Magic Johnson admires how Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese are handling the glaring spotlight of expectations and living up to the moments with record-setting performances while uplifting a professional basketball league as rookie stars.
Johnson knows firsthand what that’s like; he and Larry Bird did it 45 years ago in the NBA.
Now it’s Clark and Reese pushing the WNBA to new heights after being drafted first and seventh overall this year.
“Those two, especially Caitlin, are definitely a direct (cause) for what’s going on,” Johnson, the retired Los Angeles Lakers great who is now the majority owner of the WNBA’s Los Angeles Sparks, said in a phone interview with The Associated Press. “They’ve changed college basketball. The ratings don’t lie, the numbers don’t lie. Then we see it right now, probably more Caitlin than Angel, coming into the league because she’s selling out arenas.
“Caitlin is drawing 19,000. Angel isn’t there yet, but I’m sure she’ll get there.”
Clark’s Indiana Fever lead the league in road attendance, averaging more than 15,000 fans away from home. On Sunday night, a sellout crowd of 17,071 attended the Fever’s game against the host Phoenix Mercury. Indiana’s game Tuesday night in Las Vegas against the Aces, the WNBA’s two-time reigning champions, was moved to the bigger T-Mobile Arena and was nationally televised.
Reese’s Chicago Sky are second in road attendance, averaging nearly 10,500, which is 4,000 more than they averaged last season. Johnson’s Sparks, with rookies Cameron Brink — the No. 2 draft pick’s season is already over due to a torn ACL — and Rickea Jackson, are just behind Chicago, also averaging more than 10,000.
Johnson is keenly aware of the record-shattering TV ratings the NCAA tournament matchups between Clark’s Iowa Hawkeyes and Reese’s LSU Tigers generated. Now, as a WNBA team owner, he pays close attention to how Clark and Reese are bolstering league merchandise sales and viewership.
AP photo by Adam Hunger / LSU’s Angel Reese, left, and Iowa’s Caitlin Clark, right, pose for a photo before the WNBA draft on April 15 in New York. Clark was selected No. 1 by the Indiana Fever and Reese was picked seventh overall by the Chicago Sky.Johnson and Bird helped set viewership ratings when they met in the 1979 NCAA championship game that featured Michigan State and Indiana State. The rivalry between Johnson’s Lakers and Bird’s Boston Celtics was a catalyst for the NBA to reach the heights it currently enjoys.
“I think what we were able to do, the NBA was down, we were able to change it forever,” said Johnson, whose first NBA championship victory against Julius Erving and the Philadelphia 76ers was not broadcast live in 1980 but aired on a tape-delayed replay. “We also put the madness in March, because that (NCAA tournament title) game is still the No. 1 watched game all-time, Indiana State versus Michigan State.”
Games featuring Johnson and Bird were big NBA draws in the 1980s and their matchups also became must-see TV.
Now both Clark and Reese are WNBA road draws, with some of their games being moved to larger arenas to accommodate ticket demand. When the teams met in Chicago for the first time on June 23, it was the highest average price for a WNBA ticket in the past decade, with seats going for $351, according to the ticket marketplace Vivid Seats.
And just like Johnson and Bird, Clark and Reese have turned the battle for rookie of the year into a two-player race.
Clark entered Tuesday averaging 16.2 points, 6.9 assists and 5.7 rebounds per game. Reese has set the WNBA record for consecutive double-doubles in a single season with 10 straight and is leading the league in rebounding. She has per-game averages of 13.3 points and 11.4 rebounds.
Former NBA star Dwyane Wade said what’s also impressive is that Clark and Reese are doing all this with the added attention of social media — something Johnson and Bird didn’t have to do deal with.
“You have fan bases drawn to Caitlin Clark because of who she is and what she represents, and you have fan bases drawn to Angel Reese because of who she is and what she represents, which brings in more attention, more sellouts, more jersey sellouts,” said Wade, who also has a vested interest in the women’s success as a part-owner of the Sky.
The interest in Johnson and Bird helped raise the salaries for all NBA players. Johnson sees a similar opportunity for the women with the WNBA looking to sign a new TV deal after next season.
“It’s great for the women’s game. It’s the most excited I’ve been because I see the game growing,” Johnson said of the Clark-Reese rivalry. “Before we didn’t have the growth. But now we have the growth. These two certainly are helping.”