Caitlin Clark (and the rest of this year’s rookie class) is/are changing the WNBA in real time. Their impact on the league is already making waves, even though they were drafted less than one month ago.
Clark, of course, is the primary catalyst!
Many of her veteran teammates on the Indiana Fever are in awe by the seemingly overnight transformation. They went from playing in front of small crowds at outdated facilities that smelled like livestock to selling out NBA arenas.
Travel will be the next focus.
A video of Clark walking around the Dallas airport alongside Aliyah Boston and company went viral over the weekend. While this form of travel has been the norm for awhile, even college teams aren’t flying commercial. It was a tough look for the WNBA to have its most popular player of all-time (at least in terms of name recognition) trying to keep a low profile while taking the same commercial flight alongside the regular John Smiths and Jane Does of the world.
They flew commercial and squeezed into the seats. They had to get their bags at baggage claim. All of that stuff.
People who purchased first class tickets had it better than the Indiana Fever!
Clark spoke about the trip prior to departure and explained that it is what it is. She actually started to lobby for a holdout in effort to include charter travel as part of the next Collective Bargaining Agreement.
WNBA players may not even have to wait that long…
The league is actively trying to fix the travel issue less than a week after the airport video went viral. There is no time to waste!
Angel Reese, Cam Brink, Rickea Jackson, Jacy Sheldon, Kamilla Cardoso and the rest of the rookie class are also helping to drive this change. Interest in the WNBA — across the board — is up.
However, it is Caitlin Clark and her international superstar status who is leading the charge!