Fans have followed Caitlin Clark throughout her year at each transfer destination, during her time at Iowa and during her rookie season with the Fever.
In January, Rutgers University sold out its women's basketball games for the first time since 2006.
During both Indiana and Liberty games at Barclays Center, fans crowded around Clark, waiting to get as close as possible to the WNBA star as she finished warming up and signed autographs.
The Fever saw a 265 percent increase in attendance, The Athletic reported. Reported last month.
And for former women's basketball player and coach Nancy Lieberman, the presence of those fans makes the Caitlin Clark effect similar to the Taylor Swift effect.
“It doesn't matter who people like at this point,” Lieberman said. He spoke during an appearance on SiriusXM on Friday.“Kaitlin Clark. She's the Taylor Swift of women's basketball now. Her fans are like 'Swifties'. They're incredibly loyal. You go into any arena and half the people there are fans with her jersey on. She's a media superstar, but she's backed that up every step of the way.”
Swift, a 14-time Grammy Award winner, has sold out venue after venue throughout her Eraser tour, and that same enthusiasm from fans cheered her on during her win on Thursday night and Friday night. Eat dinner at Lucali in New York.
Lieberman recently revealed on “The Stephen A. Smith Show” that she ended her friendship with former WNBA star Sheryl Swoopes due to a Clark-related altercation over her collegiate scoring record, but said Clark's numbers — two triple-doubles and a WNBA-leading 8.4 assists per game — were a way for her to live up to the expectations that followed her from college to the pro level when the Fever drafted her No. 1 overall.
There were growing pains at first.
Clark struggled with turnovers and the Fever struggled to win games for the first month-plus of the season.
But in recent days, the team has won seven of their nine games since the Olympic hiatus, climbing the ranks and qualifying for the postseason, and Clark is averaging 19.0 points per game and competing with the Sky's Angel Reese for the WNBA Rookie of the Year award.
“When your teammates like you and love you, you know you're doing something right,” said Lieberman, a basketball Hall of Famer. “Everyone adored her at Iowa, and they really, really love her at Indiana.”
“So why attack her? Why do that? Just appreciate the greatness she brought to the game.”
