GMs Picking Paige Bueckers Over Caitlin Clark as Franchise Starter Get Flamed by Hall of Famer

35% GMs picked Paige Bueckers, followed 20% selecting A'ja Wilson and Caitlin Clark as franchise starters.

GMs Picking Paige Bueckers Over Caitlin Clark as Franchise Starter Get Flamed by Hall of Famer

Caitlin Clark, Lisa Leslie, and Paige Bueckers (Image via FirstSportz)

In Short
  • Lisa Leslie criticized GMs for ranking Paige Bueckers over Caitlin Clark as a franchise starter.
  • Caitlin Clark's jersey sales surpass those of LeBron James and other NBA stars.
  • The Indiana Fever vs. Dallas Wings game drew 2.5 million viewers, marking a record for WNBA regular season games.

Over the past three years, there has been no doubt that Caitlin Clark has led a transformative period in the WNBA, and that period is now starting to bear fruit.

Be it the millions of new fans watching on television, the packed arenas, or the massive growth in merchandise and other revenue streams, the league has never seen this before.

Even though there are those who point out how the league was already growing, the majority of people watching and analyzing the WNBA know that it all started with Caitlin Clark.

All those GMs are p gonna get fired because this is a money business, and the money is about Caitlin Clark. Never in the history of the WNBA have we had a player force teams to get into larger arenas. I’ve never seen that happen. If you are the GM, you are obviously supposed to be bringing in revenue. I’m going with Caitlin Clark.

Lisa Leslie said on First Take

The Hall of Famer did not understand why 35% of the GMs in a survey ranked Paige Bueckers as the player they would start a franchise with.

Lisa Leslie pointed out that those executives are tasked not just with creating a winning team. They also have to boost revenue and raise the team’s value.

It seems the two-time champion was trying to suggest that, both performance and revenue generation-wise, Caitlin Clark ticks all the boxes a franchise GM needs.

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Caitlin Clark sells more jerseys than LeBron James, Luka Doncic, and Victor Wembanyama

The naysayers will still scoff at Lisa Leslie’s opinion, pointing out that the WNBA averaged the most viewership in the 2025 Finals without Caitlin Clark.

LeBron James sells fewer jerseys than Caitlin Clark
LeBron James sells fewer jerseys than Caitlin Clark (Image via Sporting News/X)

However, that was a one-off incident, as every other metric has proven that the Iowa native sweeps everyone when it comes to impact. On that note, Boardroom decided to gather data from Fanatics and the official NBA Store.

According to their calculations, Golden State Warriors superstar Stephen Curry has led everyone else in the basketball space when it comes to jersey sales.

Caitlin Clark’s No. 22 Indiana Fever jersey is the second-highest-selling one. That is remarkable, considering the point guard clears her GOAT, LeBron James, arguably the most popular basketball player in the world.

She also clears Luka Doncic and Victor Wembanyama, younger superstars who are vying to be the face of the NBA. This also means that the Hawkeye great also clears everyone else in the WNBA by a huge margin, and also every other NBA player.

That is the reason why some have suggested the NBA make the 24-year-old women’s basketball star the ‘Face of Basketball’ once James and Curry retire.

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Caitlin Clark continues to draw record viewers

Some of Caitlin Clark’s critics have tried to propose that all the hype surrounding the logo shooter has worn out. If that were the case, then the below viewership numbers would not have happened.

The May 9 Indiana Fever vs. Dallas Wings game is now the second most-watched WNBA regular season game ever across ESPN Networks, averaging 2.5 million viewers!

WNBA Communications revealed

This is lower than when the Indiana Fever clashed against the Chicago Sky in last season’s ABC opener. Maybe it could be due to the fact that most of the new fans came into the league to watch Clark and Angel Reese‘s rivalry continue.

The league tried to force the Fever superstar’s rivalry with Paige Bueckers this season. If their remaining clashes this season follow this trend, then the league could revert to pitting Clark vs. Reese as their box office battles. Either way, the 2024 Rookie of the Year is the common factor in both.

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