Safe to say Caitlin Clark didn’t like that comparison.
The Indiana Fever star can evidently do it all. Though her time in the WNBA has been riddled with injuries that have sometimes kept the star player out for weeks at a time, Clark is still one of the biggest names in all of sports. She’s now healed up and ready to for the upcoming WNBA season, which is still a couple of months away.
So how does Caitlin Clark pass the time until then? By casually dipping into the broadcasting side of sports. The Fever happily shared that their star point guard would be making her brodcast debut on February 1 (and returning for another night on March 29) just last week, and Clark’s big day finally came last night on NBC’s Basketball Night in America.
What can’t Caitlin Clark do?
She’s single handedly made the WNBA popular, and that’s backed by true, proven statistics. Ryan Brewer, an associate professor of finance at Indiana University Columbus, found that of the $200 million in revenue that the WNBA brought in in 2024, Caitlin Clark was single handedly responsible for 26.5% of that revenue. In other words, Caitlin Clark’s success helps cash the checks of others across the WNBA.
Despite that, fellow players in the WNBA seem to hate Caitlin Clark. That’s clear as day when you tune into any Fever game and watch Clark get beat up on, or consider the fact that just last year, Clark’s colleagues voted her the 9th best guard in the league. Yes, you read that right. WNBA players voted and suggested that there are 8 other guards in the league that are better than her.
That’s as disrespectful as it gets, and the disrespect unfortunately continued during Clark’s broadcasting debut on NBC.
Now this might not have been as blatant as Clark’s colleagues voting her the 9th best guard in the WNBA, but it was still absurd and a bit hurtful. NBC Sports host Maria Taylor asked her fellow analysts Carmelo Anthony and Reggie Miller if they thought there was a comparison to Caitlin Clark in the NBA. Taylor said it could be anyone that’s in the NBA right now, or even someone that the two respective players played with or against.
Pacers legend Reggie Miller didn’t really take much time to think about the question, and answered with a little-known point guard on the Boston Celtics:
“I like Payton Pritchard from Boston. The way he’s able to handle the basketball. He makes good shots when the shot clock is running down. A lot like this young lady right here.”
Just watch Caitlin Clark’s face as Miller says that:
OOF. Caitlin’s face says it all.
Reggie Miller, an NBA legend in his own right, decided that Clark’s NBA player comp is a… someone who just became a starter this year after spending countless seasons as a backup point guard? Clearly the Indiana Fever guard was hoping for a more exciting and complimentary comparison. Maybe a modern superstar in the NBA like Luka Doncic? Or Steph Curry? Maybe even Shai Gilgeous-Alexander?
Or heck, Miller couldn’t think of some of the stars of yesteryear that he and Carmelo played against during their respective careers? It was a really uncomfortable comparison, and I’m sure Reggie Miller didn’t mean anything by it… but there’s no doubt that Caitlin Clark was a bit hurt by the comp to Boston Celtics guard Payton Pritchard.
Maria Taylor described Caitlin Clark as “one of one” in her setup question. I don’t think any basketball fans out there are saying that Pritchard is “one of one.”
