LeBron James, a monumental name in the game of basketball, has thrilled the fans for years and, even at 39, he hasn’t slowed down. While breaking records held by the NBA greats and making some of his own which look hard to top, LeBron always looked at the future.
The said future could be about his son, Bronny’s career decisions or his own, or even of budding talents around the US basketball circuit. One such rising name in the game is Caitlin Clark, on whom King James has given his verdict, discussing the impact she made on the exponentially growing women’s game.
LeBron James talks on growth of women’s basketball
Sitting at the top of most of the NBA record lists, LeBron makes sure he keeps a tab of everything happening in the hoop fest. A glimpse of that was spotted when LeBron James talked about the growth in popularity of women’s b-ball.
During a postgame interview, when the 4-time NBA champion was asked about the massive popularity that women’s basketball has gained recently, Bron said, “I think the popularity comes in is the icons that they have in the women’s game.”
The 20-times All-Star took the names of NCAA sensation, Iowa’s Caitlin Clark, LSU’s Angel Reese, Trojans’ JuJu Watkins, UConn’s Paige Bueckers, Cyclones’ Audi Crooks, Cardinal’s Cameron Brink, and Notre Dame’s Hannah Hidalgo as the faces behind the shift in commercialization.
LeBron James believes the popularity of the women’s NCAA tournament this year compared to the men’s is the “icons” involved in the women’s game. But he pointed out the Catch-22 of those players growing their profile because they’re prevented from being one-and-done. pic.twitter.com/h1VZXhIwd7
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) April 4, 2024
Continuing the praise, King James added, “They are not allowed to go to the (W) NBA, I think. They have to stay all four years. … You were able to build like a real like iconic legacy at a program, and that’s what we all love about it. That’s what we all love, and we love the girls’ game because of that moment.”
The ESPN viewership of women’s college basketball tournament has recorded gigantic numbers and the Lakers great believes the reason behind pulling the hoop enthusiasts are the leading ladies who have been phenomenal with their performances and received praise from many known faces in the NBA.
Luka Doncic also praised Caitlin Clark
Awed by the insanely talented Caitlin Clark, the Dallas Mavericks’ star Luka Doncic made a bold statement in a pre-game interview on Tuesday.
Before appearing for a battle with Stephen Curry, the Slovenian guard claimed to have found the female counterpart of the Warriors’ leader. While praising the shooting abilities of Clark following her heroics against the LSU women, Doncic said, “The women’s Steph Curry”. Since the Iowa guard has often been compared with sharpshooter Curry, it was not something new. However, the 2024 MVP contender went on to add “She can shoot it better than me”.
Dallas Mavericks’ Luka Doncic says Iowa’s Caitlin Clark ‘can shoot it better than me’ https://t.co/DCbQR6vZOO
— Brad Townsend (@townbrad) April 3, 2024
On Monday’s game against the Tigers, Clark scored nine 3s tying the earlier set record in the NCAA Tournament. The guard is averaging 46% shots from the field, 38% from the 3-point range and 86.2% from the free throw line this season.
With the constant comparison drawn between Stephen Curry and Caitlin Clark, we might get an opportunity to see the two in a special crossover on All-Star weekend like this year as Clark is expected to join the WNBA next season once her Iowa career comes to an end.
