There are notably just a few names that have named Caitlin Clark to their Mount Rushmore of athletes. There is boxer Leanna Cruz, NFL’s Tom Brady, and now most recently, Cooper Flagg. Brady even had Angel Reese in the mix, and that surely raised more than a few eyebrows. Yet, none of these athletes are naming Clark or Reese for titles won or stats piled up – because neither has a professional championship under their belt yet. So, the reason? Influence. But here’s the thing. Just yesterday, we at EssentiallySports covered how this pressure can take a mental toll. Being etched into a metaphorical Mount Rushmore, a space usually reserved for seasoned legends, brings with it an avalanche of expectations. And for players still adjusting to the demands of the pro world, that’s a lot to carry.
“I might put Caitlin Clark on there, just because she’s changed the game so much and it’s heading in the right direction,” Flagg told the media recently. “I just love what she’s been able to do.” The other names on his list? Candace Parker, Brittney Griner, A’ja Wilson. So, for Clark, who’s completed just one full WNBA season, to be mentioned alongside them speaks volumes. But as journalist Jack McCallum put it, “Clark has made a Jordan-esque impact right away.” And he wasn’t exaggerating.
Just look at the numbers. Indiana Fever’s ticket sales jumped from 227,979 in 2023 to a jaw-dropping 643,343 in 2024. League-wide attendance? Up 44%, the biggest leap since the WNBA’s early boom in the late ’90s. And TV viewership? Clark’s regular-season games averaged 1.2 million viewers, a staggering 199% increase compared to games without her.
But let’s not forget: Caitlin Clark is just 23.
Celebrating her achievements is more than fair, but burying her under a mountain of expectations? That’s another story. Maybe that’s why Paige Bueckers’ answer, which some took as a snub, actually felt refreshingly grounded. On the latest episode of the Nilosophy podcast with Deja Kelly, Bueckers was asked who she thought the best player in the WNBA was. Her response: “Right now, Imma say Napheesa and A’ja.”
Paige Bueckers snubs Caitlin Clark while Cooper Flagg loves her
Paige chose A’ja Wilson and Napheesa Collier as the best players in the WNBA. Cooper Flagg, meanwhile, has Caitlin Clark as one of his GOATs.
Full podcast: https://t.co/wxG1rMPhZs pic.twitter.com/XQQmtysLUc
— HI-CLIP (@HiClipEdits) June 28, 2025
Definitely not surprising! The duo of Napheesa Collier and A’ja Wilson went head-to-head for MVP last season, with the latter ultimately walking away with her third. This year, too, Collier has been leading the league in scoring and is currently the favorite to win the MVP. But when you read “Paige Bueckers snubs Caitlin Clark,” you are instantly reminded of something Bueckers said just a few days ago.
Before the Wings faced off against the Fever on Friday, Bueckers shared her thoughts on the pressure Clark deals with. “The pressure that she’s put on every single night to perform at the level that she does, it’s inhumane, really, to expect people to be perfect and to not have off games or off nights,” Bueckers said. So, not a snub for sure.
Maybe it’s time for us to approach young athletes with a bit more grace and leniency. After all, they also want to feel like regular 22- or 23-year-olds. As Caitlin Clark put it last year, “I’m only 22 years old. I feel younger than that at times. I’m trying to navigate moving to a new city by myself. I’m trying to navigate playing in a new league on top of everything else that’s come with it”.
So, Clark’s crown is already heavy, and we shouldn’t add to that the gems and stones she didn’t ask for. And not everything one says has to be overread. That said, it’s not just Clark that Flagg is fond of.
Cooper Flagg admires the athlete in Paige just as much
Just a few months ago, things were looking grim for Dallas basketball fans. The Mavericks had shocked the NBA world by trading away Luka Doncic to the Lakers, leaving a gaping hole in the heart of their roster. Over in the WNBA, the Wings were coming off a dismal 9-31 season, statistically their worst since relocating to Dallas in 2016.
But April brought a sudden shift in momentum. On the 14th, the Wings made a franchise-defining move by selecting UConn standout Paige Bueckers as the No. 1 pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft. Just eleven days later, fortune smiled on the Mavericks, who landed the top pick in the NBA draft lottery. That pick turned into Duke’s Cooper Flagg, officially selected on Wednesday night.
Bueckers, now a rising face of the Wings, didn’t waste any time welcoming Flagg to town, sending him congratulations. Flagg returned the gesture the next day during his introductory press conference as Dallas’ newest star. “She’s great,” Flagg said. “I went on a visit to UConn, I was able to meet her and talk a little bit. She’s a great person, she’s had an incredible career so far.”
It seems like Dallas days are back both in the NBA and the WNBA.
The post Cooper Flagg’s WNBA Mount Rushmore Comments About Caitlin Clark in Contrast to Paige Bueckers’ Latest Take appeared first on EssentiallySports.
