Jemele Hill has lashed out at various outlets she claims have created “irresponsible headlines” to highlight Caitlin Clark’s impact on the WNBA playoffs.
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Clark’s time in the postseason was short-lived, as her Indiana Fever were swept in the first round. But one of her playoff games averaged more than twice the viewership of Sunday’s semifinal clash between the New York Liberty and Las Vegas Aces.
Even so, the game was the most-watched semi-final in 22 years, attracting an average of 929,000 viewers, up 60 percent from last year’s semis.
Hill responded to a post noting the above by tweeting the following:
“And yet I keep seeing irresponsible headlines claiming the WNBA playoffs are down because of no Caitlin Clark.”
Clark and the Fever drew a WNBA record 1.84 million viewers in the rookie’s first playoff game against the Connecticut Sun on September 22. The second game brought 2.54 million viewers, which was more than twice the amount of viewers who watched Sunday’s Liberty-Aces fixture.
Jemele Hill Had To Admit That There Would Be More People Watching The Playoffs If Caitlin Clark Were Still In It
While Hill felt the headlines promoting Clark’s impact were “irresponsible,” she did admit that viewership would have been higher if Clark had been still playing.
“Would the ratings be higher if she were in it? Of course,” she added. “But guess what, [an NBA] Finals would rate higher if it were Lebron vs. Steph. Or, if big market teams were in the mix. So what? That’s the headline.”
While Clark’s games have been the most-watched in the playoffs this year, it’s great that the WNBA could draw as many eyes without her involvement.
Meanwhile, the former Iowa star was confirmed as the WNBA’s Rookie of the Year this Thursday, receiving 66 out of 67 votes, with one vote going to Angel Reese.
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