What Caitlin Clark Declining NBA All-Star Weekend Means for the WNBA
Last year, the three-point shootout between Stephen Curry and Sabrina Ionescu brought the most buzz of any event. From a weekend of stars competing that has gotten lower and lower viewership due to the repetitiveness and the care of the players, this event brought a new light to NBA Saturday night, outrating the Dunk Contest and the actual NBA Three-Point Contest. In a shootout that came down to the wire, Steph barely beat Sabrina but showed the talent of the WNBA’s best shooter when it came to a competitive environment. For a league that talks about its popularity and is criticized, this event had brought out fans to the WNBA and increased their popularity that was already about to get their next star. While Caitlin Clark was at Iowa at the time, her growing influence reigned throughout women's basketball, with some declaring her the best women's player ever before touching foot in the WNBA.
When the contest was discussed after last year, the idea was brought up to expand it to a two vs. two contest using the former splash bros in Steph and Klay Thompson in a shootout against Sabrina and Caitlin this year in San Francisco. Just yesterday, however, Clark said that she would be against it and declined the offer to participate in such an event, saying that she wants her first Three-Point Contest to be during the WNBA All-Star Game in the summer of 2025. Most people on social media are asking why, but Clark’s reasons are simple and make sense. She knows the value she provides for the WNBA and wants to make sure the first time she does it is in front of those fans. As much as the WNBA might have had a short-term benefit with the contest, more respect was placed on Ionescu than the league itself when it came to the shootout. Clark wants the WNBA to gain its respect in the sports world and most likely would ask for such a rematch with Steph to happen during the girl’s event.
After Clark came and said this, the Warriors guard did step in and say he was willing to attend the WNBA weekend in the summer, but like the idea of the two vs. two contest was, this is just a rumor. Some combination of Caitlin, Steph, and Sabrina would be a fun watch, though, as arguably, there is no other WNBA player who could compete with the Liberty and Fever guards. With Clark’s season-ending after a superstar rookie campaign and Sabrina’s ending with a ring, there would be no better way to promote a second-year improvement from Clark than with a battle with Sabrina and Steph. Clark is the most marketable player the WNBA has maybe ever had due to her ability to shoot and pass while making winning plays at the highest level, and if the WNBA wants to improve its ratings, it needs to take advantage of Clark’s desire to promote the league. With just her draft night a year ago, it had a 374% increase in viewership for the night in the WNBA, and if they don’t take advantage of the “Steph Curry of women’s basketball,” then they probably will never get the respect their league deserves in comparison to men’s sports at the highest level.
