Ex-Steelers star Le’Veon Bell credits Caitlin Clark for revolutionizing women’s basketball
Le’Veon Bell has been receiving severe backlash for being factually incorrect about the Caitlin Clark effect on WNBA.
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Caitlin Clark and Le'Veon Bell (Via Imago)
Ever since Caitlin Clark joined WNBA, she has been the talk of the town. Whether with her influence on the fans or her infamous rivalry with Angel Reese, Clark has been under constant spotlight and in the discussions of athletes from various other sports.
Especially from the NFL, many players have acknowledged Clark’s influence in changing the landscape of women’s basketball and praised her quite highly for that. One such player is former Pittsburgh Steelers star Le’Veon Bell, who credited Iowa’s all-time leading scorer for revolutionizing the WNBA.
Bell praised Clark by sharing a video comparing the audience sizes of WNBA games over the past several years, from 2021 to 2024’s game of Clark’s Indiana Fever.
The Caitlin Clark effect is insane.Le’Veon Bell wrote on X
Although the NFL player wasn’t entirely wrong with his analysis, it appears he has been receiving severe backlash for being factually incorrect. Given, that the years with which Bell compared Clark’s debut season were the ones during the global pandemic due to the outbreak of COVID-19.
That’s why people rarely attended the sports’ games, and for a year, the games were also canceled, even the Olympics 2020 was postponed to 2021 during the pandemic. However, the star running back meant his comment in a positive manner appreciating the basketball player, but fans didn’t consider it justifying giving Clark all the credit.
Caitlin Clark’s arrival sparks unprecedented growth in women’s basketball
Despite considering other factors, the “Caitlin Cark effect” is being well acknowledged in the world of sports. Since she was drafted by Fever, she had a significant impact on the economy of not just her franchise, but every team, brand, and league touched by the 22-year-old.
According to Nielsen, the NCAA championship game between the Iowa Hawkeyes and South Carolina Gamecocks recorded the highest viewership of 19 million in women’s basketball’s history. It was 5 million higher than the men’s championship game a day before.
That was before Clark started playing. Last month in May, WNBA recorded the highest opening month in 26 years as it witnessed a 156% hike in the tickets sold compared to 2023.
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Pratyusha Srivastava
(2262 Articles Published)