You can hate or love Caitlin Clark, but you certainly cannot deny her presence and impact. We all know that the Fever rookie has been at the receiving end of heavy mixed reactions from the media and fans of the sport. But we also have to agree that the kind of surge in the popularity of WNBA has been, to an extent, thanks to Clark. As such, it was only natural that the 22-year-old often gets compared to LeBron James. However, a recent comparison of their rookie impact by a certain ex-Warriors star is definitely going to cause havoc.

Gilbert Arenas put himself smack in the spotlight with quite the controversial take. Then again, the man is no stranger to those! This time, ‘Agent Zero’ was sharing his opinion on just how impactful rookie Clark has been (and continues to be) over a rookie Bron. 

“When you talk about just her as a unit, we have to say yes. Here’s why,” Arenas said by way of a preamble. “When you think about anybody else, LeBron and all of them, we’re coming to see him, but he didn’t turn no crowds. Everyone came; remember, she’s most hated too.”

Both James and Clark came into their respective leagues with insane hype and expectations. As such, a surge in viewership and attendance is guaranteed. However, taking into account the context – the WNBA is still on its way to popularity while the NBA was already a globally acknowledged league – it can be argued that CC’s impact could very well be greater.

More to the point of Gil, Cleveland saw a major rise in their home game attendance from the previous season. In fact, the Cavs averaged around 11,497 fans per game in the 2002-03 season. But with LeBron’s arrival in 2003, the games drew close to 18,287 fans per home game in his rookie season. There’s no doubt that arenas during away games also capitalized on the excitement surrounding LeBron James, seeing an increase in their attendance, as well.

And Caitlin? The change was stunningly insane! According to an August report by Sportico, Indiana saw the craziest spike ever. Their average regular season home attendance in 2003 was 4000 and in 2024, the number stands at a mind-blowing 16,797. As for Indiana’s regular and away games in 2024, it was reported that a total of 536,262 (34 games) visitors attended.

Numbers certainly don’t lie. And considering the circumstances of both the leagues, we supposed it wouldn’t be a stretch to say that Caitlin Clark might indeed have an upper hand over LeBron James in their rookie seasons. Then again, as Gil pointed out, we might not really understand the true impact because they “didn’t have social media and no one pumped it up.” 

On a different note, though, another aspect that Arenas pointed out is the crazy media hate for the WNBA All-Star.

Similar to LeBron James, Caitlin Clark was a target of media criticism, but an Angel Reese interruption turned the narrative in her favor

So how did she end up receiving so much hate? According to Gil, it all started even before she entered the WNBA. Don’t let the sweet, smiling face fool you into mistaking that CC is just the girl next door. Oh no! She could very well be the ‘Baby-Faced Assassin’ of the WNBA. And this, the Iowa alum’s confidence and bold on-court demeanor, effectively put a target on her back.

“We’re talking about a girl who is torturing everybody. She just tortured South Carolina by herself. She was hated! She wasn’t loved like that,” Arenas explained. He further pointed out that LSU’s Angel Reese’s entry turned things around. “What happened is, Reese came in and she did this [you-can’t-see-me] to the person who did it to everybody.”

Clark, who was hated up to that point, suddenly turned into a victim. “She became the nice, white girl that come in there and shoot shots.” Of course, both the athletes downplayed the controversy, with Reese making her stand and Clark opining that she had no qualms about the gesture. And that trash talk was simply part of the game.

Unsurprisingly, the former 3x All-Star had an explanation for that, too. “They both piggyback each other … what that collision did was it gave Caitlin Clark a chance to basically rephase herself. She was like a Dillon Brooks type that just scored on everybody. And once she got hit with her own medicine, you never seen her do this [you-can’t-see-me] again. She became the Steph Curry.”

Needless to say, the overnight change naturally invited even more criticism her way. But the fact of the matter is there’s no pleasing everyone, especially in a competitive field like this.

Well, what do you think? Do you agree with Gil that Clark does have an upper hand over LeBron in their respective rookie seasons? And what is your take on the media criticism surrounding these leading ladies? Let us know in the comments.