Caitlin Clark Effect Proven Through Staggering Contrast in Highlight Views
It didn't take Indiana Fever rookie sensation Caitlin Clark long to become arguably the WNBA's biggest superstar.
There are plenty of metrics that gauge what has been deemed the "Caitlin Clark Effect." Things such as Clark's jersey sales, the Fever selling out season tickets months in advance, and the staggering viewership of every TV game that Clark has played are just a few examples of the Caitlin Clark Effect making its mark.
Given that Clark was already a massive superstar from her record-breaking college tenure at Iowa, she still would have generated a ton of attention during her rookie season even if she rarely saw the court.
But Clark has quickly become one of the WNBA's elite guards as a result of her commanding the Fever's offensive attack, doling out extraordinary passes to teammates, and draining the deep three-pointers that she became famous for as a Hawkeye.
Her exciting play style has created quite an impressive highlight tape during Clark's rookie season — which the WNBA compiled and posted on their YouTube channel.
The WNBA has posted individual highlight tapes of some other superstars, as well. But the staggering difference in views that one X user noticed on Tuesday proves the Caitlin Clark Effect once again.
"The views for the best individual highlights." X user @jennieverse_bp wrote, along with a screenshot of various WNBA individual highlights.
The views for the best individual highlights.😆 pic.twitter.com/4MmrdzbKGu
— Jennieverse²² (@jennieverse_bp) August 20, 2024
Clark's highlight tape has 157,000 views on the platform. The second most is that of rookie Angel Reese, which has 60,000 views.
WNBA MVP frontrunner A'ja Wilson's highlight reel (which was posted six days after that of Clark) has amassed just 8,400 views at the time of the X user's post. Dallas Wings guard Arike Ogunbowale's highlight reel has 1,500 views, and New York Liberty guard Sabrina Ionescu has 2,500 views (both of which were posted six days ago like Wilson's.)
These view tallies are yet another example of Clark's star power — as if women's basketball needed any more proof that Clark is drawing an unprecedented amount of attention to the sport.
Grant Young covers Women’s Basketball, the New York Yankees, and the New York Mets for Sports Illustrated’s ‘On SI’ sites. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco (USF), where he also graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing and played on USF’s Division I baseball team for five years. However, he now prefers Angel Reese to Angels in the Outfield.