The similarities between the WNBA’s takeoff in popularity is incredibly similar to the takeoff of the NBA in the early 80s. Picture this, the year is 1980, 16 of the 23 NBA teams are broke or losing money. Most of the franchises would not exist if CBS hadn’t broken them off 800 thousand dollars to stay running. On the television front, there were only 7 televised games nationally. The NBA was on the brink of financial collapse. Enter 2 rookies. One Black, one White. Two college superstars from 2 different walks of life who unfairly represent demographics of Americans. Their names were Magic Johnson and Larry Bird. You see, Magic and Larry had this bitter on the court rivalry that left fans taking that rivalry off the court. In 1979 Magic and the MSU Spartans defeated Larry and his small school Indiana State in the National Championship game. This was and is still the most watched college basketball game of all time. Magic, the city kid who represents the urban lifestyle defeated Larry, the middle of America farm boy. It was an unfair, artificial political statement that people clung to and joined sides. The rivalry didn’t stop there. The next NBA draft saw Larry get picked 1st by the Boston Celtics and Magic get picked 2nd by the Los Angeles LAkers. The popularity and rivalry of the 2 basically saved the sport with media TV deals. Within 3 years the NBA secured a 4 year 600-million-dollar deal. I believe this same phenomenon will be found in the WNBA with the Caitlyn Clark and Angel Reese rivalry. It’s the exact same story; an up-and-coming league faced with financial problems saved by the race aspect of 2 up and coming superstars. On June 13th, 2025, the WNBA announced it signed an 11 year 2.2-billion-dollar media rights deal. I believe that the discussion around the rivalry between Angel Reese and Caitlyn Clark will have the same impact that the Rivalry of Magic Johnson and Larry Bird.
The similarities are oozing out. Besides the fact of race and skin color. The stories in general are incredibly similar. One from Urban America, the other from Rural America. The personalities of all 4 players are similar. Until recently Caitlyn Clark was labeled as “humble” or “hard working”, typical stereotypes of people from rural America while Reese was labeled as cocky, flashy and unapologetic. Similar to the stereotypes most athletes would be labeled coming out of urban or inner-city areas. Magic and Bird had these EXACT same labels placed on them. The truth is, just like Magic and Bird, Reese and Clark both are legendary athletes with tremendous amounts of confidence and downright swagger. The fact that one of them gets ridiculed for having confidence and the other is not, speaks to media. But this paper isn’t about race in the media. Another similarity is their college experiences. Magic played on a loaded MSU team that pretty much walked their way to the national title victory, the same can be said with Reese and the LSU tigers squad. In contrast, Bird and Clark played on teams where they were definitely the main focal point of the other team. Not saying that Reese and Magic weren’t legendary players, but any objective basketball brain could see that their teams were superior. Thats not to say who was better, I believe that although Magic had a better team, he was better than Bird. I don’t know if I feel the same to say Reese is better than Clark, but some could make the argument.
Situationally, the leagues that the players are entering are very similar. The WNBA has been around since 1997, its now 2025, so that makes 28 seasons of WNBA basketball. The NBA was founded in 1946, with Bird and Magic entering in the 1979-1980 season. Roughly over 30 years. Before Magic and Bird entered the league the TV contracts for NBA teams were garbage. Most games weren’t televised at the time it was played, and radio was still a form that people relied on heavily to listen to games. Radio doesn’t bring in as much revenue as TV with ads so getting games on TV is much more important than the radio. In 1979 the year before Magic and bird the NBA made $40 million dollars in revenue. In 1980 after one season with Magic and Bird that number almost TRIPLED to $110 million dollars. By 1995 the NBA revenue passed 1.6 billion dollars for that calendar year. I see this same phenomenon in the WNBA. The WNBA is actually ahead of schedule. It took the NBA about 30 years to be profitable. It is true that the WNBA hasn’t made a profit since its inception, but it’s only been 28 years. In 2019 league revenues were $100 million dollars. The number is projected to be double that by 2026. Assuming that it will grow exponentially like the NBA did now that there are more teams being added and an increase in viewership and revenue with TV deals, I’d expect that number to be closer to $500 million by 2030. The green flag for the WNBA is that no other women’s professional league has survived this long. And the WNBA is doing more than just surviving, it is becoming a lucrative business that fans are actually taking interest in. With the heated rivalries, influx of talent and rise in social media, the WNBA is taking the sports world by storm. And honestly… its right on time considering what the NBA itself had to go through. For the WNBA to keep growing they MUST keep adding expansion teams like the NBA did. The NBA now sits at 30 teams when in 1980, that number was 23. This adds more cities and more fans which results in more viewership. There are currently 13 teams in the WNBA. By 2030, there will be 18. A very exciting addition for cities like Detroit Michigan, Cleveland Ohio and Philadelphia Pennsylvania. Just like the NBA becoming global took the game to new heights, this same thing will occur in the WNBA, it’s just a matter of time.
My only criticism with the WNBA pushing this Caitlyn Clark and Angel Reese “rivalry” is what it will do for their careers off the court, politically. Caitlyn Clark has stated many times that she does not have a political agenda and wants to keep her head down and play basketball. Larry Bird uttered these same sentiments when middle class/ working class rural White Americans tried to make his basketball talents a political statement. This is unfair to the athlete who cannot control what skin color they are. They cannot control and be responsible for the words and actions of people who share a skin color with them. The same can be said about Magic Johnson and Angel Reese. These people are basketball players; they are not politicians. Anybody asking a 20 something year old basketball player to become a political hero is delusional. Magic Johnson does not represent Black America. He is an entertainer, NOT a scholar. Same for Angel Reese, she can have opinions in media but that does not mean that Black Americans should look to her for political guidance. These athletes have an unfair burden placed on them from something that they have no control over. I see a slippery slope of danger in trying to politicize the relationship between the 4 athletes. Most Americans are race obsessed, I will agree and admit there are times when I say that race is involved in everything. Although I still believe that I don’t think that just because a Black or White person is in a position of success, especially as athletes or entertainers, that they should be FORCED to be political. I also will admit that this racial difference between the two athletes and their followers has made for some very good, dramatic, soap opera like tv. The rivalry between the 2 has been a common theme on the internet for years now sparking tension between lots of analysts and regular people who call themselves fans of either one. Well, I’m here to say that it is okay to be a fan of both. It is also okay for a Black person and a White person to be rivals in entertainment or sports without it being racist. The rules of sports are clear and visible. Outside of the sports world is where the rules get blurry. But on the hardwood, the floor will always be 94 feet and the rims will always be 10 feet high. Angel Reese and Caitlyn Clark will be household names in sports just like Magic and Larry. Their impact on the game will be felt generations down just like Magic and Larry.
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