Caitlin Clark. Adam Bettcher/Getty Images
Caitlin Clark is changing the trajectory of women’s basketball with her record-breaking stats and long-range shots — and celebrities are taking notice.
The senior Iowa Hawkeyes guard averaged 32 points per game during the regular season, and in March she became the NCAA Division I all-time leading scorer across men’s and women’s basketball, breaking a 54-year-old record. In April 2024, Clark was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft, when she was picked in the first round by the Indiana Fever.
Clark led the Hawkeyes to a nail-biting victory over LSU — a team with another WNBA-bound All-American star, Angel Reese — in the Elite Eight game on April 1, and she will face off against Paige Bueckers of the UConn Huskies on April 5.
The Iowa/LSU matchup attracted over 12 million viewers, becoming the most-watched women’s college basketball game in history, per ESPN. Clark’s talent has fueled an unprecedented interest in women’s basketball. Schools that host Iowa see attendance increases upwards of 150 percent compared to their other home games, and women’s college basketball is averaging a bigger audience than its men’s counterpart, increasing 60 percent across all networks.
Everyone is talking about Clark — from the president of the United States to Ted Lasso himself. Keep scrolling for a look at Clark’s biggest celebrity fans, including Jason Sudeikis, Travis Scott, Joe Biden and Ice Cube:
Jason Sudeikis
Sudeikis stars on the Apple TV+ sports comedy Ted Lasso and is a longtime fan of women’s sports. The SNL alum showed his support for Clark and the Hawkeyes at the April 1 Elite Eight game, cheering on the team and even making the “you can’t see me” gesture after Clark hit a big shot in the game. (Clark and Reese have imitated the iconic John Cena gesture in previous games.)
This was the second Iowa game Sudeikis attended this season, and the actor is a frequent attendee of WNBA games as well. After Iowa’s 94-87 victory over LSU, Sudeikis was seen embracing Clark and even posing with the team in a celebratory photo.
The official March Madness women’s basketball Instagram account shared a clip of Sudeikis showing off his Togethxr brand sweatshirt reading “Everyone Watches Women’s Sports” after the game. Fans flooded the comments with requests for a Ted Lasso spinoff featuring a women’s soccer team.
Travis Scott
The rapper boasts over 55 million followers on Instagram, but Scott is not afraid to fanboy over Clark. Scott attended a Hawkeyes game in early March, cheering on Caitlin and posing with the team after the game.
It’s 𝗹𝗶𝘁 🔥@trvisXX x #Hawkeyes pic.twitter.com/EBgWB9IIfn
— Iowa Women’s Basketball (@IowaWBB) March 3, 2024
Just like Us, Scott was also on the edge of his seat during the Iowa/LSU matchup. The Grammy-nominated musician shared his thoughts via X during the April 1 game. “This game got me like 😬😬😬😬😬,” he wrote. “Let’s go it’s turrrnntttt.”
Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis
When Clark broke the all-time NCAA scoring record, the Big Ten Network gathered some of her biggest admirers to wish her congratulations in a video posted via YouTube.
Two of those fans, Hollywood power couple Kutcher and Kunis, couldn’t contain their excitement for the Iowa player. “Caitlin!” the pair exclaimed at the beginning of the video. “We just want to say congratulations on breaking the scoring record,” Kutcher said, while Kunis added, “You did awesome!”
Tom Brady
Brady joined in on the celebration for Clark and contributed his own congratulatory message to the Big Ten Network video.
“I just wanted to say congratulations on the record,” Brady said. “Like the rest of the country, I’ve been following along while you chase down my girl Kelsey [Plum], but I know she’s proud of you too. We love witnessing greatness here.”
Brady owns a stake in the Las Vegas Aces, for which Plum, the former NCAA women’s basketball leading scorer, now plays.
“Keep your head down, go finish the job, and I’ll be watching,” Brady added. “Good luck!”
Eli and Peyton Manning
The football legends added their own messages for Clark in the Big Ten Network video following her record-breaking game.
“Congratulations on an amazing accomplishment,” Eli said. “It’s been so impressive to watch you perform throughout your career.”
The former New York Giants quarterback added, “Although, if I’m being honest, your accuracy from long range has made a lot of other quarterbacks look pretty bad. Yeah, just letting you know that. Anyways, congratulations again. I can’t wait to see what’s next.”
Peyton, who played quarterback for the Indianapolis Colts and the Denver Broncos, made his own congratulatory comments.
“I just wanted to say congratulations on breaking the all-time scoring record,” Peyton said. “Look, when I played, I hated settling for three points, but you’ve actually turned me into a huge fan of the three. Not an easy task, and I know you’ve inspired millions of other people along the way.”
President Joe Biden
When Clark became the NCAA’s all-time leading scorer, even the president chimed in to share his congratulations.
“Congratulations to Caitlin Clark on making history as the NCAA all-time leading scorer,” Biden wrote via X, sharing Iowa Women’s Basketball’s video of Clark. “With 3,685 points and counting, you’ve made your school proud.”
LeBron James
One of basketball’s greatest players of all time also shared his congratulations to Clark via X.
“CONGRATS @CaitlinClark22 on becoming the All-Time leading scorer!!” James wrote.
