"When It's Hot, You Got To Milk It": Olden Polynice Says WNBA Missed Caitlin Clark Opportunity

Olden Polynice believes the WNBA missed a chance to make Caitlin Clark's arrival even bigger. The former NBA and Clippers center says the league put Clark straight into difficult matchups instead of easing her into the WNBA spotlight. Polynice made the comments on the TFU Podcast, where he recalled his long connection with the league. He said Clark was already a major attraction before entering the WNBA and felt the league could have used that attention differently from the start.

Olden Polynice Points To Caitlin Clark's Difficult WNBA Start

Polynice said Clark's first two scheduled games came against Connecticut and New York, two teams that were already among the league's strongest. “You cannot have her play her first two games against the top two defenses if you're trying to get fans,” Polynice said on the podcast.

The actual opening stretch was even tougher. Indiana lost its first four games, facing Connecticut twice and New York twice. The Fever lost 92-71 to Connecticut, 102-66 to New York, 91-80 to New York and 88-84 to Connecticut.

Still, the WNBA did not control the original matchup choices around Clark alone. The league released the 2024 schedule in December 2023, months before Clark entered the draft. What it did control was the amount of national attention around her, and that part quickly became impossible to ignore.

Caitlin Clark's Arrival Changed The WNBA Spotlight

The numbers showed just how much attention followed Clark into the league. Her WNBA debut against Connecticut drew about 2.1 million viewers, making it the league's most-watched game in nearly 23 years. Clark scored 20 points despite Indiana's 92-71 loss.

The WNBA also put 36 of Indiana's 40 regular-season games on national broadcast or streaming platforms in 2024. That was a huge jump from the Fever's 2023 schedule and gave Clark a much larger stage from the moment she arrived.

Polynice also connected Clark's arrival to changes around the league, including better travel. “When it's hot, you got to milk it,” he said. The WNBA announced a full league-wide charter program in May 2024, saying the move was tied to the league's growth and player-first plans.

Clark's arrival clearly brought a bigger audience, but Polynice also pointed toward the players who had already helped build the league. His comments leave a bigger question about how much of that new attention could have been used to introduce more fans to the WNBA beyond one young star.