Caitlin Clark became the first WNBA star to be named Time Magazine’s Athlete of the Year.
It is the latest in a long list of accomplishments for the phenom, who is shouldering an enormous burden at just 22 years of age.
Clark’s impact has driven a surge in attendance and viewing figures for the WNBA after she broke the all-time NCAA scoring record in college.
Time – the long running New York-based mag – hands its award to the athlete who has had the biggest impact on their sport, taking into account their profile as well as their professional achievements.
While not as well known as it’s iconic ‘Person of the Year’, the athlete award, handed out since 2019, has been won by LeBron James, Lionel Messi and the United States Women’s Soccer Team.
But not everybody was happy with Clark’s selection despite the publicity it brought to the WNBA and there are vocal critics who feel like the Indiana Fever guard is given too much of the spotlight.
“We have so much talent out there that has been unrecognized, and I don’t think we can just pin it on one player,” said Washington Mystics co-owner Sheila Johnson.
“Why couldn’t they have put the whole WNBA on the cover and said, ‘The WNBA is the League of the Year,’ because of all the talent that we have.”
Clark’s college coach Lisa Bluder jumped to her defence, comparing the former Iowa Hawkeye’s impact to tennis icon Billie Jean King, who won 39 Grand Slam titles.
“It’s silly to me that anybody’s trying to take away from something that’s so good in your sport right now,” she told USA Today.
“I mean, this is a person that’s really helped athletics, helped women’s sports in a way that nobody has helped women’s sports maybe since Billie Jean King.
“Let’s get on the bandwagon and help her out, make her life a little bit easier because she is helping all of us.
“Sometimes, you know, we used to tell our team, ‘Listen, when Caitlin’s light shines on her, it shines on all of us.’
“I think everybody else needs to embrace that a little bit better.”
Clark’s impact has been monumental.
Johnson’s Mystics hold the current WNBA attendance record of 20,711. It was set in a game against Clark’s Fever in September.
Businesswoman Thayer Lavielle of Wasserman’s women’s-focused practice, The Collective, believes the value of women’s soccer and the WNBA is set to increase by a combined $1.6 billion over the next three years.
That number is based on attendance and viewership, excluding merchandise and media deals.
The money generated will allow salaries to shoot up across women’s sports league – and not just for stars like Clark and Angel Reese.
“Caitlin Clark became the lightning rod of this moment in time,” Lavielle told Forbes.
“I think sometimes you need a unifier,” South Carolina Gamecocks coach Dawn Staley added in the feature.
“I think Caitlin Clark has done a tremendous job at being that person people want to see. She’s brought a different set of eyeballs to our game.”