MICHEL MARTIN, BYLINE: The WNBA, the women's professional basketball league, resumes its season on Tuesday. The W, as fans call it, celebrated its brightest stars during Saturday's all-star game, although megastar Caitlin Clark of the Indiana Fever did not play because of an injury. Still, the midseason break has come at a time when the spotlight is brighter than ever. Games are selling out. TV ratings are breaking records.
Joining us to talk about the season so far and what's changing on and off the court is ESPN analyst - herself a WNBA Hall of Famer - Rebecca Lobo. Rebecca Lobo, thank you so much for joining us.
REBECCA LOBO: Thank you for having me.
MARTIN: So ESPN viewership - up more than 30%. Why now? What do you think's fueling the surge?
LOBO: Indiana Fever games, to some degree. You know, of course, Caitlin Clark and her arrival to the WNBA a year ago certainly helped fuel the ratings across ESPN and other networks, as well. And it's also on the rise for games that don't include Indiana. So people, I think, are really appreciating what these WNBA players can do. The games are exciting. The arenas are exploding. There's just great energy all around, but certainly a big part of that impact has been the arrival of Caitlin Clark.
MARTIN: Who plays for the Fever. She was an Iowa, you know, Hawkeyes standout. And her - I would say Clark, along with players like Angel Reese - people say they've attracted a new fan base that might have only watched men's basketball in the past. Do you think that's true?
LOBO: Yeah, I absolutely do. I absolutely do. I mean, a whole new fan base came into the WNBA a year ago. And that rookie class fueled by Caitlin Clark a year ago - but you mentioned Angel Reese; Cameron Brink, another one - who were just exciting to watch. And people followed them in college, followed them on social media, and then they brought all of those eyeballs to the WNBA as well.
MARTIN: So, you know, the extra spotlight has also brought some friction. I mean, players like Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese have faced online harassment, you know, some booing from the stands. Some people act like this is a sign that the league has arrived, you know, but other people say, excuse me, this is not what I signed up for. This is not why I supported this league all these years. Right? So I'm just wondering if you feel that the league is finding the right balance now with these new eyeballs, without stereotyping women as being fragile and not being able to handle it.
LOBO: Yeah. And I have to say, you know - and granted, I'm insulated a little bit when I'm calling games in an arena because I have the headset on - I have never seen or heard a fan cross the line, which doesn't mean they haven't. I just haven't seen it there. Have I seen plenty of things that are, you know, sort of from bad actors on the social media space and online? Absolutely, that is true. And I think this is a little - something that's a little bit new to the league as of a season ago, and I do know it exists online. And I do know that the league is trying to do what they can to figure that out, to understand it, to manage it the best way they can, because that piece of it's a little bit new.
MARTIN: I would be remiss if I didn't mention the complaints about the officiating. The complaint is that the officiating hasn't reached the same level as the players' skill. Fair or not fair?
LOBO: You know, I think there are certain areas where things in the WNBA rules-wise need to change, in terms of it's a much more physical game than what we see in college. You know, when I talked to coaches about that specific thing - and I was in contact with many of them after Stephanie White, the Indiana Fever head coach, earlier this season, made a complaint about the officials. And many of the head coaches I spoke to said it needs to get better. The biggest thing, I think, is that there needs to be a systematic way that the officials call games that changes, where they don't allow as much physicality off the ball, they don't allow as much physicality as players face the basket on the ball, kind of the way that they call the games in college.
MARTIN: Any wistfulness on your part as a person who helped build this league? Do you - is there a part of you that thinks, gosh, you know, why didn't we get this?
LOBO: No, no part of me at all. I am just so happy and thrilled for these players. I understand how fortunate I was to play at a time where there was a league. I graduate college, play in the Olympics. The following year, in 1997, the WNBA starts. There were so many incredibly talented women who came even a couple of years before me who never had any opportunity because there wasn't a WNBA here. I am - I feel so grateful for the part that I played in it. And I am so thrilled for these young women now who are getting an opportunity to have the attention and sort of the respect that the generations before them did not.
MARTIN: That is Rebecca Lobo, ESPN analyst, Hall of Famer. Rebecca Lobo, thank you so much for talking with us.
LOBO: Thank you so much.
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