Real Talk About The State of Women's Basketball | LeBron James & JJ Redick 

He is right: women’s college basketball has more icons. Staying 3-4 years really helps create fandom and legacy

Caitlin Clark being extremely fun to watch and likable makes for great TV. And the rivalry with LSU brings even more eyes to the women’s game. Men’s college bball doesn’t have any player rivalries like that

I watched more women’s college games this year than all previous years, combined. One reason, Caitlin Clark. Like her or not, she deserves a lot of credit for the growth this year

I been on the women's game since the Taurasi days but when I heard about Paige Buekers in HS and saw her play i was like shiiiiiit I got to see this...then Caitlin exploded and I've been hooked ever since...now next year I'm excited to see Paige get her shine again and see what Juju does.

The Caitlin Clark vs Angel Reese situation brought all the eyes from last season to this season…

Damn, we're getting a episode 4 preview two days before the episode drops!?! I love it and I love how they're talking about all forms of basketball.

Lebron and JJ's theory makes a lot of semse. While i do like mens college basketball players getting the opprotunity to support themselves and have a say in decision making, i do think the trade off is that you don't have that same feel you had before with players becoming college icons being recognized for their respective colleges. With womens college basketball, in the last 3-5 years, you have a lot of icons and brand recognition and it feels great really. This past season was especially the vibe i got as well

I think the Angel Reese Caitlin Clark controversy brought in a lot of attention to the game. Honestly 95% of the people watching the game know nothing about basketball. They are just here for the drama, the allegations, to see the villain be upset, the hero triumph, for their personal values to be affirmed in some kind of way. But not to take away from the talent of the women playing because there are some talented women out there and I am glad they’re finally getting the recognition and respect they deserve.

It’s really cool that LeBron is genuinely a fan of basketball. It’s cool that he’s rattling off all these esoteric college players that he enjoyed watching back in the day.

I think the women’s game is in a unique position because you have the dynasty programs of Tennessee, South Carolina, and UCONN that will get a lot of eyes on the program regardless but you also see these incredible women wether that’s Clark, Hannah Hildago, Cameron Brink, or Juju Watkins try to build incredible legacies for there programs and because of social media we here of these names way more than ever. Also in basketball if you put up crazy numbers you will get attention. The 41 point triple double in the Elite 8 for Clark was such an eye popping number it made you want to watch how she did it and then you see the talent leap off the screen. That’s why going forward the women’s tournament will continue to get a good amount of attention because there are more stars than ever and are spread out over so many programs.

Its funny, JJ is 6'4 and even though they are sitting down, looks insanely small next to Bron

As somone who has been a fan of women's basketball for a long time, I am so happy to see the popularity grow.

People really missed out watching Taurasi in her prime. She was unbelievable

Basketball is indeed not as popular as Futbol, but nonetheless it is a sport played and loved all over the world.

Let’s not fool ourselves…. 90% of the viewers never watched women’s college basketball until Caitlin Clark started breaking records

How are we all forgetting that Paige Bueckers at Ucon really brought the eyes first a couple years ago. Caitlyn is a scoring machine but she wasnt noticed first. Paige losing her whole sophmore year messed it up

5-6 years ago I couldn’t even tell you when the wnba started and finished but now I know players going into the draft. It’s definitely coming up

Imagine if Zion and RJ Barret had played together 3 years in Duke, and many others, how amazing would that be.

Very intelligent answer by both LeBron and JJ on this. The constant transfers and one-and-done on the men's side of things is basically a sing of instability, whereas the women are required to be there for at least 3 years so during that time they get to create a college legacy worth following. JJ is absolutely right that there are no more college basketball icons on the men's side, but the women get a chance to become one (Kelsey Plum, Caitlin Clark, etc)

It's mostly about Clark. Yes, the other reasons are factors to a degree, but the biggest reason is Clark. So let's see those viewership numbers this time next year, because I have a feeling they will not be close to this year's numbers (which would be unfortunate). Simultaneously, let's see how the Fever's viewership grows...

