“A rising tide lifts all boats. And this kid is a tsunami.” When Caitlin Clark entered the WNBA, ESPN analyst and WNBA legend Rebecca Lobo had some high praise for the then-rookie. Why not? 170% increase in regular season, 328% uptick in the 2024 WNBA draft, and a 305% increase in the WNBA All-Star event compared to last season. This year, too, her matchup with Angel Reese’s Chicago Sky to open the regular season on May 17 had a record-setting 2.7 million viewers. But even though she was sidelined for most of the season, her effect trickled down. 

The league saw another record-setting 6% uptick in viewership this season. Still, when the players met with the WNBA stakeholders for CBA discussions in Indianapolis, their demands for increased player salaries and revenue shares, amongst others, were not met. Now, the players are on the verge of a lockdown, and according to the Los Angeles Lakers legend Byron Scott, it all started last year. On Monday’s episode of Byron Scott’s Fast Break, the host claimed, “Well, I think it’s hurting them. No doubt. One, if she’s not on the floor, the product is not as good. There’s no doubt about that. You’re not going to have as many eyes on the product.

“She is must-see TV when she plays, right? So if she’s not playing, there’s going to be a lot of Caitlin Clark fans that’s going to tune out. When she gets back on the floor, she’s going to be a different story. So, I think, kind of like what OP (Olden Polynice) was saying. We looked at it differently when she came in. We got women, women are catty anyway, so they trying to beat her up instead of saying ‘Thank God you’re here. Thanks for what you’re bringing. Now we all have private planes, now we staying in better hotels, we can ask for higher salaries.’ They didn’t treat her that way. They treated her like, ‘Oh you coming in here thinking you hot s—? We’re gonna beat your a– every game.”

The revelations came after Jay Wager, another host of the show, asked if Clark’s treatment from the time she entered the league led to CBA failures earlier, when the WNBPA discussed their demands with the league. Last September, a report from CClarkReport went viral, revealing that 17% of the flagrant fouls in the league were committed against Caitlin Clark. Of those, 80% were from the Sky alone. This season, that increased physicality only turned the tides for the worse.

Just four games in, Clark was sidelined with a hamstring injury and missed five games. On returning, her second game against the Connecticut Sun was also rough. She was face-guarded by Jacy Sheldon the entire time, leading to an eye poke and shove to the floor as well. Eventually, she was sidelined by a left groin injury, then a right groin injury, and ultimately announced that she wouldn’t be playing the entire season. The result? Fever’s nationally-televised games were down by 53%. With Clark, their games averaged 1,810,000 viewers against 847,000 without her.

The difference was visible in the first playoff matchup against the Atlanta Dream as well. The game hosted by the Dream only had 3,800 fans in attendance. In comparison, when the Dream was expecting Clark to visit, they shifted their game to State Farm Arena in Atlanta and saw 17,044 fans in attendance. And that was the case with most teams that had to move their games to a bigger venue to host a bigger crowd expecting Clark.

But while many agreed that the 2024 first overall pick brought most eyes to the league and its players, the narratives built around her mistreatment did more harm than good for the W. Although Clark will most likely return to the floor next season and her impact would once again boost the league, there is no doubt that a knot will always be there. In return, the league itself has failed to protect players like Clark as well. One analyst directly compared how the WNBA treats its star players with how NBA stars are treated.

Fox Sports’ Brian Kilmeade spoke about how the WNBA has mishandled Caitlin Clark’s situation by not protecting her enough. “I don’t think the league has almost done zero. They’ve almost said nothing, you don’t even hear any outrage. If this was the guys and they were beating up LeBron, Adam Silver would have spoken out already. I don’t know what’s happening. But I’ve never seen such resentment.  Here’s this woman, who comes into the league as a legitimate rookie. She has upped the viewership to the highest in 20 years. So the ratings are up to their highest (200%), and attendance is up 14% year to year,” Kilmeade added.

It’s high time that the league takes this issue seriously. Caitlin Clark has already missed a majority of this season, and it has already affected the viewership. What is 6% now could’ve been a much bigger number with the Des Moines native on the floor. No doubt, if she sustains another long-term injury, it could spell deep trouble not just for the Indiana Fever but for the entire league.