Caitlin Clark returned to the WNBA world and basketball fans' television screens over the weekend as she made her preseason debut for the Indiana Fever.
It was quite the showcase, too, as the game was held at Clark's collegiate home of Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa against the Brazilian national team. The former Hawkeyes superstar showed out for the crowd, scoring 16 points with a few classic Caitlin Clark highlights mixed in there.
The anticipation for her return to the floor, especially in that setting, was so high that the preseason contest drew massive ratings. ESPN VP Flora Kelly said on Tuesday that 1.3 million viewers tuned into ESPN's broadcast of the game—numbers that only LeBron James has proven capable of producing for preseason games in recent memory.
Per Kelly, of the 57 NBA preseason games ESPN has broadcast in the last 15 years, only two recorded higher viewership than Clark's debut on Saturday. Both games featured James, in 2017 and 2018.
It thusly serves as everybody's first reminder that Clark belongs on the highest of superstar tiers as far as public interest goes. Over a million people were willing to watch an exhibition contest against a non-WNBA team, so clearly the impact Clark had on ratings last season isn't set to wane anytime soon.
Clark's sophomore season in the WNBA is officially underway, and there will be plenty of eyes on the superstar as the Fever's regular-season opener approaches.
More WNBA on Sports Illustrated
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Caitlin Clark’s Preseason Debut at Iowa Put Up LeBron-Like Ratings.