Caitlin Clark's shooting prowess the 'antidote' to fans' criticism of women's basketball, Sue Bird says

Nick Wright grades Caitlin Clark's rookie season heading into the All-Star and Olympic break after she set the WNBA's single-game assist record (19) and explains why she is the unanimous Rookie of the Year.

Caitlin Clark has been the catalyst for a lot of the positives in the WNBA.

Ratings are as high as they were when the league first launched, and overall attendance and interest are on the rise. 

Though Clark is just one part of the growing league, WNBA legend Sue Bird suggested the "negative" stereotypes about women’s basketball have changed because of the Indiana Fever rookie.

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Caitlin Clark (22) of the Indiana Fever shoots the ball against the Dallas Wings at the College Park Center July 17, 2024, in Arlington, Texas. (Cooper Neill/Getty Images)

"Caitlin, in particular her long-distance threes. I always said this. We finally got the antidote to dunking," Bird told the "Good Game with Sarah Spain." "All we heard our entire existence was, 'You guys are boring. You don't dunk. Oh, maybe you should lower the rims. It would be more exciting.' 

"And the thing about the long three is, it is what it is. The distance is the distance. It goes in or it doesn't. It's the same for everybody. So, in a sense, I think she snapped people out of this trance that was very negative towards women's basketball, and now she's brought this huge group."

Clark’s ability to light up the scoreboard in quick spurts has delighted the fan base and drawn more fans to her road games.

Sue Bird of the Seattle Storm reacts after losing to the Las Vegas Aces, 97-92, in the final game of her career, Game 4 of the 2022 WNBA semifinals at Climate Pledge Arena Sept. 6, 2022, in Seattle. (Steph