Caitlin Clark’s TIME Glory Ripped As A’ja Wilson Takes Center Stage in Ex-Lakers Star’s Hot Take

Caitlin Clark has managed to do in the last few years what the WNBA could not in 27 years of existence. Not only has the Indiana Fever player been named the TIME Athlete of the Year, the first WNBA athlete ever to do it, and only the second after LeBron to rep basketball, but she is also on Forbes’ World’s 100 Most Powerful Women list. But did Clark suddenly popularize this sport? Or has it been a long time coming and she was the catalyst?

Among those who would like to give more credit to those who have already been here is Lou Williams. The former Lakers player recently spoke on FanDuel’s flagship NBA show, Run It Back, evoking A’ja Wilson’s name. Weighing in on the veteran vs. rookie debate, he simply says, “I still think that belongs to A’ja Wilson.”

“A’ja has done a tremendous job of being a champion, being an MVP, doing all of these things. And now her visibility is going up. You’re starting to see her in commercials.” 

He does not forget to give the Rookie of the Year some credit either, “I still think it’s A’ja Wilson but you give Caitlin Clark credit, what she’s been able to accomplish in her rookie year, and the eyes that she’s brought to the WNBA.” But Williams also points out that not all of these new fans are here purely for basketball and they may not sustain throughout Clark’s career.

While he acknowledges that the No. 22 point guard will put together a “tremendous career,” he added that not all fans will stick around to witness it. Clark may be one of the “young, up and coming” faces of the WNBA right now, winning the Time Athlete of the Year award as the only basketball player after The King LeBron James himself, but the title, the ex-Lakers star says, still belongs to Wilson.

The reigning WNBA MVP has been a force ever since she joined the league in 2018, becoming the first W player to reach 1,000 points in a single season in 2024. Her unanimous MVP win, and third overall, was almost guaranteed, only the second player to do so after Cynthia Cooper in the league’s inaugural season.

With 1,021 points, adding 451 rebounds and 98 blocks in the 2024 season, Wilson became the first player in league history to lead the stat board in all three categories. Meanwhile, Caitlin Clark had a record-breaking season of her own, as she became the first player in WNBA history with 20+ points, 15+ assists, and 5+ rebounds in a game.

Not to mention, the first-overall pick led the league with 8.4 apg and she is the only rookie to have a triple-double, and she has two of those. She was also the first rookie since 2008 to be named to All-WNBA first team, amid a flurry of other numbers.

For all purposes and intent, many feel it’s the reigning league ROTY that deserves credit for popularizing the sport. But where the Fever player acknowledges the veterans herself, one would be hard-pressed not to think about the Caitlin Clark effect.

Fans ran behind Caitlin Clark at the airport before the W season even began

At the 2024 WNBA Draft, viewership records were broken on ESPN, as had become the norm wherever Caitlin Clark went in the last two years. The 2023 and 2024 NCAA Finals were proof; almost 19 million viewers watched South Carolina defeat Iowa on ABC and ESPN, whereas only 14.82 million US viewers on TBS and TNT watched the men’s college final between UConn and Purdue.

In her TIME magazine interview, the Athlete of the Year also talked about the public impact her popularity had had. Fever teammate Lexie Hull revealed, “People were literally running after us-slash-Caitlin in the airport.” And this was when the Indiana team was visiting Dallas for a preseason game. The result? WNBA has charter flights.

There’s no doubt that those big names that the league has survived on in the last three decades deserve their flowers. They built the WNBA into what it is today, allowing a player like Clark to enter at almost the perfect time. Interest in the W and women’s sports, in general, was already rising, Caitlin Clark just helped skyrocket it more. The best part? She accepts the fact too!