As much as Caitlin Clark’s performances have impressed everyone this season, her on-court antics have also divided opinion among fans. But this time around, the fans seem to have the Iowa star’s back after Sue Bird & Diana Taurasi, the celebrated WNBA names, overlooked her in favor of Paige Bueckers while answering a fan question.

Bird and Taurasi were doing the alternate broadcast “The Bird and Taurasi Show” featuring on ESPN during the NCAA’s Final Four. During the session, they picked a question from social media that read, “You have to build a WNBA team, who are you taking first; Paige or Caitlin?”

Answering the question, Bird held varying notions for the two emerging basketball stars. The former Seattle Storm player explained, “I think you have to take Caitlin for one reason because I think you can’t go wrong choosing either one. The fan energy behind Caitlin is gonna be a game-changer for the WNBA franchise. I think for that reason right now this year you have to take her. From a basketball standpoint, I can make an argument for Paige.” This was in contrast to Taurasi’s short and quick answer.

She said, “I’m taking Paige, next question.” Bird checked in to confirm her former teammates’ answer and asked, “So you get the number one pick this year, you’ll take Paige over Caitlin?”

Taurasi simply replied, “Absolutely.”

Bird’s assertion on Caitlin’s influence wasn’t too far off the mark. The 22-year-old has stirred the crowd unlike anyone before her in the domain. The term, “The Clark Effect” has even taken off to back the notable rise in NCAA Final Four ticket prices or people lining up to catch a game at a ‘women’s sports only’ sports bar.

While Bueckers holds a recognizable wind of her own, the WNBA legends’ comparison, not touching upon Clark’s unparalleled feats on the court this season, including her record-breaking efforts, did not sit right with the audience.

“No way” fans come to Caitlin Clark’s defense after snub

The numbers racked up by Clark this season have been impressive. Clark has scored 1,183 points this season, an NCAA single-season record, she has 270 rebounds, and 334 assists this season. In comparison, Bueckers, who plays for UConn Huskies has 747 points, 152 rebounds and 138 assists. Thus the answers by Bird and Taurasi puzzled one fan, who wanted to know why WNBA players didn’t like Clark.

“Them wnba players don’t like clark and i really wanna know why,” they wrote.

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Paige’s numbers this season do assert that she is in the elite category, but Clark has been on a record breaking spree this season. On January 31 this year, her 35 points in the 110-74 win at Northwestern made Clark the Big Ten’s all-time leading scorer. On 3 March, she became the highest scorer in NCAA Division-I’s history, after a free throw against Ohio State took her tally to 3,668 points.

Apart from this, Clark’s 21 points led Iowa to a narrow 71-69 win over Bueckers’ Huskies in their Final Four clash, further asserting her dominance. A fan while giving Bueckers her props, couldn’t believe the WNBA stars picked her over Caitlin.

Clark’s impact on the women’s game is evident by the attention she is bringing to the sport. Breaking the record during the Elite 8 match against LSU Tigers, Clark, and Co. had 12.3 million viewers watching them on ESPN. This made it one of the most viewed games in any sport other than NFL football over the past year.

Apart from this 3.3 million viewers tuned in for Hawkeyes’ NCAA tournament opening win over Holy Cross, a record for a women’s first-round game. Citing this much attention, a fan pointed Taurasi may be jealous of how many people are regularly watching Clark play compared to her.

Clark and Bueckers were both seen as stars of the future before their rise in college basketball. They were among the top 5 recruits in 2019 and delivered to expectations in their freshman seasons. While Bueckers’ journey got derailed briefly due to a knee injury in her sophomore campaign, Clark has been on continuous ascent.

Iowa Hawkeyes are heading to the national title game again after their win over the Huskies. Both Sue Bird & Diana Taurasi are ex-UConn players. So them choosing Paige Bueckers over Clark did not surprise one fan.

Apart from breaking records right, left, and center, Clark also swept the individual awards. She was declared the Wade Trophy winner, Naismith Award winner, and AP national player of the year for 2023-24 last week. She will likely be the No.1 overall pick in the draft on April 15 while Bueckers will spend another year with UConn.

One fan is already excited by the prospect of seeing Clark in the WNBA, which implies they didn’t agree with the choice of Taurasi.

Now Clark and the Hawkeyes have just one hurdle left. Their dreams were shattered last year in the finals against the Tigers. This is Clark’s last chance to add the NCAA championship to her name. They face the undefeated South Carolina Gamecocks on Sunday. Having broken individual records and claimed personal honors, Clark will go all guns blazing to add team championship to her name.

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