Dan Dakich Blasts The WNBA For Not Being Prepared To Utilize Caitlin Clark's Popularity
Dan Told The WNBA That A Hurricane Was Coming & They Missed It
You don’t have to have Sherlock Holmes-level observation skills to know that Caitlin Clark is the sole reason that the WNBA - and women’s basketball at large - has seen a spike in popularity in the past couple of years.
From her time in college at the University of Iowa to being a rookie for the Indiana Fever, Clark has boosted women’s basketball to a relatively well-followed sport in America. However, the WNBA has not properly handled her rise to stardom, and is now suffering the consequences of it.
Dan Dakich made this point brilliantly on this morning’s episode of "Don’t @ Me with Dan Dakich."
He, and plenty of other media outlets, were predicting that Clark was about to take the WNBA by storm. But the league did not handle it properly, and failed to heed those predictions.
Caitlin Clark is the sole reason why the WNBA is so popular today. But for no good reason, the WNBA hasn't recognized that. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
"We told the WNBA this was coming. Everybody told the WNBA that a hurricane was coming in the name of Caitlin, hurricane Caitlin…You know who wasn’t ready for it? The WNBA," Dakich said. "Certainly the women of the WNBA weren’t ready for it, the players weren’t ready for it. Their jealousy, their envy, their ego, their pettiness… shined brightly, and obnoxiously, and weirdly in the beginning."
Caitlin Clark Not To Blame For Missed Opportunity
Why did the league botch an opportunity to market Clark and let jealousy of her run rampant? In large part, WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert is to blame for that.
The commissioner said that she didn’t believe stars like Clark and Angel Reese would have brought this much popularity to the league this quickly. Dakich lambasted Engelbert for not harnessing the marketability of these two stars faster and for letting her league’s insecurity prevent it from being more proactive.
"Not only should you have known that Caitlyn Clark was going to be a star, you should have, so let’s do everything to enhance. Meaning, Let’s make sure she’s on the Olympic team. Let’s make sure that other women are smart enough not to be morons to her," Dakich said. "But that didn’t happen…(The WNBA is) insecure about their funding, they’re insecure about their money, they’re insecure about their game. They’re insecure about their TV deals, sponsorships, media, selling tickets, everything. Insecurity leads to inactivity, you’re just holding on. Well, that’s dumb. And this was your one opportunity… and you weren’t ready. You had this tornado hit and you didn’t enhance. Your insecurity shined bright."
His point about Clark not making the Olympic roster is especially poignant. Clark was left off the roster in favor of veterans like Diana Taurasi (who, by the way, didn’t play a single minute in the gold medal game against France).
Kaycee Smith, who works for Barstool Sports and frequently covers women’s athletics, said that she didn’t even know when the USA was going for gold. Why? Because without Caitlin Clark on the roster, the games don’t have as much appeal.
If the WNBA and women’s basketball really cared about growing the game, Clark should have been on the roster. But as Dakich said, the WNBA showed it didn’t know how to handle its first blockbuster star in league history.