Caitlin Clark and Michael Jordan comparisons are something that have been hand-in-hand ever since her Iowa days. Her Hawkeyes head coach, Lisa Bluder, even fueled these comparisons, stating, “The things that Michael Jordan had, that Phil had to help Michael with, were some of the same things that I feel like I had to help Caitlin with.” For most, the comparisons seem plausible, especially after Clark’s bright impact on women’s basketball. But a former Philly Radio host feels the shelf life of these comparisons are fading.

Speaking on The Craig Carton Show, host Tyrone Johnson shared two reasons why Clark is not Jordan, emphasizing that she’s more of a Jeremy Lin. “The Caitlin Clark thing is over because she’s not the best player in the WNBA,” he said. “She’s not the best guard in the WNBA. She’s not even the best guard from her college class cause that’s Paige Bueckers, who plays for Dallas and beat them in the season opener. We look back on CC, and we’re not gonna look back on her like she’s Michael Jordan. She’s Jeremy Lin. This is just Linsanity.

“She’s gonna fumble this, and it’s because of two things. She decided to roll up with Morgan Wallen. Wallen says the N word liberally, says it more than I do, and I’m black. And her bitching and moaning to the refs nonstop. But when we look back, we’ll go this girl had the world by the *****. She had everybody loving her. People who hate women’s sports were tuning in just for her,” he added further.

From an off-court perspective, Clark’s association with Wallen has left fans a bit disappointed. It traces back to a Wallen incident in 2021 when he was found using racist words. Although he had apologized for his behavior, fans still believe that Clark shouldn’t have went to the country singer’s concert.

It, of course, strikes a dissenting note against Clark in the public forum, which is quite understandable from Johnson’s assessment. But none of it limits her basketball skill sets, which are still top-notch in the league.

Now, it’s true that Clark’s career is going through an injury-laden phase. Last year, CC fought most of the season through injuries, limiting her to just 13 games. Even in this season’s Fever opener against the Wings, Clark had hinted at back stiffness. All of it might be the major reasons for Johnson to compare Clark with Jeremy Lin rather than Michael Jordan, who symbolized dominance throughout his career and, in a true sense, revolutionized the sport.

Lin’s career was largely hampered by injuries like the patellar tendon rupture, among others. It didn’t just limit his skill set on the court after the infamous “Linsanity” season in 2011-12. But it made him a player who had to shift back to the CBA with the Beijing Ducks in 2019-20, just after being an NBA Champion with the Toronto Raptors in 2019.

Johnson feels that, similar to Lin, Caitlin Clark might also face this fate, which the former feels is further facilitated by her consistent arguments with the officials. But the Fever guard’s production on the court is also better than ever.

Clark might have lost her individual battle against Paige Bueckers in the season opener, but her numbers weren’t minimal either. Clark recorded 20 points, 7 assists, and 5 rebounds in her first regular-season game after 9 months. This is quite an impressive number, considering her injury-laden last season. It further puts her in the debate outright as one of the most efficient field generals in the WNBA in this era.

Notably, Tyrone Johnson’s comments aren’t the first time this season that questions have been raised over Caitlin Clark’s shelf life in the league. For instance, the ESPN ranked her 10th in the league. Furthermore, the WNBA GM Survey, published a few days ago, gave her just over 20% of the vote for being the best point guard in the league, even after getting 50% last season.

In fact, Boardroom also ranked Caitlin Clark third among the most marketable players in the WNBA, despite the enormity of the businesses she runs for the league. But the latest broadcasting numbers from the Indiana Fever-Dallas Wings game echo a very different sentiment.

Caitlin Clark’s Effect Might Be a Bit Rusty, But Still Setting a Benchmark

One of the major aspects in which the Caitlin Clark effect has thrived over the last two years is broadcasting numbers. For instance, in her rookie year alone, Clark contributed to an exponential 170% increase in these numbers. And since then, her stocks have just been on the rise.

As a recent example, we even saw it during the Dallas Wings-Indiana Fever game, the WNBA’s first game of the season’s first weekend. According to reports, the game got around 2.49 million viewers. Of course, players and No.1 draftees like Paige Bueckers and Aliyah Boston also contributed to it.

But it is largely Clark who surged the headlines, courtesy of her return to the regular season after so long. Now, compared to last season’s numbers for a game at a similar time slot, the numbers have dipped.

But it’s important to note that the last season’s game was between the Chicago Sky and the Indiana Fever. Two perennial rivals- Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese squared off against each other, and quite naturally, it would attract more eyeballs in comparison to a Fever-Wings game.

But none of it downgrades Clark’s effect, though, because the numbers are still stellar and are expected to grow as the season progresses. We saw a similar number during the preseason opener as well. Clark and Fever’s face-off against the NY Liberty game got an average viewership of around 743,000, again an impressive number considering it’s not a regular season game.

From a broader context, this also proves that Clark is still the WNBA’s crown jewel. Generally speaking, the Michael Jordan comparisons are still far from her. The Fever guard will need to continue her strides for many more years to achieve that status.

But her impact on women’s basketball is undeniable. And for now, she’s following the perfect roadmap for her skill set and marketability to reach that level. The only thing that can hamper this ceiling is her injuries, which she will need to be cautious about.