ESPN didn’t please the masses by comparing Caitlin Clark to Serena Williams, Simone Biles and Katie Ledecky after she failed to win a title in her rookie season.
On Wednesday, Clark’s monumental rookie campaign in the WNBA came to an end after the Indiana Fever were swept by the Connecticut Sun in the opening round.
To commemorate her first year in the league, ESPN created a chart comparing Clark’s rookie stats to the storied careers of Williams, Biles and Ledecky. While Clark was applying to the WNBA, fans shouted trash at the network, forcing her into the conversation early.
“I feel like we’ve lost the plot a bit here,” wrote user who I posted a photo of the graph.
Another user posted a graph of Diana Taurasi and her trophy case, suggesting the decorated basketball player should have been on the list instead of Clark.
Fans blasted ESPN for comparing Caitlin Clark to Simone Biles and Serena Williams
Clark’s rookie season ended with the Indiana Fever being swept out of the WNBA Playoffs
“Lol, the pioneer on the list just played her last game. (No doubt CC will be one of those moments where it’s all said and done from here on out? Let’s be serious),” he wrote.
A third user pointed out the stats and titles won by three-time and newly crowned WNBA MVP A’ja Wilson, to write: ‘1021 points, 451 rebounds; most by any player in one season 3x MVP. Olympic MVP. 2x DPOY. But certainly, A’ja is not a groundbreaking athlete.’
Meanwhile, a fourth responded with an image that put Thaddeus Young in the same category as Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Michael Jordan and LeBron James.
Williams’ achievements include 23 Grand Slam titles, the second most of any player. Biles is the most decorated Olympic Gymnast with eleven medals, seven of which are gold. Meanwhile, Ledecky is in a class of his own in swimming with nine Olympic gold medals.
Serena Williams’ achievements include 23 Grand Slam singles titles, the second most of all time
Simone Biles is the most decorated female Olympic gymnast with seven gold medals
Katie Ledecky is in a league of her own in swimming with nine Olympic gold medals
Clark was crowned Rookie of the Year and finished the season with 769 points and 337 assists, the most of any rookie in the WNBA.
As the Fever star brought a stampede of fans to the WNBA and led Indiana to their first playoff appearance since 2016, fans continued to marvel at the hyperbolic nature of the graphic.
A fifth user wrote how “CC is forced into sooooo many conversations that are unnecessary and distracting to others,” while a sixth simply said: “That doesn’t make sense.”
