ATLANTA — It’s one thing to experience Caitlin Clark as an internet sensation, but quite another to experience her playing basketball in real life.
While the social media site has made her a perfect canvas for bad actors to impose their views and stomp on discord, she is in fact doing what online sports fans around the world seem to hate most.
She strives to get more people to enjoy watching sports.
How dare you do such a thing?
What happened here on Friday night, Clark’s first visit to Atlanta with the Indiana Fever, was nothing new for her WNBA debut: She sold out State Farm Arena, filling more than 17,500 seats and putting up an entertaining 16-point, seven-assist performance to lead Indiana to a 91-79 victory.
It was by far the largest turnout for a WNBA game in Atlanta sports history, and fortunately for many, it won’t be the last. And the phenomenon is playing out across the country as Clarke hops from city to city in her rookie year.
“I always say if you play at least one game, you’re usually back,” Atlanta veteran forward Nia Coffey said.
Despite the backlash against Clark and the attention she’s received, this is the reality that smart people in the WNBA understand: She’ll bring in the crowds, but everyone else needs to transform their product from a novelty to a staple. It’s so simple, and such an actual blueprint for how Clark is trying to change women’s basketball, that it’s almost comical how much time is spent debating it in the comments section.
And that’s where the disconnect begins between how people are experiencing the Clark phenomenon online and what’s really happening: In Atlanta on Friday, a bunch of real people were paying real money to fill an arena that even the best NBA teams have struggled to fill in the past.
The internet is abuzz with heated debate about everything Clark does or has nothing to do with, much of it racially coded, and some might even consider her very existence a powder keg ready to be detonated at any moment by both her most ardent supporters and those who now resent her popularity.
What actually happens when she enters the arena is far from that nonsense.
The crowd that showed up to watch Clark play on Friday was a quintessential Atlanta melting pot: a mix of suburbanites, rappers, socialites, former athletes, families and young professionals. It seemed like every Georgian with an Iowa connection was there wearing the black and gold, but the majority of the crowd was rooting for the Atlanta Dream.
Perhaps these fans are still new to the WNBA and haven’t yet developed any bad feelings toward other teams or players. Or maybe they just haven’t yet emotionally invested in their own team. Either way, there was a very positive vibe overall, and the players truly appreciated it.
This doesn’t square with the idea that Clark is inviting any major backlash. It was just a really cool experience, with everyone enjoying it from 2 Chainz and Allen Iverson to a bunch of little kids wearing jerseys with No. 22 on their backs.
“It’s fun as a rookie going to a new city and playing in front of a new crowd. I felt the energy of the place tonight. That’s the fun of basketball,” Clark said.
Sorry to the haters, but it was so much fun watching Clark run up and down the court, hitting deep bomb three-pointers, controlling the court with his speed and throwing angled cross-court passes to corner shooters that would probably make Trae Young a little jealous.
And for all the things people who talk and write and tweet about Clark want her to do, she’s been very clear about two things: She wants to play great basketball, and she wants to make the WNBA more popular in the same way that she made college women’s basketball more popular.
The rest is just a fuss by people trying to use Clarke to make their point. Clarke doesn’t approve of it, encourage it, or buy into it. She just supports it, and people of all ages are responding because, deep down, they know she’s already doing something unique in the game.
“We want to perform for them, we want to do great things for them,” Clark said, “and a lot of people have spent a lot of time and money to come watch our team and enjoy the experience, and a lot of them will be coming back because we’re playing great basketball, so that’s a good thing.”
Who could argue with that?
And that’s just the beginning.
Friday was Indiana’s fourth straight win, bringing the Fever’s record to 7-10 after winning just 13 games last year. The game has slowed down for Clark. She’s been more clear on offense, even with defenders guarding her 94 feet and sending multiple players to try to get the ball. She’s only getting better. And it’s hard to imagine the crowds not returning, especially after watching her performances recently.
In fact, Clark said she was surprised Sunday’s game between the Chicago Sky and her college rival, Angel Reese, wasn’t played at the United Center instead of the usual 10,000-seat facility, given that the two matchups this season have produced hard fouls and days’ worth of anger-fueling.
But Clark, as always, kept his cool and let everyone else have their say, knowing the game was enough.
“I’m sure it’s only (the media) that sees this as a rivalry,” Clark said. “To us, it’s just a basketball game. If it helps move the game forward, that’s great. That’s the way it should be.”
But in reality, that’s what Friday should be like: a diverse crowd in a packed arena enjoying a WNBA game without the animosity and vitriol that has become a fixture in online discussions of Clark.
This was great basketball, delivered by a great rookie and a league that’s finally being embraced by a public that just wants to see cool stuff. The Clark Show was great on his first trip to Atlanta, hopefully your city will be next.
