The Indiana Fever know that they are lucky to have Caitlin Clark leading the franchise. Indiana is 12-10 at the midpoint of the regular season despite Clark missing several games with injuries. But Clark is not going anywhere, so there is plenty of time for the Fever to start winning WNBA championships.
The Athletic's Sabreena Merchant and Ben Pickman polled WNBA players to create a series of articles published this week. One question they asked players was: Who will be the face of the WNBA in five years?
Fever fans will not be surprised to hear that Caitlin Clark was the runaway favorite.
“Clark, the Fever star, was the overwhelming choice,” Merchant and Pickman wrote. “The two-time All-Star has proven to be the league’s most popular player since she entered the WNBA last spring. Indiana’s games routinely set, or come close to setting, record viewership numbers, and it’s become common for the Fever’s road opponents to move games to larger venues to accommodate the added interest Clark and her teammates draw.”
Clark received a whopping 53.8% of votes, essentially making it no contest. She beat USC's JuJu Watkins (17.9%), Paige Bueckers (14.1%), Angel Reese (6.4%), and A'ja Wilson (3.8%).
The Athletic even shared a few quotes from anonymous players about why Clark will be the face of the WNBA in the future.
“She’s clearly already a draw, and she still has room to improve (as a player),” one player said.
Another player believes that Clark is already the face of the W.
“I mean, she is currently the face of the league,” one player added.
Clark is already having a huge impact on attendance and viewership with the Fever. It is reasonable to assume she will be the face of the WNBA for years to come.
Caitlin Clark ranked below Fever teammate Aliyah Boston in ESPN ranking
Clark is still one of the W's best players, even while suffering through multiple injuries.
ESPN released an article ranking the WNBA's top 25 players at the All-Star break. Clark came in ninth place on ESPN's rankings, one spot behind teammate Aliyah Boston.
“Clark is a difficult player to assess given her lack of availability due to injury — she has appeared in 12 games, sitting out two stretches of five games. Though she is currently amid a shooting slump (13-for-41 from the field and 5-for-19 from 3 since returning from her latest injury), she has shined with her playmaking. She has 19 assists over her past two games, including the 17th 10-assist game of her career Sunday — her first with no more than two turnovers.”
The Fever will need her to stay healthy if they want to go on a deep playoff run.
Next up for the Fever is a road game against the Liberty on Wednesday night at 7:30PM ET.
