Is Caitlin Clark The GOAT? Rebecca Lobo Says No But Who Cares? Just Enjoy Clark In College One Last Time Today

If you ask 10 different people who the greatest of all time is in the sport of basketball, you might (but I doubt it!) get 10 different answers.

If your answer is anything other than Michael Jordan, you were either born five minutes ago, or, well, you are sorely mistaken.

Chicago Bulls star Michael Jordan dunking during All Star Weekend in Seattle on Feb. 8, 1987. (Photo by Andy Hayt/Sports Illustrated via Getty Images)

Just kidding. But the point is, this is a question that may elicit quite a few different opinions. 

Likewise, there is no official criteria as to what it takes to be considered a G.O.A.T.

It’s kind of a matter of opinion, fun fodder for discussion and debate among sports fans and experts.

But according to ESPN analyst Rebecca Lobo, there actually IS a very important piece of criteria that will either include athletes in the discussion, or eliminate them immediately.

CLEVELAND - ESPN's Rebecca Lobo speaks to the media ahead of the 2024 NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament Final Four at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse on April 4. (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)

This whole debate via Lobo got ginned up because of superstar Caitlin Clark, the all-time leading scorer in NCAA basketball history (men’s or women’s). Although beyond popular with fans, many of whom do consider her the G.O.A.T of women's college basketball, Clark tends to draw some very polarizing (and even sometimes nasty) opinions from the talking heads.

ALBANY, NY - Caitlin Clark of the Iowa Hawkeyes celebrates after the win against the LSU Tigers during the NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament on April 1. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)

Some people (Jemele Hill) think Clark gets added attention and better TV coverage because she’s white. Others (Paul Pierce) are surprised that "a White girl in Iowa" can hang with Black players so well.

Now Lobo is piling on, in a way. 

Last week on ESPN’s "Get Up," Lobo said that there is no way Clark could ever be considered the "greatest of all time" in women’s college basketball because she will never have won "multiple national championships."

Lobo pointed to legendary players such as UConn’s Breanna Stewart and Diana Taurasi, who won four and three national championships respectively, and Tennessee’s Candace Parker, who won two national championships.

L to R: Diana Taurasi of Connecticut ((Photo by Elsa/Getty Images), Breanna Stewart of Connecticut ((Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) and Candace Parker of Tennessee ((Photo by Kevin C.  Cox/WireImage) 

I don’t hate this argument. But I don’t love it either.

Sure, being the best player on a team that experiences significant levels of sustained success is impressive. Multiple national championships are impressive.

But by this logic, the only players who would ever be considered G.O.A.T material are those who come from uber elite programs such as Connecticut or Tennessee.

And that is probably A-OK with Lobo, a former UConn star.

But I’m not sure that it is OK with me to have "multiple national championships" be the deciding criterion for being the G.O.A.T (or not) at the college level.

At the pro level, sure.

Professional sports franchises are built for nothing more than winning. And with a relatively small number of roster spots available across the pro leagues, only the best players in the world are involved.

So every professional sports team has the potential to be a really good team. A championship team.

And usually, a team with a G.O.A.T type of player will eventually find a way (by spending enough money and making enough key transactions) to surround that very special player with enough talent that multiple championships can be won.

(Think Michael Jordan starting his career with the hapless Chicago Bulls and finishing as part of a six-championship dynasty.)

Michael Jordan holds up six fingers for each Chicago Bulls championship as he addresses the crowd at the Petrillo Music Shell at Grant Park on June 16, 1998, in Chicago. (Chuck Berman/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

This is not to say that college teams aren’t built for winning.

But there are so many other factors involved.

There are so many colleges out there for players to choose from, and maybe, just maybe, a player who would typically consider a UConn (like Clark) wants to go to a different college instead because that other college offers the major he or she wants, or is closer to Mom and Dad, or is a family legacy school, or is where friends are.

So not every potential G.O.A.T. is going to automatically sign with a perennial title contender.

Or maybe, a G.O.A.T caliber player (like Clark) wants a challenge, wants to try to take a program that has never won a national championship (like Iowa) to the promised land rather than step into a program (like UConn) that is ready-made for yet another championship.

Actually, I think transformative players make for an interesting debate in the G.O.A.T discussion.

The ability of a player to elevate a program from decent or reputable or even really good to national championship threat or even national champion is very impressive.

IOWA CITY, IOWA- Caitlin Clark and her teammates celebrate during the second round of the NCAA Women's Basketball Championship at Carver-Hawkeye Arena on March 25.. (Photo by Matthew Holst/Getty Images)

That’s what Clark has done at Iowa. Without Clark, Iowa is a strong Big Ten program, that may (or may not) win a conference championship.

With Clark, Iowa is a certain national championship contender.

Isn’t that a G.O.A.T-worthy accomplishment, Rebecca Lobo?

Breanna Stewart is a strong adversary for Clark in the contest for the G.O.A.T of women’s college basketball. Besides winning four national championships, Stewart was also named the Most Outstanding Player in the Women’s Final Four…four times.

Can’t argue the merits of those credentials. Stewart was (and still is in the WNBA) an amazing player. 

But, I bet you Stewart played with more all-Americans and top-rated recruits in just one season at Connecticut than Clark has ever played with at Iowa over her entire four-year career, combined.

And yet, here is Clark, helping Iowa play for a national championship today.

And she did it by setting all kinds of national personal records along the way that may not be touched by someone else for years, decades even.

That, in my opinion, is G.O.A.T. material, too.

So, Lobo can have her opinion about the G.O.A.T of women’s college basketball, but that’s really all it is. An opinion. One opinion. 

There are so many variables at the college level, and so many credentials that factor into the G.O.A.T. discussion, some of which will weigh heavier with some people, and some that will weigh heavier with others.

How can we really ever decide who the G.O.A.T. is…and quite frankly, who’s to say that someone just as impressive, or even more impressive than both Stewart and Clark combined. won’t show up on our radars next year, or five years, or 10 years from now?

That’s why, in many ways, crowning people G.O.A.T. is actually kind of silly.

Caitlin Clark…in an Iowa uniform one last time today. Enjoyi it! Photos: L to R: Gregory Shamus/Getty Images, Jason Miller/Getty Images, Steph Chambers/Getty Images

I think we should all just simply enjoy  - for one last time today - the fact that we are witnessing in Clark one of the greatest, if not the greatest of all time, depending on your opinion, that the game of women’s college basketball has ever seen. 

As fans of basketball, we have been lucky to be in her orbit these past few years.