In the precarious world of professional sports, success is the universal goal. More viewers, more ticket sales, and more revenue are the metrics that define a league’s health. By every conceivable metric, the WNBA is not just healthy; it’s experiencing an unprecedented, explosive boom. Yet, behind the sold-out arenas and record-breaking television ratings, a toxic “civil war” is brewing, threatening to tear the league apart from the inside [15:30]. The catalyst for both the boom and the bitterness is the same: Caitlin Clark.

While the league grapples with a blinding wave of “jealousy louder and bitterness deeper” [00:24] than ever before, one of its most decorated legends just stepped onto a national stage to deliver a “Picasso of logic” [13:48]. Candace Parker, a two-time MVP and one of the most respected minds in the game, just did what the league’s front office and its “old guard” have been unwilling to do: she spoke the truth, and in doing so, she may have provided the only logical path out of this self-destructive spiral.

The conflict is simple: the WNBA is in the midst of the “Caitlin Clark Effect,” an undeniable phenomenon, and a significant portion of the league establishment resents her for it.

First, one must understand the sheer scale of Clark’s impact. This isn’t a gradual rise; it’s a seismic shift. We all saw the historic spike in ratings last season [01:48]. This year, it accelerated. A preseason game pulled in 1.3 million viewers [02:26]. Her regular-season opener drew 2.7 million, the most-watched WNBA game in 25 years [02:41]. She is, as one analyst stated, “likely the most popular athlete in America period” [01:41].

But the most damning evidence of her value came when she was absent. After Clark was sidelined with an injury, ticket prices for an upcoming Fever game “plummeted 300%” [03:06]. The league, which is reportedly banking on a new collective bargaining agreement, was just served a “rude awakening” [18:08]. Projections estimate Clark will generate over a billion dollars in revenue for the league this year alone [03:26]. She is, by all business logic, the “golden goose” [19:21].

The league’s response to this golden goose has been, bafflingly, to “shoot itself in the foot” [03:45]. Instead of embracing the person fueling this growth, there is a clear and present “resentment” [04:12]. This bitterness starts at the very top. WNBA Commissioner Kathy Engelbert penned a piece for the Harvard Business Review where she, according to critics, “bent over backwards” [07:38] to credit everyone but Clark. In the article, Engelbert reportedly lumped Clark in with other rookies, diluting her singular impact [08:32] in what many saw as a “constant scramble to hand out gold stars to anyone but her” [08:53].

This top-down refusal to acknowledge the truth is mirrored by a disturbing double standard in how the league handles “hate.” After Clark’s debut, the league launched a high-profile investigation into alleged “hate speech” from fans, a rumor that was later deemed “100% false” [04:35], [05:04]. Yet, while the league postured over a non-existent controversy, it has remained “completely silent” [05:30] on the very real, “hateful and threatening” [05:46] attacks being launched daily at Clark, her fans, and her teammates.

The vitriol has been shocking. According to reports, players have had their photos circled with a “bullseye” accompanied by the words “It’s on site when I see you” [06:07]. These are “actual threats” [06:13], not just criticism. The discourse has devolved to such a grotesque level that fans on X (formerly Twitter) recently accused Clark of “using her assistant coach’s baby as a prop” [06:35]. The video’s narrator put it bluntly: “Kathy Engelbert, ‘no space for hate,’ where are you right now?” [07:02].

Into this chaotic, illogical, and “dangerously close to self-destructing” [19:27] ecosystem stepped Candace Parker. Her appearance on First Take alongside Stephen A. Smith, one of the few mainstream voices willing to call the resentment “jealousy” [12:02], was a masterclass in perspective.

Parker began by addressing the very premise of the jealousy, revealing that she is asked “so many times” if she is “resentful” of Clark [13:24]—a line that speaks volumes about how deep this toxic narrative runs. Her response should be required reading in every WNBA locker room.

“My job was to leave the game better than I came into it,” Parker stated, cutting to the heart of a legend’s true responsibility [13:31]. She then delivered the most powerful analogy of the entire debate: “You think Cheryl Miller is resentful for me that I had a league to play in? No. She’s being the mentor that she is… and she’s supporting and loving and sitting courtside cheering on Juju Watkins. And I’m doing the same for Caitlin Clark” [13:36].

With that one statement, Parker dismantled the entire “old guard” argument. True legends don’t tear down the next generation; they build the platform for them. She then took aim at the ugly, race-based undertones that have hijacked the conversation. “Let’s keep it about basketball,” Parker insisted [15:11]. She pointed out that this is all “drawing attention to the WNBA in the worst possible way,” painting it as a league “tearing itself apart… unable to celebrate its biggest moment without turning it into a culture war” [15:30].

Parker, like fellow legend Lisa Leslie—who also praised Clark for giving “homage to those of us that have come before her” [16:45]—understands history. She compared the WNBA’s situation to the NBA’s growth. “I don’t think [the old NBA legends] are any… salty that MJ came along and grew the game,” she mused [17:33]. Bird and Magic led to Jordan, who led to Kobe and LeBron. Each generation builds on the last. That is how a league grows.

Finally, Parker brought it back to the one thing the league office should understand: “At the end of the day, it’s about business” [17:48]. Clark, she explained, is “incredible for business,” a “godsend” for getting millions to “sample the product” [18:02]. The good news? The effect is already working. A recent Fever game without Clark still drew 851,000 viewers [18:19]—a number that would have been a blockbuster just a year ago. This proves the “Caitlin Clark Effect” is contagious; it’s spreading to the Fever, and if the league is smart, it will spread to every team [18:41].

The WNBA is at a crossroads. It has a billion-dollar star who is, by all accounts, humble, respectful of the game’s pioneers, and lifting the entire sport [16:28]. Yet, it is choosing to let jealousy and internal bitterness define its “biggest moment.” Legends like Candace Parker and Lisa Leslie have offered a clear, logical, and professional path forward: Celebrate the star. Stop the “culture war.” Keep it about basketball. And protect your “golden goose” with fair officiating [19:14].

The league needs to “stop blowing it” [19:07]. It has to decide if it wants to be a major, thriving professional sports league or a self-destructing ecosystem that, in a fit of jealousy, killed the very thing that gave it life.