LoriAnn Persinger

Caitlin Clark is heading into Year 4 of her WNBA career, and somehow we are still having the same conversation about viewership and attendance. Today, Christine Brennan used her platform not to talk about the players who actually performed in Game 1 of the semifinals, but to compare the attendance for Angel Reese and Atlanta’s semifinal matchup to Dream games against Indiana. And my question is: who cares? Atlanta is still playing in a venue that’s drawing more than three times as many fans as its postseason venue did last season. Reese doesn’t decide how many tickets are made available for sale. And Atlanta has already shown it can draw huge crowds, selling more than 17,000 tickets for games against Las Vegas and Chicago. So Caitlin Clark leads in viewership. And? She leads in jersey sales. And? She draws enormous crowds. And? And? And? And? I’m sorry, but again, who is supposed to care? Why would anyone expect other WNBA players to generate the same numbers when no other player has received anything close to the same level of mainstream exposure and media attention? Said it before: at some point, some of these trusted media voices stop looking like reporters covering the league and start looking like paid fans. And the fact that this is what Caitlin Clark’s career has been reduced to is honestly such an unfortunate thing to see. Why are we still comparing the success of Angel Reese, a National Champion and Defensive Player of the Year winner contributing to a team currently playing in the semifinals, to Caitlin Clark, whose résumé consists of first-round exits? Both are great players. But seriously, there doesn’t always have to be a comparison. It probably won’t stop. But it should.