"Kobe Bryant with a ponytail": ESPN's Wright Thompson makes bold comparison for $3.1M NIL-valued Caitlin Clark ahead of March Madness
Caitlin Clark is statistically one of the greatest players ever to play college basketball. The guard from the Iowa Hawkeyes women's team, who has a NIL value of $3.1 million according to On3, holds the all-time scoring record, and her abilities have put women's basketball into the national spotlight.
On Saturday's episode of the "Dan Patrick Show," college basketball analyst Wright Thompson was asked to describe Clark to someone unfamiliar with her. Thompson would describe her as:
"She's Kobe Byrant with a ponytail."
Thompson compared Clark's impact to what the likes of Kobe Byrant and Michael Jordan, two legends of the game, have done.
For the hypothetical uneducated fan that Thompson described Clark for, this will easily make them believe that she is one of, if not the, best women's basketball players ever, and she hasn't even taken her first steps in the professional league.
But is this comparison appropriate? Is Caitlin Clark Kobe Byrant "with a ponytail"?
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Caitlin Clark is similar to Kobe Bryant
In relation to the recognition and the impact of the two players on the sport from a wider cultural perspective, they can easily be compared.
Among his many feats, Bryant coined the term "Mamba Mentality," which has influenced many athletes outside the basketball world and the world of sports.
While Clark doesn't have a comparison to this, she has been able to rapidly alter many fans' perception of women's basketball, at times giving the sport more coverage from the media than what the men's game has.
However, the two athletes cannot be directly compared to each other due to the large differences between the men's and women's games (which Clark has helped reduce). Bryant also did not play college basketball, as in 1996, when he was drafted, players were allowed to enter the NBA directly from high school.
Can Caitlin Clark win a national championship?
Clark has the opportunity to do something that Kobe Byrant never had the opportunity to do: Win a college national championship.
On Saturday, this quest begins as her No. 1-seeded Iowa Hawkeyes face the 16th-seed Holy Cross.
All eyes will be on Clark, as they have been all season, to see if she can help the Hawkeyes record what should be an easy victory.
Read More: Is Caitlin Clark playing today vs Holy Cross? Looking at Iowa guard's availability for 2024 NCAA Tournament