Women’s basketball has been around for a century or more, in many iterations. But it has never — and I mean NEVER — enjoyed the popularity it does right now. In the past three years or so, the women’s game has exploded, and there is one primary reason why.
That would be Caitlin Clark.
Clark set the world on fire in college at Iowa, playing for two straight national titles and leaving college as the sport’s all-time leading scorer. Then, a few weeks later, the pony tail-rocking, from-the-logo shot-making superstar was the first overall pick of the WNBA’s Indiana Fever, and in her first season she set dozens of records and the league is enjoying never-before-seen popularity.
She’s taken the world by storm.
It hasn’t been without a bit of controversy, though. There is an insane amount of jealousy that has surrounded this unique talent, and it hasn’t always been good. There are also testy racial issues that go back and forth, and it’s relentless. She’s a white girl in a sport dominated by black women for a long time.
But Clark has handled it all well, and created a massive audience for the women’s game that’s raised the bar for attendance in arenas and ratings on TV.
USA Today columnist Christine Brennan — who also can be seen on many national television outlets throughout the year — has been writing about women’s sports, and many other things, for more than four decades. No voice is louder or more respected when it comes to female athletes and their accomplishment on the national and world stage.
She’s covered a lot of great athletes, but there’s nothing quite like what’s going on with Clark, and how she has completely changed women’s basketball. It’s such a great story that Brennan is writing a yet-untitled book on Clark, and her impact on the game — and the world. It’s scheduled to come out in 2025.
Christine and I have been covering sports for a long time, and our paths have crossed often. She was kind enough to sit down with me for a Fastbreak Podcast, and it’s 38 minutes of pure gold. We talk a bit about the Paris Olympics and our favorite sportswriting day together in 1984, but the vast majority is about Clark, and her impact on the game.
Here are some of the highlights:
— on writing a book about Caitlin Clark
“I hadn’t written a book for Scribner since 2006, but we got to talking about Caitlin Clark. Fascinating story, most popular athlete in sports. She’s the most important female athlete in history. Bigger than the ’99 Olympic soccer team, bigger than even Billie Jean King. I mean the women’s NCAA final outdrew the men on TV by 4 million.
“But with no book proposal, which has never happened before with any of my seven books, just a conversation, they bought the Caitlin Clark book. It’s unauthorized, in a sense, that I am not working WITH Caitlin on it. It’s not ”as told to,” and it’s a journalist’s view, my view. There will be many, many interviews. I’m a journalist, and I’m going to ask a lot of questions. I’m so honored. I feel like a lifetime of work has led to this, to tell the story accurately. ”
— on first impressions about Caitlin Clark
“That last game of the regular season in 2023, Indiana had that lead with a couple of seconds left and Caitlin hits this prayer of a three-pointer at Iowa, and I couldn’t believe what I saw. I remember that was really the moment for me, with Caitlin Clark. The buzzer-beater, like wow. I wasn’t at any of these games, wasn’t writing about her, but I was just a spectator, and I think that made a difference.
“And then the tournament rolls around, and I’m really watching. Me and several million other people. I’m intrigued, and I’m seeing it develop as a spectator. I’m getting it. I’m not the cynical journalist, I’m just watching. They upset South Carolina, but then they lose to LSU and the whole thing with Angel Reese, and it just takes on a life of its own. Now here it is, it’s getting the coverage. … This is really something. This is a big, big deal.”
— on Caitlin’s senior year
“I’m kind of like every person, every woman, I’m intrigued. I haven’t been writing about it, but my sister buys tickets to the Iowa-Maryland game and I just go as a spectator. The game starts, and she pulls up at the logo and nails a three. My jaw drops, and I’ve been doing this for what, 42 years, at the time. It was amazing, and I had to start writing about it.”
“And we’ll talk about all of that season, and an incredible moment in America history and what she’s meant to the sport.”
— on Caitlin being left off the Olympic team
“I’m surprised USA Basketball did what it did. She belonged on that team. The undercurrent against her, I wanted Diana Taurasi and Breanna Steward to talk to me about it. Why are they raining on this parade? Cheryl Swoopes, why does she say what she says? I was all over that story, and I have a lot of questions about it.”
— on how Caitlin handles everything around her
“I’ve said it, she’s 22 going on 40-50. The way she’s handled everything, how lucky we are to have this. With Title IX, she’s the girl next door. You’ve seen it and watch it develop, and America, here it is. It’s an extraordinary thing. She extraordinary, how she was brought up and how she’s so classy. She’s done it remarkably, especially for a 22-year-old. She’s going to have so many coattails, have millions of girls hoisting up shots from the logo. Caitlin goes there with all the issues, and she feels that need and that responsibility for kids.”
— on breaking news in the book
“I think my columns are a good indicator of where I’m going with this (book). I’m kind of a sponge right now when I’m gathering stories. I’m diving in head first.”
To watch Tom Brew’s complete video podcast with Christine Brennan on our Fastbreak YouTube channel, CLICK HERE
Throughout the 2024-25 NBA and WNBA seasons, we’ll be sharing multiple podcasts per week with our Fastbreak reporters and special guests. So subscribe to our YouTube channel and don’t miss a thing. It’s all free, of course. To join, CLICK HERE
You can follow Tom Brew on Twitter @tombrewsports. You can follow Christine Brennan @cbrennansports.
