3 instances of the media hyping Caitlin Clark as Fever star gears up for sophomore year

Caitlin Clark has commanded the spotlight for the past few years now, and she doesn't appear to be relinquishing her grip this upcoming season. To the credit of the Indiana Fever star, she never appears to be fazed by all the attention she's been getting since her college days.

This is nothing short of impressive, as Clark has been relentlessly hyped by the media everywhere she goes. With Clark entering her sophomore year in the WNBA, the buzz surrounding her growth and ceiling has only gotten louder.

Here are three examples of media hype fuelled by the Caitlin Clark effect.

3 times Caitlin Clark has been hyped by the media as 2025 WNBA season draws closer

#1, Excitement generated by Clark's improved physique

In this dominant run that Clark has been having since her Iowa Hawkeyes stint, she has never been an intimidating physical player. Indeed, her extraordinary skills, in particular, her prolific scoring and playmaking, have been more than enough to compensate for whatever she lacks in terms of physique.

As such, when her longtime photographer Bri Lewerke posted pics of her ripped arms earlier this month, the media ate up all this visual content. Bleacher Report retweeted Lewerke's photos, and Fox News wrote about fans' reactions to Clark's physical transformation.

#2, Chatter surrounding the Fever's nationally televised games

On Mar. 21, the WNBA released its national broadcast and streaming schedule for the 2025 season. Most noteworthy in this schedule was the fact that, for Clark and the rest of the Fever, 41 of their 44 regular-season games will be nationally televised.

Naturally, this record-setting number of nationally broadcast games garnered media attention. Outlets like Yahoo! Sports and Sports Illustrated published reports on this feat, which is undoubtedly due to Clark's drawing power.

#3, Projections of Clark's title chances this season

It's one thing for Clark's team to receive plenty of TV exposure. It's another thing for the Fever to be projected as the team to win it all. Notably, this is exactly what Sports Illustrated's Kristen Wong did when she wrote that the Fever is "unarguably a title contender in 2025" in a Feb. 19 piece.

Even more interesting was when espnW posted an interview with WNBA legend Sheryl Swoopes, who claimed that Indiana has gone from a playoff team to "potentially winning a championship" this coming season. Swoopes, of course, has not been so kind to Clark in her past comments, but it appears that the three-time WNBA MVP has climbed aboard the Caitlin Clark hype train.