Culture Society, Identity and Belonging
When the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) holds its draft of college players in Brooklyn on Monday, it will be surprising if the Indiana Fever do not choose Caitlin Clark with the first pick. Clark, whose signature skill is shooting with uncanny accuracy 30 feet or more from the basket, has seized the imagination of American sports fans in a way that no one has done since Michael Jordan 40 years ago. Clark’s team, the Iowa Hawkeyes, lost the college final on Sunday but attracted an unprecedented 19 million television viewers, four million more than the men. Even the coach of the winning team thanked her for raising the profile of the women’s game. Clark’s salary will be limited by WNBA rules to $77,000 a season but endorsements will make her a fortune. Her face adorns cereal boxes already and Fortune magazine estimates her income of $3 million will soon soar.