Caitlin Clark’s WNBA poster snub has fans puzzled

Caitlin Clark left Wednesday night’s Indiana Fever loss to the Phoenix Mercury with a back injury. It’s another setback for the superstar who also received some harsh treatment during the contest when Alyssa Thomas knocked her to the floor with some extra gusto. No foul was called on that play, setting off another round of discussion online about the way the rest of the league treats the Face of the League.

Clark is arguably the biggest name and has the biggest following of anyone who has ever played in the WNBA. Yet she’s been right in the crosshairs of opponents who tend to affect a Bad Boys Pistons style of resistance against her. Then there’s the idea that the WNBA does not do enough to promote Clark.

WNBA poster does not feature Clark

There’s more fodder for that discussion after the WNBA released a commemorative poster this week celebrating the league’s 30 years. The poster featured all the team logos and some of the best players to lace them up, but Clark was noticeably absent.

It’s a perplexing decision as a handful of current players, like Angel Reese and Clark’s Fever teammate Sophie Cunningham appear on the poster. Such a glaring admission has generated way more interest in the offering but also opened the league up to some armchair quarterbacking on the marketing strategy.

Should Clark be on the poster?

To state the obvious it does not make any sense that a person cannot find Clark among the featured players. Heck, it feels like someone would just start with Clark at the very beginning and work backward from there.

At the end of the day, we’re talking about a commemorative poster here so people will move on to the next thing. Yet at the same it does feel like the conversation about Clark and where she fits into the league will continue for her entire career. Things have not gone exactly the way many thought they would go when she brought her college following to the professional level.

Look, the criticisms may be unfair. The very fact that they exist, though, does not seem good for the league and its quest to grow the game. A contrarian may say that the perceived tension has actually amplified fan engagement and passion. Time will tell.

It is worth noting that Clark was far from the only enormous figure in WNBA history to miss the cut.

The good news is that, with the passage of time, the number of players who get to have their pictures on these types of thing will grow. It’s only a matter of years until every deserving one is represented.