The Lakers star also attributed women’s basketball’s rise in popularity to players like Clark in an April 3 interview. “I think the popularity comes in with the icons they have in the women’s game,” James said. “You look at Angel Reese, you look at JuJu [Watkins], you look at Caitlin Clark, you look at Paige. You look at the young girl that’s at Iowa State, the freshman there [Audi Crooks]. You look at [Cameron] Brink at Stanford. And that’s just to name a few.”
“You’re able to build a real iconic legacy at a program,” continued James. “That’s what we all love about it. We love the girl’s game because of that moment you actually get to see those girls [build that]. … Yeah, Iowa was a great team. Caitlin Clark is the reason we tuned in.”
Billie Jean King
One of the biggest advocates for gender equity in sports and the legendary winner of the “Battle of the Sexes,” the former tennis star raved about Clark to ESPN.
“My favorite athletes are those who are champions in sports and champions in life, and Caitlin Clark is one of those athletes,” King told the outlet. “She is the hottest star in basketball — all of basketball, and not just women’s basketball — and with that comes a heavy responsibility to be a leader on and off the court. She gets it, and that is part of the reason she will have an opportunity to be one of the best in her sport and a role model for future generations.”
Stephen Curry
Just like Clark, Curry’s game is based on his three-point shooting skills. The Golden State Warriors point guard is a seven-time three-point scoring leader, and is one of Clark’s role models in the game of basketball. The NBA star has shared his admiration for Clark on multiple occasions.
“Caitlin’s special,” he told ESPN in February. “The record speaks for itself, and it’s cool. From a scoring perspective, from a shooting perspective, just doing what she’s doing. She could pick anybody that she talks about in terms of being an inspiration. If she models something of her game after me, I don’t take that for granted.”
Curry elaborated on Clark’s skill one month later, calling her games “must-see TV.”
“I’ve been watching from afar and understanding just how much of a power she is out there on the court,” Curry said on CBS Mornings. “The cool part is the way that she plays, and her range, and the level of difficulty on her shots is obviously a very close comparison to the way that I play. But I think it almost robs her of like the rest of her game because she’s such a good floor [general], she has her overall floor game. She’s racking up close to triple-doubles every night. Her shooting ability is her superpower, but the rest of her game is as polished as that, so this is must-see TV.”
Maya Moore
Clark has said that growing up, her basketball hero was Moore, an Olympian and UConn and Minnesota Lynx alum. For Clark’s Senior Day against Ohio State on March 3, Moore surprised the Iowa player. In a heartwarming video posted by ESPN, Moore embraced Clark outside the Iowa locker room.
“It’s a full-circle moment,” Moore said of Clark naming her as an inspiration. “I remember being 10-year-old Maya going up and hugging Cynthia Cooper or one of the legends. Just to see that we’re still continuing to be able to be connected, to be inspired by each other, to be family, I love the connection.”
Clark went on to recall a childhood memory of approaching Moore and asking her to sign her T-shirt at a basketball game.
“It is so cool to see little seeds like that of how we treat each other, how we enjoy each other, how we see each other and what that means,” Moore added. “And now [Clark’s] grown up and look at her. I’m just so proud.”
Tim McGraw
When the country singer stopped in Des Moines, Iowa, as part of his Standing Room Only tour on March 21, he gave Clark a shout-out by sporting her jersey throughout the show.
“When in Iowa…. Had to represent!” McGraw wrote via X alongside a photo of him donning her jersey with jeans and a cowboy hat. “Big year for @CaitlinClark22 and @IowaWBB.”
Ice Cube
The rapper made headlines when it was leaked that he offered Clark $5 million to play in his pro basketball league, BIG3.
“We intended the offer to remain private while Caitlin Clark plays for the championship. But I won’t deny what’s now already out there: BIG3 made a historic offer to Caitlin Clark,” he wrote via X. “Why wouldn’t we? Caitlin is a generational athlete who can achieve tremendous success in the BIG3.”
Ice Cube continued: “The skeptics laughed when we made Nancy Lieberman the first female coach of a men’s pro team, and she won the championship in her first year. Then Lisa Leslie won it all in year two. With our offer, Caitlin Clark can make history and break down even more barriers for women athletes. America’s women athletes should not be forced to spend their off seasons playing in often dismal and dubious foreign countries just to make ends meet.”
The current maximum salary in the WNBA is $250,000 (compared to the NBA’s maximum salary in the hundreds of millions).
Lil Durk
Another rapper joined Ice Cube in his confidence in Clark, offering to double the original $5 million offer.
Lil Durk took to X to make his own offer to Clark, writing, “I got 10 million come play with my 3.”
The Chicago rapper previously shared his awe of the Iowa player during the Elite Eight game on April 1, writing simply, “Omg Clark,” via X.
Serena Williams
The tennis icon praised Clark at the June 2024 premiere of her ESPN+ docuseries, In the Arena: Serena Williams. “I love that she tries to stay grounded,” Williams told reporters at the event, per the Associated Press. “She says she doesn’t look at her social [media]. I get it. I don’t either. I think it’s so important to just continue to do what she’s doing. No matter what other people do. If people are negative, it’s because they can’t do what you do, basically. Hopefully she’ll continue to do what she’s doing.”
