The WNBA GM survey raised eyebrows this week, with some slights against Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark. The survey is 42 questions answered by league general managers, and they are prohibited from voting for their own team. The Dallas Wings’ Paige Bueckers was the player that GMs would like to start a franchise with, over Clark and Las Vegas Aces’ A’ja Wilson. On top of this, the Fever didn’t receive a single vote for championship favorite, despite making the semifinals while their superstar was injured for much of last season. There’s an anti-Clark bias that pervades the league, and this attitude only hurts the WNBA.
How The WNBA GM Survey Is A Joke
The fact that Bueckers is the WNBA general managers’ preferred choice to start a franchise with over Clark and Wilson is laughable. The Wings went 10-34 last season despite some stellar performances from their Rookie of the Year. One would think that Clark would be valued much higher considering her dramatic impact on the league in only two years, including her effect on attendance, merchandise, and CBA negotiations. This doesn’t even account for her high-level play on the court, which earned her fourth place in MVP voting during her first WNBA season. Bueckers simply doesn’t move the needle for fans as the Indiana Fever superstar does.
What makes the survey even crazier is that the Fever is not a consideration for the league championship. Indiana went 24-20 and made the WNBA Semifinals in 2025, with Clark only playing 13 games due to injury. The Aces are undoubtedly the best team in the league, but not to see the Fever on the same level as the Liberty and Dream is insane. A healthy Clark makes Indiana an elite team, and it’s baffling how WNBA GMs don’t see that.
The opinion of general managers isn’t the only thing that works against Clark. There have been many instances where officials swallow their whistles and let her take an absolute beating from opponents. If this were the NBA, fans and other players would be losing their minds over their star players not getting calls. A convincing argument could be made that allowing rough play resulted in some of her injuries. The WNBA needs to do a better job of protecting its superstars like every other sports league, so that ratings don’t tank when they’re missing from the playoffs.
This bias against Clark is confusing to most fans. When a league has a generational talent like her, they normally go out of their way to prop up those megastars. The NBA had no qualms about doing this with Michael Jordan or LeBron James, and the sport was better for it.
Clark is taking the WNBA to places it could only dream of reaching prior to her arrival (and has a long way to go yet), and the league needs to take full advantage of this opportunity. Players who’ve been in the sport for years probably resent her for doing what they could never do, but WNBA decision makers having this attitude is only holding the sport back from what it could be.
