Pierce gets unexpectedly intense about Caitlin Clark’s greatness

Paul Piece doesn't think we'll see another WNBA player in his lifetime, the retired NBA player said on SPEAK June 20. As Pierce pointed out, until Clark was drafted the league hadn't yet seen a player who was the face of the league from day one of their rookie season, and it's not likely another one will come around anytime soon — at least, not as long as Clark still in the picture.

Pierce also shot down the idea that JuJu Watkins could enter the league with the same degree of fanfare. "And we're not going to see this again in our lifetime," he said, ."I'm going to be like somewhere in heaven on the beach."

The energy and attention that surrounds Clark is "different," Pierce added. "I know JuJu is great, but she didn't get the fanfare out of college that [Clark] got. But it's beyond talent — it's not just talent. It's her swag."

In other words, yes, the Caitlin Clark effect is alive and well, but the 23-year-old hooper's appeal to fans and even to people who don't typically or frequently watch the WNBA comes down to who she is as a player on the court, and who she is in her downtime. People just love to watch her do what she does, and Clark has no problem delivering over and over again.

Fans seem to agree with Pierce

It certainly seems Clark's fans completely agree with Pierce's assessment. On Friday, June 20, the WNBA announced the Fever star currently leads the fan-driven portion of All-Star voting — so far, Clark has over half a million votes. The Lynx's Napheesa Collier is in second place with 484,758 votes.

After Clark and Collier, the top 10 is Aliyah Boston (446,961), A'ja Wilson (394,600), Breanna Stewart (367,819), Paige Bueckers (312,920), Kelsey Mitchell (277,664), Sabrina Ionescu (234,684), Lexie Hull (217, 438), and Kiki Iriafen (213,500).

Clark is also making the Fever a destination for WNBA stars

Clark has had another major impact on her team: her talent and popularity is drawing the league's top athletes to the Fever in part due to her ability to sell out arenas and bring huge viewership numbers to any game she's in — or any game she's on the sidelines for.

This will be especially clear during the offseason, when the WNBA will experience a period of free agency that will see the vast majority of players available. The Fever will likely be on the receiving end of a lot of interest from players who want to maximize their opportunities, and who want to play the uptempo kind of game that Clark excels at.