Caitlin Clark has achieved great success in sports; ask her detractors.

A stunning 40-footer from the logo, made with an amazing amount of balls, solidified Iowa star Caitlin Clark’s historic status two weeks ago.

With a swish, the shooter, who is frequently likened to Steph Curry, shattered Kelsey Plum’s previous record for the most points scored by a woman in history. And she’s about to break the record for most points scored by a woman and a man, which was previously held by the late Pistol Pete Maravich.

Critics like ESPN analyst Jay Williams have contributed to Caitlin Clark’s rise to fame in the sports world.
Getty Images/Andy Lyons
Jay Williams, the broadcaster, didn’t believe that. He claimed that because Clark hadn’t yet won a title, she wasn’t yet “great.”

“We were discussing the best. I’ve heard that there are GOATs being discussed? I’m kind of like, “Okay, you want to be a GOAT.” Alright. There exist tiers of excellence. To be a GOAT, Williams stated, one must win championships.

Fantastic? I apologize, Mr. Williams. Clark is simply too preoccupied with transcending.

Whether or not the 22-year-old has a ring, she has already ascended above Williams’s arbitrary perch, as evidenced by the fact that she is even the subject of these disputes.

I have never witnessed a female player enter into the superficial mainstream discussions that have hitherto been limited to guys who are really good at things.

So, either a guy or girl, show me a larger name in college basketball right now. You can hold the one-and-done players accountable for the men’s team’s lack of standout players, but you can’t discount Clark’s unique ability.

Her group is filling arenas; most recently, they sold out the Big Ten women’s tournament for the first time ever. In addition to setting records both on and off the court, she is obtaining NIL deals with organizations that typically sign elite male athletes.

Not to mention the remarkable number of attention she’s attracting. 1.93 million people saw the team play Ohio State on January 21st in a regular-season game. In contrast, the Sunday afternoon game of the NHL’s highly anticipated Stadium Series last week drew 1.57 million spectators.

Last year’s NCAA championship game between Iowa and LSU — pitting Clark against fellow phenom Angel Reese — drew a whopping 9.9 million viewers on ABC. Meanwhile, the most recent World Series between the Rangers and Diamondbacks averaged 9.11 million viewers.

This week, Clark became Fanatics’ top-selling college athlete in the NIL era. According to on3.com, her NIL value is $919,000 thanks to deals with Buick, Nike, Bose and Gatorade. Clark also became the first college athlete to sign with State Farm, which counts Patrick Mahomes and Chris Paul as pitchmen.

To put it another way, Clark is prioritized over other athletes. Just an athlete, not a female athlete.

Clark doesn’t share much about her personal life on social media, much less her physique; these profiles are primarily populated with photos from her time on the court. She is therefore the opposite of what has been referred to as the NCAA’s “hot girl problem.”

The largest female earners in college athletics, according to a 2023 Free Press feature on Haley and Hanna Cavinder, weren’t always the best athletes statistically, but they were attractive for other reasons. The LSU gymnast Livvy Dunne and the Cavinders have both shamelessly paired their physical prowess with their seductive attractiveness.

Show off your cleavage and strike a pose for Sports Illustrated Swimsuit; I don’t mind at all. However, Clark embodies the feminist demand to recognize brilliance without objectifying it.

She is blatantly confident despite her modesty. Her John Cena move of flashing her palm in front of her face as a taunt, “You can’t see me,” is not something she is reluctant to use. She can support it with her prolific scoring and unfathomable range.

Sheryl Swoopes, the renowned baller, is among her critics. She made apologies to Clark after insulting her with grossly inaccurate remarks that exaggerated her age, eligibility, and shot attempts.

However, Clark appears to accept criticism well. She doesn’t vent in post-game interviews or make furious rebuttals on social media.

She speaks in public on the court, sometimes in a trashy way.