Caitlin Clark continues to spark conversation about her stardom this offseason

Whenever the topic of "women's sports" came up in the past two calendar years, the conversation revolved around one person-- Caitlin Clark.

Whether the conversation referred to the surge of women's basketball success, the emergence of new stars in women's sports, or the sudden appeal that female athletes now play in pop culture, it seemed inevitable that Clark would come up in one way or another.

Now that the WNBA season is over, the landscape of women's basketball is changing. The new 3v3 league, Unrivaled, is set to tip off its inaugural season in January, the WNBA is expanding to 13 teams with the addition the Golden State Valkyries, and this year's WNBA draft class will include another wave of highly-anticipated stars like Paige Bueckers, Kiki Iriafen, and Hailey van Lith.

With all these changes, the topic of conversation now revolves around... Caitlin Clark.

Earlier in November, NBA broadcaster Mike Breen mentioned Clark's impact on women's sports during a broadcast of Knicks vs. Pacers. Breen commented on Clark's stardom, saying she was doing "what Michael Jordan, LeBron James, and Steph Curry have been doing for the NBA."

On Wednesday's edition of the Bill Simmons Podcast, Simmons and guest Chuck Klosterman hailed Clark as "a bigger under-30 star than any under-30 star in the NBA."

"Her stardom, in a way, has changed many conversations about sports," said Klosterman. "Especially women's sports."

Simmons went on to explain that his personal experience with consuming women's basketball media had a lot to do with Clark, mentioning that her play style was more exciting to watch. Clark, known for her ability to hit deep three-pointers, has received many comparisons to Curry and what he has done for the way the game is played at the NBA level.

NBA personality Rachel DeMita released her own podcast episode in reaction to this take, mentioning the comments opposing Simmons and Klosterman's claim. Most comments brought up NBA stars under 30-years-old, like Spurs center Victor Wembanyama, Hornets guard LaMelo Ball, and Grizzlies guard Ja Morant. DeMita referenced a fan-made chart comparing Clark to those young NBA stars, which shows that the search engine results favor Clark.

"I would go out on a limb here and say when it comes to fandom, when it comes to hype, when it comes to viewership... I think that the only couple players that might be ahead of are players like LeBron James and Steph Curry," said DeMita.

"The way that changed the WNBA and the way that she changed the sport's landscape in general is like nothing that we have seen in recent history," said DeMita.

The full clip is included below:

Clark has announced that she will not participate in Unrivaled with fellow Fever teammates Aliyah Boston and Lexie Hull, reportedly turning down a $1 million contract offer from the league. All of this anticipation building around the reigning WNBA Rookie of the Year will be put on hold until the 2025 WNBA season begins in May.