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How does Caitlin Clark’s spark in the WNBA compare to Jordan’s ‘Be Like Mike’ effect in the NBA?

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How does Caitlin Clark’s spark in the WNBA compare to Jordan’s ‘Be Like Mike’ effect in the NBA?

Let’s start with the shoes.

Michael Jordan before playing in an official game NBA game, the sneakers created talk and controversy. Jordan wore a mostly black pair of Nikes with a red swoosh in his first preseason games. Chicago BullsWorried about the showiness of shoes, he had reservations about doing this The NBA objected, threatening a $1,000 fine if he shook them a second time and $5,000 for every subsequent time.

Exactly forty years later, Caitlin Clark’s sneakers also made headlines ahead of his first official match. Last spring, Clark signed a historic eight-figure endorsement deal with Nike that was expected to result in his own signature shoe. This time, there was no threat of fines, but there was plenty of buzz about what it meant for a rookie unproven in the professional game to sign such a lucrative and eye-catching deal.

Clark has been compared to other basketball greats. His shots resonate Stephen Curry And Sabrina Ionescu. Her floor vision and accurate passing remind fans of Sue Bird. Along with other rookies Angel ReeseThese two instant-impact players have been compared to Magic Johnson and Larry Bird, who straddled the two levels with their college and professional games and helped propel the NBA to its peak in the 1980s.

Clark has a long way to go before he can match Jordan’s six NBA championships and six Finals MVPs, five NBA MVP awards and 10 scoring titles. He’s just starting his first playoff run as a rookie and WNBA but his impact in the WNBA is similar to His Airness’s in the NBA. Beyond referencing Jordan’s classic shrug after big plays, Clark’s impact echoes Jordan’s in other important ways: mass commercial appeal, national celebrity and the ability to catapult a sport to new heights.

“It’s a combination of factors over time,” says Bill Laimbeer, who played against Jordan during his 13-year NBA career and later coached in the WNBA for more than a decade. “(The NBA and WNBA) mirror each other from the influx of talent, the rule changes to speed up the game, to name recognition because of TV and the competitive nature.”

Clark and Jordan first became stars in college, leading their home states to NCAA Tournament glory. More than 17 million people tuned in to watch CBS for the 1982 national championship, watching freshman Jordan make the go-ahead shot with 17 seconds left to lead UNC to the national championship. At the time, it was the second-most-watched championship game broadcast.

Clark, meanwhile, has also created a ratings bonanza in women’s college basketball with her signature 3-pointers and key plays for Iowa. It led the way in the most-watched women’s NCAA Tournament, and Iowa’s 2024 national championship appearance against South Carolina averaged 18.9 million viewers.

But the professional leagues Jordan and Clark participated in did not have the proven audience loyalty they inspired in college.

The rise of Jordan and Clark did not come without strong foundations. Before they arrived, there were professional stars: Bill Russell, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Wilt Chamberlain, Julius Erving, Bird, Johnson. In the WNBA, Rebecca Lobo, Cheryl Miller, Lisa Leslie, Tamika Catchings, Diana TaurusCandace Parker, A’ja Wilson And Breanna StewartImprovements have been made to the actual gameplay of both leagues, resulting in a more exciting product, and changes have been made to the media landscape.

By 1981, ratings declines led to NBA Finals games being mostly taped, and Celts And Lakers were the most frequently televised games. Viewers eventually warmed to the league and a new wave of athletes, but it was Jordan who came on and electrified the Bulls with his showmanship as they reached their peak in the 1990s.

“With Michael being in the league, there was a game on TV almost every night, compared to one or two games a week in the ’80s,” said former The cavalry Guard Craig Ehlo told Bleacher Report:“I think the NBA’s ability to market to other teams is beneficial with Michael being in the league. If he never plays, I don’t think they have the leverage to get the TV deals that they get.”

Clark has also ignited an unprecedented WNBA fan base. The league has gained momentum over the years. Still, six different league television partners, including Clark, have broken viewership records this year Fire games and the WNBA had its best year of viewing across ESPN platforms.

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Clark and Jordan also elevated middling teams. The Bulls had made the playoffs only twice in the nine years before Jordan arrived. They were in the bottom half of the NBA in total attendance in the three seasons immediately before Jordan arrived in town, before he led the Bulls to a dynasty run.

Clark’s Indiana He hopes to help the Fever avoid elimination as they return to the playoffs for the first time since 2016 Connecticut Sun on Wednesday. With her legions of fans following, the Fever led the WNBA in home attendance after ranking in the bottom half of the league for the past eight seasons.

“Clark immediately had a Jordan-like effect,” said Jack McCallum, a sportswriter inducted into the Naismith Hall of Fame and former Sports Illustrated reporter who covered the NBA for more than three decades. “The NBA had Bird and Magic, and then the biggest star in the history of sports came along and threw his weight around. (Jordan) seemed to bring everyone along. A rising tide lifts all boats. I believe that will happen in the WNBA.”

Salaries may be the most critical point in this regard.

Jordan skipped her senior season at North Carolina and signed a seven-year contract with the Bulls worth $6.3 million. Her base salary as a rookie was $455,000, slightly above the league average salary, but not by much. Clark also opted to return to Iowa for her senior season, signing for a modest rookie salary of $76,535. Like Jordan, it’s undervalued considering what she means to the league (the average WNBA salary this season is around $110,000, according to HerHoopStats).

However, in their early seasons, Jordan and Clark showed their real earning potential in the market with groundbreaking endorsement deals. Both are partners with Nike and Gatorade — Jordan was the first athlete sponsor of the sports drink brand in 1984. Perhaps a “Like Clark” ad, Jordan’s famous campaign.

Wilson has designed one-off basketballs and other small-scale products for NBA and WNBA players over the years, but only Jordan and Clark have worked with the brand to create full multiyear collections, a company spokesperson said.

Clark seems likely to help spark salary increases in the WNBA, much as Jordan did for the NBA. In 1995, after Jordan’s first three-peat, the NBA salary cap went from just under $16 million to $23 million — a 44% increase that marks the largest annual increase in league history. According to SpotracWhile WNBA players have yet to see such a boost, the league this season agreed to a groundbreaking television rights deal worth more than $2 billion over 11 years. With Clark playing in a record-breaking six different networks this season, ratings paradigms have shifted, and the trickle-down effect is likely to result in higher salaries once the next CBA takes effect, perhaps as early as the 2026 season.

Clark is just at the beginning of his career, six championships and 31,523 points behind Jordan. But another obvious phenomenon is more apparent.

“What Caitlin Clark has done for the game is something that will last for generations,” said Nancy, a pioneer of women’s basketball. Lieberman said in a recent interview on Fever television:“As a player’s player, I want to thank you, Caitlin Clark, for elevating our game. You and so many other great players for what you’ve done. You’re going to make all these women multimillionaires one day. Just like Tiger did. Just like Michael Jordan did.”

(Illustration: Meech Robinson / Athletic;Caitlin Clark and Michael Jordan photos: Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images,
(Jeff Dean/Getty Images)