"In the women's game, you have ability to build your legacy": 4X NBA champ LeBron James offers candid take on Caitlin Clark & co. redefining NCAAW

Four-time NBA champion LeBron James has hailed the greatness of Caitlin Clark after her college basketball career came to an end on Sunday night. Her Iowa Hawkeyes lost in the women's national championship game to the South Carolina Gamecocks, who ended the season undefeated.

While Clark will leave without a national championship, she's in possession of the all-time point-scoring record. She will also go down in history books as one of the female players who have been able to change the sport for the better.

One person who recognizes that is James, who, on Monday, praised on Instagram not only Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese for what they have done to help women's basketball but also the players who came before them, like Sue Bird and Candice Parker.

"In the women's game, you have the ability to build your legacy and build your rapport and brand with that fan base, with that community," James said.

"Your watching these girls year after year, continuing to grow. So when you get a popular basketball player to stay on campus 3 or 4 years, I think that it has a lot to do with the popularity of their sport," he added.

James also talked about the longevity that female college basketball players have on one team.

For example: Caitlin Clark spent her whole college career with the Hawkeyes, while Candice Parker and Kelsey Plum had four years with the Tennessee Volunteers and the Washington Huskies respectively.

Staying with one program for a long period of time not only allows the coaching staff to potentially build the team around that player, but it also connects the player with the outside community the college is based in. But there does appear to be another reason behind why players stay with the same program for longer than they do compared to their male counterparts.

There's no "one and done" rule in place for the female athletes, unlike the men. It means that a player like Bronny James can declare for the NBA draft after one season with the USC Trojans, but Caitlin Clark can't do the same after her standout rookie season with the Hawkeyes.

However, like with many things in women's basketball, things may change, and if other female players have rookie seasons like Clark or Paige Bueckers had, this rule may be put into the Collective Bargaining Argrement with the WNBA in 2027.

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The Caitlin Clark effect

Caitlin Clark has been able to revitalise women's basketball this season and turn a sport than did not get any interest from anyone into something that has gained the attention of the entire country.

A prime example of it can be seen by looking at the TV ratings from the women's national championship game between Clark's Iowa and South Carolina.

It has been reported that 18.7 million people watched the game, and it peaked at 24 million. That makes it not only the most watched game of basketball (including the NBA) since 2019, it's the most watched sporting event (outside the Olympic Games and Football) since 2019.

There figures have been caused not only by the increased coverage on the women's tournament due to players like Clark and Angel Reese but also the large improvement in the gameplay that women's basketball now has.

It now resembles a product that has more similarities with the men's game than differences and is highly competitive and entertaining.

Do you think that Caitlin Clark is fully responsible for this massive increase in popularity, or has women's basketball been slowly improving since the likes of Sue Bird and Candice Parker?

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