.

[Ice Man]

It is definitely more than just her race.

Of course it is. In the past 15 years, Breanna Stewart was the NCAA Final Four MVP in all 4 of her college seasons, Kelsey Plum broke the NCAA all-time scoring record, and Paige Bueckers was the NCAA Player of the Year as a freshman and the NCAA Final Four MVP as a senior. All three of those players, along with Sabrian Ionescu, are American white women who were #1 overall draft picks in the WNBA. But nobody but hardcore women's basketball fans ever heard of them.

So, yes, being white (and American) is part of the equation. But the perfect storm had a whole lot more conditions than just nationality and skin color.

[kazyv]

Yes obviously she is and it's not even close. Who is a young NBA star? SGA? Haliburton? Nobody outside of NBA fanatics cares about those guys

Forget Caitlyn Clark. I think the argument is whether Angel Reese is a bigger star than the young NBA stars, and I think she may just be.

Reese? The unskilled player? LOL

SGA has 4 million followers on IG and hes on the verge of winning the championship. Thats more than Clark.

Edwards has 5 million.

Luka has 10 million and is on the Lakers now.

This isn't even close.

wtf are those comparisons? CC is a sophomore, SGA and Luka have been in the league for like 8 years.

[jc23]

small snippet but still

Read on Twitter

[Hello Brooklyn]

Reese? The unskilled player? LOL

SGA has 4 million followers on IG and hes on the verge of winning the championship. Thats more than Clark.

Edwards has 5 million.

Luka has 10 million and is on the Lakers now.

This isn't even close.

Clark doesn't have a worldwide presence. I think she may be more well known in the USA, but she is certainly not a bigger star worldwide. A star like Luka is definitely more popular than Clark overall. Also, Clark might be more well known, but do people engaged in her as much as NBA players? I feel like it is possible a lot of people probably heard of her, have opinions about her, or even catch a game or two, but they are not actively engage in following her on social media.

Anthony Edwards and SGA are not really big global stars either.

[Mephariel]

SGA has 4 million followers on IG and hes on the verge of winning the championship. Thats more than Clark.

Edwards has 5 million.

Luka has 10 million and is on the Lakers now.

This isn't even close.

Clark doesn't have a worldwide presence. I think she may be more well known in the USA, but she is certainly not a bigger star worldwide. A star like Luka is definitely more popular than Clark overall. Also, Clark might be more well known, but do people engaged in her as much as NBA players? I feel like it is possible a lot of people probably heard of her, have opinions about her, or even catch a game or two, but they are not actively engage in following her on social media.

Anthony Edwards and SGA are not really big global stars either.

They are more global than Clark. The NBA is just more global than the WNBA. Plus, both of them have built an established career. Clark is only beginning her year 2.

[Maf]

Yes obviously she is and it's not even close. Who is a young NBA star? SGA? Haliburton? Nobody outside of NBA fanatics cares about those guys

Forget Caitlyn Clark. I think the argument is whether Angel Reese is a bigger star than the young NBA stars, and I think she may just be.

Reese? The unskilled player? LOL

Reese has proven that even rebounding specialists can be stat padders, something I didn't even think was possible until she came along.

You did not? I had the "luck" of watching Marcus Camby playing for Nuggets. Guy was literally pushing away his teammates to get uncontested rebounds. This of course with his defensive tactics of letting his player go around him to basket and try to block him from behind. So for any of his block his guy scored five times. And because back than nobody really watch the Nuggets, they saw his rebounding and blocking numbers and gave him DPOY. Biggest joke in NBA awards history. And to make this joke even better, PO started and Nuggets played Spurs with Tim Duncan. So DPOY Camby was assigned to... Francisco Elson. Because Karl knew Camby plays no D at all.

[QMemphis]

Well it’s a race thing but she is really talented. WNBA is going through their Bird and Magic stage it feels like but good for them. The players should financially benefit from the increased attention come their next CBA.

Yep.

As much as I credit Clark for carrying a trash league and also being a bigger deal than anyone not named Bron/Curry. The elephant in the room is she's white. How much hype does it account for though? A portion of it? Half of it? All of it? I can't answer that. But let's not ignore the elephant. Either way, she's still a bigger deal than your teams favorite player. Not mines tho. She ain't bigger than LeGoat.

this is progress. it took 15 pages before this doltish insight came up. past GB Clark threads it was closer to page 1. To even loosely hypothesize that the color of her skin would account for all of her accomplishments and fame is .

nobody says the color of her skin is factorless because just by having different category's of race requires it be a factor. its just such a simple af observation. I do not remember it being such an issue with Tiger or Serena. plenty of star white wnba players that came before CC, none of them touched this level of popularity. Its her game. and if you know ball then there is no need to question that.

I stated she is a great player but a huge portion of her viewers are likely conservative ppl in Middle America that fanbase has continued to evolve though.

Not a negative but the racial undertone of the criticism Reese received during their time in college and now feels like a Magic-Bird rivalry/narrative. Good for them and good for the WNBA.

[Maf]

And about the topic- yes, I think she is. She has something special. Not saying I would watch WNBA game. But if I see her name in headlines I read it. Watch some YT videos and such. To compare, some baseball players names were mentioned. I wouldnt care to read about any of those guys.

[FOB]

Yeah, sure.

Numbers say otherwise. What new eyes have Jokic and Giannis brought to the sport? Clark has single handedly made a boring sport stuck in perpetual decline relevant to the masses. And she did so in weeks. I'm still not watching but again, the numbers and the fact that I know more about the WNBA than I care for is proof enough. Your granny probably has a Clark jersey stashed away.

Which numbers? Where?

How many people know her in Italy, China, Greece, Spain? France, Serbia or wherever.
Nobody watches WNBA overseas.

Compare WNBA ratings pre and before the Clark injury and there you go. Then compare the numbers before and after Giannis and Jokic were drafted. Or whenever they are injured. Do league numbers go down? no? The argument you are making about overseas play is irrelevant as well. Giannis and Jokic are foreign players who of course will be known more overseas. I'm simply evaluating the impact Clark has had in her first year in a league and what that has done for the league in terms of dollars and eyes. She has moved the needle. Jokic isn't moving anything but his ponies. Giannis meanwhile is only relevant because he could be traded to more relevant markets. No one was paying attention to him this year.

Clark doesn't need a big market to be relevant or even be in a popular sport. She is a marketing machine and turns trash into gold no matter where she plays.

You're talking about relative impact. In that sense, sure, she's had a bigger impact on her league than Jokic etc. had in the NBA. That doesn't make her a bigger star though, as that is measured by the number of people that know about a player. And in that sense, she's clearly not as big a star as Jokic etc. - absolutely no one outside North America and perhaps the basketball bubble worldwide knows about Caitlin Clark.

That's not to take away from her achievements btw. She's catapulted the WNBA into a new dimension.

[djsunyc]

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[Dominator83]

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Gotta love the players showing appreciation for their meal ticket. Shes literally putting food on the rest of the leagues table !

Never really realized until now that women are more petty and immature than men are