The Wall Street Journal just published this article about the WNBA's record-breaking season.
They interviewed Angel Reese.
They interviewed WNBA MVP A'ja Wilson.
They covered the basics:
A surge of newcomer fans to 'the W,' as insiders call it, has driven up average attendance nearly 50 percent year-over-year and sent viewership on ESPN networks soaring 170 percent. People are not just tuning in — they're obsessing. ‘In my four years as commissioner prior to this, I got 40 emails, probably, from fans,' the WNBA's Cathy Engelbert says. ‘I get 4,000 a week now.'
One of the more hotly contested takes is how to best explain the W's runaway success. Most will agree that WNBA mania can be traced to the superstar rookies who arrived this year. But the reasons that the WNBA became the biggest professional sports story of 2024 run deeper than any single player. ‘It's long overdue,' says NBA legend LeBron James, who goes on to note just a few of the WNBA's biggest stars: Diana Taurasi, Breanna Stewart, Napheesa Collier and A'ja Wilson, whom he calls ‘the head honcho of the league.'
"Superstar rookies," huh?
Thus far in the article, we've seen much talk of rookie Angel Reese, but nothing about that one girl, what's her name?
That is, until later on in the article when they quietly bring her up while once again highlighting Reese.
The moment that set things in motion came on April 2, 2023, in a sold-out Dallas arena, as the seconds ticked down in the NCAA women's basketball championship game. With the LSU Tigers poised to win their first-ever title, Angel Reese made a hand-waving taunt at an opponent — Caitlin Clark, a junior point guard for the Iowa Hawkeyes — and gestured at her own finger to show where her championship ring would go …
In 2024, viewership of the NCAA women's tournament skyrocketed — including a quarterfinal rematch between Iowa and LSU. The Iowa - South Carolina title game reached a record 18.9 million, outdrawing the men's final for the first time.
Wow, I hadn't realized Clark had such an impact on women's basketball. Glad they mentioned her in this WSJ piece.
They would be forced to mention Clark again, and look how they do it:
The effect of Clark's jaw-dropping shots from the midcourt logo and her pinpoint passing can not be overlooked. Before this season, no WNBA game since 2008 had drawn more than one million TV viewers. This year, 22 regular-season games drew one million or more. Clark's Fever played in 19 of them.
Clark, who averaged more than 19 points a game and set the league single-season record for assists, won 66 of 67 votes for WNBA rookie of the year. Reese got the other vote.
"Cannot be overlooked."
Or can they?
And that's it.
The Wall Street Journal goes on to speak about Clark only in the context of her racial rivalry with Angel Reese, but other than that we see no mention of her. Just more of Reese and league MVP A'ja Wilson.
