Something unexpected happened last weekend when Caitlin Clark walked onto Team USA’s practice court in Durham, North Carolina. It looked as if the WNBA’s best players were suddenly confused. The all-stars couldn’t catch her passes. Clark was back after five months off because of a groin injury, and she had already turned the whole camp upside down. No one else really understood how well her court vision was working.

Sabrina Merchant, a WNBA insider for The Athletic, saw this happen during Team USA’s practice sessions and said, “She looked like Caitlin. The step back three was there, the passes were there. When she was not playing with Aliyah Boston, some of the bigs didn’t know what to do with her passes. There was this one time where she passed it to Dearica Hamby, and Hamby brought the ball down. It’s like, you can’t do that! This is not, you have to keep it up, right?”

Merchant’s observation showed the real reason Team USA went into uncharted territory: when Aliyah Boston wasn’t on the court with Clark, the other big women just couldn’t keep up. One moment made this clear: when Dearica Hamby got one of Clark’s passes and brought the ball down instead of keeping it up. That one play made the disconnect clear. Even experienced professionals had a hard time figuring out the timing and anticipation needed without Boston’s chemistry with Clark.

This transformation affects not only the inside-game but also the perimeter players. Annie Costabile, a journalist for Indy, recognized all of Clark’s abilities at the camp, particularly when she was defending against Kelsey Plum and Paige Beuckers.

“Shot is very much so there. Her speed is coming back. Her timing on passing was still effective. Defensively, anyone who watched Caitlin’s game knows that it is an area where she needs to improve. Watching her go up against Kelsey was funny, and still knowing that she had this rust to shake off was a bit telling.” Costabile noted.

The reporter also emphasized that seeing Clark and Beuckers interact wasn’t about one player versus another, but an evaluation of how these two talents might eventually complement each other. The real test is that Clark’s defense is still weak. She only played 13 games with the Fever before getting hurt, but she averaged 8.8 assists and 16.5 points per game, even though she didn’t play much. Putting her with defensive specialists like Plum could completely change how Team USA plays.

Caitlin Clark’s winning game extends far beyond the court

But even though Team USA is having a hard time keeping up with Caitlin Clark on the court, she’s already won off it. She just made it onto Forbes’ list of the richest female athletes, joining Reese, Ionescu, and Bueckers in a shocking moment for the industry. Everyone is suddenly interested in women’s basketball, and brands are spending more money on it than ever before.

Caitlin Clark’s annual income is $12.1 million, yet her WNBA salary only justifies it. The main money flow is sponsorships and endorsements. She is 11th in the world according to Forbes’ highest-paid female athletes list, surpassing many male sportsmen. That is huge.

It proves the world is finally willing to pay women what they’re worth. Ionescu isn’t far behind at $10 million annually, powered by her Nike signature shoe. These four women aren’t just basketball players anymore. They’ve become global brands worth hundreds of millions to corporations. That’s the new reality of women’s sports.

This really means that Clark didn’t just change basketball. She changed the whole talk about how much women can earn. Her joining Team USA is more than just a sport; it’s a cultural turning point because she has changed the way money works so much.