ESPN Facing Backlash For Caitlin Clark's Player Ranking For 2026
The 2026 season won't officially begin until May 8, but Indiana Fever fans are already quite annoyed with ESPN's WNBA coverage.
In honor of the WNBA's 30th season, ESPN's crew of Kendra Andrews, Kareem Copeland, Charlie Creme and Michael Voepel ranked the top 50 players currently in the league. To the surprise of absolutely no one, they had four-time MVP A'ja Wilson ranked No. 1 overall.
Alyssa Thomas, Napheesa Collier, Breanna Stewart and Jackie Young managed to grab the last four spots in ESPN's top five.
Interestingly enough, ESPN had Caitlin Clark ranked No. 10, which puts her behind Paige Bueckers, Allisha Gray, Sabrina Ionescu and Kelsey Plum. Although she's been great when healthy, she only appeared in 13 games during the 2025 season. That had to impact her ranking in some capacity.
"Clark received the fourth-most MVP votes as a rookie while setting a single-season league record for assists and posting the second-most 3-point field goals in a season," Copeland wrote. "She became one of the league's best passers and long-range shooters the moment she stepped onto a WNBA court, and was just getting started when she was named Rookie of the Year and first-team all-WNBA in 2024. Injuries limited her to only 13 games in 2025, but she was still named an All-Star."
Indiana fans were quick to express their disappointment with ESPN's rankings.
"There aren't 9 players better than CC," one fan declared.
"Paige Bueckers, Jackie Young, Sabrina Ionescu, Alisha Gray even Alyssa Thomas are not above CC," a second fan said. "What is this nonsense?"
"Disrespect her & use her image to get clicks," a Fever fan commented. "I get she was out injured last year, but she still got MVP in Olympics. While Im on a roll, of course you disrespected AB & Kelsey Mitchell too."
"I love Paige, but how is she ahead of CC after one yr? Caitlin's rookie year was better than hers if we're going based off one season. Literally none of the four players ahead of CC make any sense," a social media user wrote.
Caitlin has something to prove.
Clark proved her worth in March by winning MVP during the FIBA World Cup qualifying tournament in San Juan, Puerto Rico. She averaged 11.6 points and 6.4 assists per game for Team USA.
"Caitlin is Caitlin," Fever star Aliyah Boston said, via ESPN. "Yes, she was out with injury, but when we were at USA together, she looked like herself. And I feel like that made me just so happy, because, one, having an injury is hard. And missing a season is hard. But being able to come back, turn the page and be ready to go -- I mean, that's Caitlin."
Since entering the WNBA in 2024, Clark has averaged 18.5 points, 8.5 assists and 5.5 rebounds per game. There's no doubt she's a game changer.
The Fever will begin their 2026 season on May 9 against the Dallas Wings.
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This story was originally published April 30, 2026 at 12:18 PM.