'Caitlin Clark Effect' Evident In WNBA All-Star Voting

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There are so many ways to quantify the effect that Caitlin Clark has on the WNBA. Attendance and TV ratings are through the roof. The league is seeing unprecedented attention on sports talk shows and on social media. 

But one aspect really stood out with the WNBA releasing the All-Star fan voting update last week. A'ja Wilson leads all players with just under 218,000 votes. Clark comes in second at around 216,500 votes. So, you might think, 'Well, if Clark isn't leading, then maybe she isn't as big as we think?' 

You'd be wrong in that assessment and here's why: Last year, after one round of fan voting, A'ja Wilson also led all players. Except she had just 36,000 votes. Yes, in one year, the WNBA's leading All-Star vote-getter after one round went up by over 600%. 

In fact, Wilson's vote total this year is almost equal to the total number of votes cast for all Top 10 vote-getters last year … COMBINED. Last year's top 10 had about 238,000 votes total. 

Caitlin Clark is having a massive impact on every aspect of the WNBA, including the recent first wave of All-Star voting among fans.

Caitlin Clark is having a massive impact on every aspect of the WNBA, including the recent first wave of All-Star voting among fans.

(Kamil Krzaczynski/USA TODAY Sports)

This year, the Top 10 vote-getters in the WNBA have nearly 1.5 million votes. Many have said that WNBA players need to realize that Caitlin Clark is the rising tide that lifts all boats. That's clearly true when looking at the All-Star voting for the WNBA. 

Clark's teammate, Aliyah Boston, is third in WNBA All-Star voting with nearly 172,000 votes. Last year, after one round, Boston was fourth with 23,500 votes. 

Angel Reese ranks seventh in All-Star voting with about 118,500 votes, trailing fellow rookie Clark by nearly 100,000 votes. Now, this round concluded before Reese had the best game of her WNBA career. 

Reese helped the Chicago Sky beat Clark and the Indiana Fever on Sunday with an outstanding 25-point, 16-rebound performance. Surely, that's going to boost her stock among WNBA All-Star voters. 

But any way that you slice it, Caitlin Clark is helping to drive record numbers for all things WNBA. All-Star voting is just the latest example. 

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Dan began his sports media career at ESPN, where he survived for nearly a decade. Once the Stockholm Syndrome cleared, he made his way to OutKick. He is secure enough in his masculinity to admit he is a cat-enthusiast with three cats, one of which is named "Brady" because his wife wishes she were married to Tom instead of him.