The Indiana Fever officially made Caitlin Clark the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft. Here’s a look at the top 10 picks after the Iowa star.
Caitlin Clark is coming to a city and television screen near you.
The WNBA landed arguably its top attraction yet when Iowa star Caitlin Clark was drafted first overall by the Indiana Fever on Monday.
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Clark, NCAA basketball's all-time leading scorer, has helped elevate the women's game with record-breaking viewership during Iowa's run to consecutive national championship games.
Her first impact on WNBA attendance impact came Monday, when the league sold tickets to the draft for the first time and sold out in 15 minutes, according to ESPN.
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Tickets for Fever games will also be more difficult to come by, boosting sales for a team that was second-to-last in home attendance last season with 4,067 fans per game.
All but four of the Fever’s 40 regular-season games are set to be broadcast on national television, including 10 games on ESPN, ABC or CBS.
Here are five of Clark's must-see games during her rookie season in the WNBA:
May 14 - Indiana Fever at Connecticut Sun
The Caitlin Clark era officially gets underway with her professional debut, which will come on the road in Connecticut.
When the Fever landed the first pick in the draft lottery, nearly 800 tickets were sold in 24 hours for the Sun’s May 14 season opener against the Fever. That equaled the amount of individual tickets sold for the game up to that point, excluding the team’s 2,500 season-ticket holders.
“We typically have bumps in our ticket sales for league rivals, reigning champions and of course when former Huskies come to town,” Connecticut Sun President Jennifer Rizzotti told the Associated Press. “This may be the first time that a non-UConn player has drawn this type of interest from our fan base."
May 16 - New York Liberty at Indiana Fever
Clark will make her home debut in a star-studded matchup.
She'll step onto the court in Indiana for the first time to face the defending Eastern Conference champion New York Liberty, who feature some of the league's top stars in reigning MVP Breanna Stewart and sharpshooter Sabrina Ionescu.
Ionescu led the league with 128 three-pointers made last season. Clark might challenge her for that title this season.
The two teams play an early season home-and-home, with Clark and the Fever playing at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn on Saturday, May 18, a game that will be nationally televised on ABC.
May 25 - Indiana Fever at Las Vegas Aces
Clark gets her first look at the team in the midst of a WNBA dynasty.
The Las Vegas Aces have won back-to-back championships and are seeking to become the first team to three-peat since the Houston Comets won the league's first four titles from 1997 to 2000.
There has been so much demand for tickets to Clark's games in Las Vegas against A'ja Wilson and the Aces that the team moved its July 2 matchup with the Fever from the 12,000-seat Michelob Ultra Arena to the 20,000-seat T-Mobile Arena.
June 1 - Chicago Sky at Indiana Fever
It's the ring-finger rematch, but this time on the WNBA stage.
LSU star Angel Reese was selected No. 7 overall in Monday's draft by the Chicago Sky, setting the stage for her first professional matchup against Clark. The two, of course, met in each of the last two NCAA Tournaments, with Reese leading LSU to a win over Clark and Iowa in the 2023 national championship game and taunted Clark late in the game by pointing at her ring finger to celebrate the ring she was about to win.
Clark then led Iowa to victory in the rematch between the two teams earlier this month in the Elite Eight.
The next chapter in their rivalry will be written in June.
The game also provides Clark with a rematch against Kamilla Cardoso, who helped South Carolina defeat Iowa in this year's national title game. The 6-7 center was selected No. 3 overall by Chicago on Monday.
July 30 - Indiana Fever at Phoenix Mercury
The GOAT vs. The Rook.
At least that's how the Phoenix Mercury are promoting the game for the matchup between Clark and the WNBA's all-time leading scorer Diana Taurasi.
The 41-year-old Taurasi has been quite vocal about Clark's upcoming arrival in the WNBA. During ESPN's alternate broadcast of the semifinal matchup between Iowa and her alma mater UConn, Taurasi said she would take Huskies guard Paige Bueckers with the No. 1 overall pick over Clark.
Taurasi then issued a warning for Clark and others set to enter the league.
"Reality is coming for you," Taurasi said. "You look superhuman playing against 18-year-olds but you're going to come with some grown women that have been playing professional basketball for a long time. Not saying that its not going to translate because when you’re great at what you do, you’re just going to get better. But there is going to be a transition period where you're going to have to give yourself some grace as a rookie, and it might take a little bit longer for some people."
We’ll see how long it takes the Rook.
