The WNBA didn’t change overnight, but according to Lexie Brown, it didn’t stay the same either after April 15, 2024. Every now and then, a player enters the scene and changes the way a league is viewed. Caitlin Clark was one such arrival as she carried attention, expectations and a different kind of spotlight with her. Within just weeks, it was clear that the landscape of the league had changed.
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So now, Brown, who has been in the league long enough (since 2018) to see how the WNBA was viewed now vs then, is opening up about the effect Clark’s arrival had on the league, which was always considered the NBA’s counterpart.
In an interview with Fox News Digital, the 31-year-old started with how Clark was received when she first entered the league.
“She was a rookie that came in super talented and was number one on everyone’s scouting report,” Brown said, pointing out the level of physicality Clark had to deal with early on. But for Brown, that was never out of the ordinary.
Lexie Brown breaks down how the WNBA has changed since Caitlin Clark came into the league and brought a wave of a new type of fans.
WNBA player Lexie Brown, who was the subject of recent viral affair rumors with NBA star Klay Thompson, spoke out to me against Klay for not disputing the rumors himself. Lexie says she has received death threats and even her family has been harassed after the rumors started.
“I think it was just something that she had never seen before. And as a year went on, she adjusted and got used to it… So I think you know it was hard at first for her to deal with that learning curve, growing pains,” she added, noting that Clark eventually adjusted and “came out on top.”
However, the bigger takeaway by the Seattle Storm guard wasn’t this. It was about what came riding on her back after she entered the league.
“Has it changed how people view the WNBA? Absolutely,” Brown said. “It’s not rocket science to see that since her arrival and the rest of that 2024 class, the WNBA has skyrocketed.”
Since Clark arrived, the massive jump in visibility that the WNBA saw is off the charts. But to put things in perspective, because of her,
- The Indiana Fever is set to have all of its 44 regular-season games nationally broadcast, something no team in league history has had before.
- League attendance saw a nearly 50% rise on average
- The Fever vs the Chicago Sky (in 2025) set the record for regular-season viewership with 2.7 million.
So do you think that kind of exposure happens by accident? The short answer is no. Analysts and fans have labelled this phenomenon as the “Caitlin Clark Effect”, which has redefined the WNBA.
“I think that people are taking the league more seriously. I think people are taking us more seriously as professional athletes, and I think if you consider that a culture shift, then I would say absolutely. We had a lot of people who would never watch WNBA basketball before,” Brown added.
While it will not be fair for the rest of the players in the league to be credited for the historic 2026 CBA and the media rights expansion, many do believe it was Clark and her massive fanbase which made it all possible. There’s no denying that Clark’s impact is massive but she isn’t the sole reason for the spotlight growing this bright.
