"She's Steph Curry" - Colin Cowherd rips WNBA 'gatekeepers' for criticizing Caitlin Clark's soaring popularity

NBA commentator Colin Cowherd clapped back at fans for discrediting Caitlin Clark's rising popularity. Since her rise in college basketball, Clark has provided a lot of exposure to women's basketball.

That popularity was carried over to the professional level when she was drafted first by the Indiana Fever in 2024. Her WNBA arrival brought a lot of new fans, increasing the popularity of the league.

However, there have been longtime fans who discredit what Clark has done. Cowherd doesn't like how they've discredited the Iowa star's influence.

On Friday, he addressed those who have overlooked Clark's contributions on his show, "The Herd with Colin Cowherd." The analyst also compared her impact to Golden State Warriors star Steph Curry.

“They (fans) have this gatekeeping mentality.... I’m not gonna apologize for watching when they got really interesting,” Cowherd said. “And I’ve said this about Steph Curry. I love Draymond Green and Jimmy Butler in pods. But if you take Curry out of the Warriors, it’s kind of boring.

“And if you take Caitlin Clark out of the WNBA and her team, it’s not the same. She’s packing now larger arenas. She’s taking and making shots nobody has ever done in the sport, she is Steph Curry.”

Cowherd ended his take by complimenting Caitlin Clark and saying she's a "fascinating player."

WNBA commissioner knows how big Caitlin Clark is

Since her arrival, the WNBA has had an influx of new fans wanting to see how she'll perform. Even the league's commissioner, Cathy Engelbert, knows how influential the star player is.

On the latest episode of "The Bill Simmons Podcast," Engelbert called Clark the "most popular athlete in America."

"It is a balance, but she’s a generational talent. No league is ever about one player, but in this case, Caitlin brought tens of millions of new viewers into the W. And there’s no denying that impact," the commissioner said on Thursday's episode of the show (1:39:19).

However, Engelbert also credited the work that other WNBA stars have put in. According to her, the league seeks to have a balance in promoting Clark and the rest of the recognized stars.

Coming into the 2025 WNBA season, there's a lot of expectation on what Caitlin Clark will do in her second year in the league. Last season, she earned an All-Star nod by averaging 19.2 points, 5.7 rebounds and 8.4 assists.

The Fever star was influential enough that she finished fourth in the MVP race in her first year. However, Las Vegas Aces star A'ja Wilson beat her to it.