The WNBA season is almost upon us and the 2026 campaign will have more storylines than ever before, but none will be bigger than Caitlin Clark looking to get back to her best.
After a rookie year that took the country by storm, both for on-court and off-court reasons, Clark spent much of the 2025 season on the sidelines due to injury. In her first year, the WNBA found publicity it never had before as the Iowa sharpshooter starred for the Indiana Fever. While she unfortunately became a hot potato for the culture wars, she also led the WNBA to new heights in ratings and popularity.
The WNBA was successful last season even without Clark making much of an impact. And she returns in 2026 with the league having more stars than ever before. A fully healthy Caitlin Clark doesn’t just mean more interest, it means more debate.
And ESPN got it kick started by ranking her 10th in their preseason WNBA power rankings.
As you can imagine, the post from espnW on social media received plenty of attention, both in agreement and in protest.
The description for Clark’s entry reads as follows:
Clark received the fourth-most MVP votes as a rookie while setting a single-season league record for assists and posting the second-most 3-point field goals in a season. She became one of the league’s best passers and long-range shooters the moment she stepped onto a WNBA court, and was just getting started when she was named Rookie of the Year and first-team all-WNBA in 2024. Injuries limited her to only 13 games in 2025, but she was still named an All-Star.
ESPN certainly knows what they are doing putting Clark front and center with her power rankings location. Let’s be honest, there’s a reason why they promoted her instead of Kelsey Plum at #9, Paige Bueckers at #8, or Allisha Gray at #7. It’s no surprise at all that Las Vegas Aces star A’ja Wilson claimed the top spot after winning her fourth league MVP and Finals MVP last season. But of course it was Clark’s picture and ranking that ESPN knew would be the biggest flashpoint.
Even some of the quote tweets and replies saw what ESPN was doing by putting the Fever star in their graphic.
Caitlin Clark doesn’t just move the needle, she is the needle. And while there is certainly a basketball case to be made for placing her at the back end of the Top 10 as she tries to prove herself coming back from injury, it’s obvious that her massive fanbase will see that as a major slight. And they will point to this as just one more way in which she will try to prove the doubters, haters, and skeptics wrong.
After all, there’s a reason why every Indiana Fever game is on national television this season. Let’s just hope this isn’t a sign to come of the off-court circus being back in town.
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