Basketball analyst Debbie Antonelli has spoken out against the “Caitlin Clark savior theory,” which credits the WNBA’s No. 1 draft pick with almost single-handedly reviving the league.
Antonelli firmly rejects the notion that the league required rescuing. The narrative suggests that Clark’s standout college performance at Iowa has garnered enough buzz to significantly propel the WNBA forward. Her debut season with the Indiana Fever is making history, as she shatters rookie scoring records and attracts large audiences and TV viewership.
Clark, along with other new talents like Angel Reese and established star A’ja Wilson, who set a record for scoring over 1,000 points in a single season, are indeed enhancing the league’s profile. However, during her commentary on the Fever’s thrilling 110-109 victory over the Dallas Wings, Antonelli took the chance to dispute the idea that Clark is solely driving the league’s achievements.
Antonelli emphasized during the game broadcast that while Clark’s influence is undeniable, the WNBA’s growth is the result of efforts from numerous players. “The game didn’t need saving. I don’t know who came up with ‘Caitlin was a savior. That’s not true,” Antonelli declared.
“What the game needed was a disruption in the economic marketplace. And that’s what we’re seeing here. That’s why it’s been so fun to cover the Fever and watch Fever fans across the country.”
Clark set a new WNBA rookie scoring record with a career-high 35 points against the Wings. She made six out of fourteen attempts from the 3-point line and a perfect 9-of-9 from the foul line, with eight assists and three steals.
After the feat, Clark became the top all-time rookie in points, assists, and 3-pointers made in a single season. The Fever also secured the No. 6 seed of the WNBA playoffs, sailing into the postseason for the first time since 2016.
“I thought we could have executed better at the end. I had a few turnovers, that can’t happen, but we made plays when we needed to, and I’m glad we got the win,” she reflected after the last game of the regular season. “It’s only going to get better from here on out.”
The emergence of star players like Clark and her headline-making showdowns with Reese, Wilson, DiJonai Carrington, and Chennedy Carter are stirring buzz online. Their on-court brilliance has mesmerized spectators, prompting league-wide conversations about expansion, equal pay, physicality, as well as cultural and racial issues.
WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert spoke to NBC about the league’s increasing sponsorships, drawing a comparison between the rivalry of Reese and Clark to that of Magic Johnson and Larry Bird. “The WNBA players are really looked at now as kind of cultural icons. And when you have that, you have a lot of attention on you. There’s no more apathy. Everybody cares.”
Engelbert further emphasized the parallel between Clark and Reese, and Bird and Johnson. “It is a little bit like that Bird-Magic moment,” she said, referencing the 1979 debut of the two rookies from a prominent college rivalry, one white and one Black. “And so we have that moment with these two. But the one thing I know about sports is that you need rivalry. That’s what makes people watch.”
