Seattle Storm player Lexie Brown has been in the WNBA since 2018 and won a championship with the Chicago Sky in 2021. In recent years, she has noticed how much the culture and image of the WNBA has changed since Caitlin Clark arrived in 2024.
“Has this changed the way people view the WNBA? Absolutely. I think unfortunately our value, the respect that we have is directly related to how much money we make and it’s not rocket science to see that since her arrival, and the rest of this 2024 class, the WNBA has skyrocketed. I’m not going to act like it’s not a coincidence,” Brown told PK Press Club Digital.
“I think people are taking the league more seriously, I think people are taking us more seriously as professional athletes. And I think if you look at it as a culture change, I would say absolutely.”
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Caitlin Clark of the Indiana Fever is defended by Lexie Brown of the Los Angeles Sparks during the first quarter at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana on May 28, 2024. (Justin Casterline/Getty Images)
Brown admitted that injuries and her battle with Crohn’s disease kept her off the field the past two seasons during Clark’s rise, playing just 40 games total since 2024.
Yet Brown witnessed the phenomenon and controversy firsthand as a competitor.
“Do I think there have been instances of excessive physicality? Sure,” Brown said when asked about on-field play involving the 2024 draft class. “But I think it happens in every league, to rookies, to young players, I think it’s just the competitive nature of things…I feel like if you watch the season, you can draw your own conclusions about it. I’ve seen a lot of other plays excessive during my years.”
Brown highlighted the time she suffered a concussion during a case of “excessive physicality” during her third season, as a member of the Minnesota Lynx.
“It happens unfortunately,” she said.
Clark’s 2024 entry into the WNBA catalyzed record viewership, sold-out arenas and financial growth for the league.
But along with that growth has come a viral debate over on-field fitness and media coverage, particularly among the many new fans Clark has brought to the sport. A few times during his rookie year, Clark suffered violent contact from some opponents. Each of these moments sparked heated debates on social networks.
“She was a rookie that came in and is super talented and was number one in everyone’s scouting reports. So you’re going to have the best defender, you’re going to have the most physical, and I think that was just something she’d never seen before. And over the course of a year, she adapted and got used to it,” Brown said.
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“It was hard at first for her to deal with that learning curve, those growing pains, and you know, I think her fans were kind of a little turned off by the physical side of the WNBA, but I think like I said before, they allowed her to grow and learn through it, and she came out on top.”
Brown herself has developed a complex dynamic with the hordes of new fans who have come to the WNBA since Clark’s arrival.
“There’s now a greater separation between the fans and the players…we’ve been like a niche, a small community, a tight-knit community for so long, and the WNBA has finally moved into this, like the mainstream sports media space, which is all we’ve been asking for. Maybe we wouldn’t have this new CBA, we wouldn’t have these new contracts without it,” she said.
“So I’m not going to say I don’t appreciate…these eyes, these new viewers have changed a lot of our lives.”
But Brown says one of the things she’s had to deal with amid the growth of WNBA fandom is the questioning of her validity as a WNBA player, amid her battle with Crohn’s disease and past injuries.
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Lexie Brown of the Seattle Storm poses for a portrait during media day at the BECU Storm Center for Basketball Performance in Seattle, Washington on April 22, 2026. (Steph Chambers/Getty Images)
“I think it’s because this explosion of interest in the WNBA from new eyes has happened over the last couple of years and I’ve basically not existed on the court because I’ve been dealing with Crohn’s disease and then last year I just didn’t get a chance to play. There’s been a lot of eyebrows raised as to how I got here if I still deserve to be in the WNBA, why I’m still on a roster with limited minutes, limited playing time, limited points per game and the general lack of empathy and sympathy,” she said.
“For me, it’s just about having a little more empathy, understanding that myself and so many other players in this league are more than statistics.”
