Caitlin Clark is not getting any mention in a list of the most influential people by TIME Magazine gets a callout by analyst and critic Colin Cowherd, as he likened Clark’s impact to women’s basketball to how some of the greatest athletes impacted their respective sports.
In one of the recent episodes of his program “The Herd,” analyst Colin Cowherd shared his honest insight on TIME Magazine giving Caitlin Clark a snub in their “Top 100 Most Influential People of 2025” list.
“Caitlin Clark to the WNBA, and they set all-time ratings records, if Caitlin Clark’s not in this, the list is nonsense,” Cowherd said. “Who did the list? TIME magazine? And there’s no Caitlin Clark? That’s idiotic. That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever seen.”
“If Caitlin Clark’s not in this, the list is nonsense”@ColinCowherd reacts to @CaitlinClark22 being left off the Time Magazine Most 100 Influential People list pic.twitter.com/mhcDYbBvqa
— Herd w/Colin Cowherd (@TheHerd) April 16, 2025
Cowherd then recalled how the appeals and popularity of Caitlin Clark revolutionized the NWBA during her rookie season, as the league saw record-breaking viewership, ticket sales, and even merch sales.
With this, the analyst compared Clark to the greatest across sports, such as Billie Jean King for tennis, Tiger Woods for golf, and Michael Jordan for men’s basketball.
“In the history of American sports, [and] if you talk about league-changing athletes in America, Tiger [Woods] in golf, Michael Jordan in basketball, Caitlin Clark. The WNBA, it was being subsidized by the NBA. They were going to small arenas, they flew on commercial flights.”
Caitlin Clark Keeps WNBA Viewership Record
Caitlin Clark’s 2024 WNBA Draft remains the most-viewed draft in league history, with an average of 2.45 million viewers tuning in to witness her selection as the No. 1 overall pick by the Indiana Fever. Her incredible college career and widespread popularity contributed to the increased hype for the event and drew a never-before-seen number of fans from across the country.
In comparison, Paige Bueckers’ 2025 WNBA Draft, while highly anticipated, fell short of surpassing Clark’s record. The event averaged 1.25 million viewers, making it the second-most viewed draft in WNBA history. Despite Bueckers’ star power and her NCAA championship win with UConn, the viewership numbers highlighted the unique draw of Clark’s draft.
For some fans and analysts alike, the decline in viewership does not necessarily show any decline in interest, but rather only a testament to how Clark’s popularity and crowd pull is a phenomenon that is not easily replicated.
During the 2025 draft, the Indiana Fever drafted rookies to play alongside Caitlin Clark, such as Makayla Timpson, Bree Hall, and Yvonne Ejim.
For more basketball content, click on Hardwood Heroics. Sabel Reyes can be reached through [email protected]. Other websites under the Sports Heroics umbrella are Gridiron Heroics and Wisconsin Heroics.
Sabel has been working as a field reporter for People’s Television Network (PTV), mainly about the Philippine Basketball Association since 2016 and has been elevated to Executive Producer for sports in 2022. Aside from being on top of the Philippine sports scene, she is also a running enthusiast. You can also follow her on X at @SabelReyes2 and Instagram at @msabelreyes.
