After her transformative college career with the Iowa Hawkeyes, where she broke the all-time NCAA scoring record, Caitlin Clark was drafted first overall by the Indiana Fever in the 2024 WNBA Draft. When she first stepped onto a WNBA court last May, Clark faced higher expectations than any player the sport had ever seen.
Despite the lofty projections that many felt she needed to live up to, the young star responded incredibly well. She led the entire league in assists as a rookie and made both the All-Star team and First-Team All-WNBA. She was the obvious choice for Rookie of the Year and landed on the All-Rookie team, to nobody's surprise.
Perhaps her biggest attribute last year was her marketability, as several opposing teams had to change venues to accommodate the number of fans that wanted to watch her play. The entire league benefited from her impact as the attention, production and day-to-day life of WNBA teams was far superior than it was the year prior.
Grade the take: Caitlin Clark's impact is still being underappreciated
Time Magazine recently released their list of the top 100 most influential people of 2025, and Clark's name not being on the list was a glaring omission. When this was brought to the attention of sports analyst Colin Cowherd, he could not stomach the fact that Clark was left off.
"How is Caitlin Clark not in this?" Cowherd asked. "Caitlin Clark went to the WNBA, and they set all-time ratings records. If Caitlin Clark's not in this, the list is nonsense. ... If you talk about league-changing athletes in America, Tiger (Woods) in golf, Michael Jordan in basketball, and Caitlin Clark. ... She is the most influential athlete, I would argue, man or woman, in America last year."
Cowherd is certainly correct in his assertion that Clark is arguably the most influential athlete in America, so her exclusion from the list is inexcusable. As previously stated, her impact goes far beyond what she was able to accomplish on the basketball court.
Related: ESPN found a new eye-rolling reason to disrespect Caitlin Clark
Thankfully, fellow women's basketball stars Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart were honored as "Pioneers" for their work with the Unrivaled Basketball League. However, Clark's work in the WNBA deserves to be honored as well.
Clark will begin her sophomore season in the WNBA on May 17 when she takes on Angel Reese and the Chicago Sky for the first of five matchups. When the people from Time Magazine tune in to see how raucous the crowd will be in Indianapolis that night, maybe they'll second-guess their stance.