Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
USA Today Sports Media Group
USA Today Sports Media Group
Sport
Cory Woodroof

Magic Johnson compared Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese to his and Larry Bird’s generational impact on the NBA

NBA legend Magic Johnson confirmed what a lot of people have been thinking about star WNBA rookies Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese on Monday.

Johnson compared the two’s ongoing ascent and their impact on basketball to what he and NBA great Larry Bird sparked in the 1980s with the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics, respectively.

It feels like Johnson adding credibility to this comparison gives it real, meaningful weight for how important the Clark and Reese dynamic is to the league and to basketball overall.

To Johnson, the entire sport is being lifted by the two playing each other and using those matchups to sharpen their iron and further establish their legend.

“When I think about Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese’s impact on the game, they remind me a lot of Larry Bird and me,” Johnson wrote on Twitter (X).

“Our first meeting, Indiana State vs. Michigan State, in the NCAA Championship set the all-time viewership record for men’s basketball. Caitlin and Angel’s 2023 NCAA Championship matchup and their 2024 Elite Eight games were the highest viewership records at the time.”

He also pointed out how those two are leading to drastic surges in interest for the WNBA like he and Bird achieved with the NBA during their primes.

“Larry and I heightened the NBA’s overall popularity. The Lakers and Celtics sold out arenas throughout the league and increased television viewership exponentially,” Johnson wrote. “The higher viewership numbers led to the NBA signing significantly larger TV contracts which then led to higher salaries for the players.

“Caitlin and Angel are now doing the same thing, selling out arenas and increasing the viewership. They have taken women’s basketball by storm and with expiring TV deals on the horizon, the WNBA is now in a position to negotiate higher TV contracts and increase salaries for all of the talented players.”

 

Johnson also specifically praised Reese for her dominant performance for the Chicago Sky on Sunday in their victory over Clark’s Indiana Fever.

For as long as this rivalry goes, the sport will be all the better for it. As Johnson astutely points out, these two are forging some serious goodwill for basketball by playing each other and thriving in the process.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.