This may be the fastest growing basketball podcast ever. It's been out for like two weeks and it's already at 500k+

Women's basketball is at a all-time popularity space because if the influx of talent at the collegiate and pro level. Caitlin, Paige, JuJu, Angel and Cordoza are stars. So are Stewie, Aja, and Della Donne. Cheryl Miller, Cynthia Cooper, Maya Moore, Diana Taurasi, Candace Parker, Sheryl Swoopes, Chamique Holdsclaw and many others paved the way.

I watched cause of Clark but really enjoyed the fundamental basketball. There was a lot less foul baiting, complaining, and spam 3 pointers. I actually liked it more than a lot of NBA games I watched this year. The only jarring thing is when the girls randomly fall down lmao.

Breanna Stewart doesn’t get enough love because UCONN was dominant before she got there.

Football is the most popular sport by far, but basketball is still pretty popular

They neglected to even mention Zach Edey. Like him or not, he stayed four years at the same school, in a major conference, won back-to-back Wooden Awards for POY, and as a Senior lead his team to the national title game and was dominant throughout the tourney averaging 30 pts and 15 boards in those six games. That's the closest we will come to seeing a men's college basketball "icon" ever again.

Shoutout to Ed Cota

I believe Angel Reese had a lot to do people watching women’s basketball game. Last year when LSU won the championship put women’s basketball on the map. For reason people don’t want give Angel Reese enough credit the popularity she and the whole team created was amazing!!!!!👍👍👍

Say what you want but Lebron James knows his basketball 🏀

Caitlin is the reason why there is such a surge in women's basketball!! Its undeniable!! The ratings have never reach this level before in history!

I loved Ed Cota too. I used to go out in my driveway to practice the Cota Floata 😂

This is my favorite podcast right now Some others I watch are 😊 Podcast P Gil areana All the smoke Carmelo Anthony’s But hearing lebrons insight on the game is so great 😮

Caitlin Clark is growing the women's game!

LeBron was right, I'm up in CT, we don't have our own pro teams, Huskies are king up here. We still follow close by teams for pros like Boston or NY, But it's a big reason some of the best college programs are from states with no pro teams. Alabama football is the same thing.

My school only has one D1 sport (hockey) and we just lost our leading scorer and our goalie to bigger schools, and that's combined with our other leading scorers all running out of eligibility. The portal is tough man :(

it’s hard to get attached to a team when the roster turns over every single year. even with all the 1 and dones, there used to be juniors and seniors that stayed for years and became campus legends. that is pretty much gone outside of a few exceptions (zach edey, filipowski, bacot)

JJ always gets it. He’s such a great analyst ✊🏾

LeBron nails it. I got back to when Ewing was at Georgetown and Ralph Sampson at Virginia. MJ and James Worthy at UNC. Stars being born.

It's a star driven sport really. The last time it was worth watching and religiously following Men's bball was back in 2018-'19 with Zion and Duke.

4:55 - "I fuckin' LOVED Ed Cota." Me, too. Ed Cota was awesome. There's something to be said about the people you remember at the college level, even when they don't transcend into the next level. It doesn't diminish Ed Cota one bit as a college player.

ESPN should be thanking Caitlin, ratings off the charts,,, she was just incredible at Iowa,,, so fun to watch---Lebron gets it too-- just good for the game of Basketball--- better little leagues, more interest, more fun..

What I love about this is that the growth for the women’s sport is organic. It’s not a bunch of people complaining about wanting equal pay without any actions to support it. The sport was fun to watch, and the public responded. Trust me, we would have no problem as a society paying more and giving players in the WNBA more if the sport was this exciting to watch. We’ll see what happens. But I just wanted to point that out that the organic growth is something that is amazing to watch.

I had no idea these two were doing a podcast. Subscribed...

05:43 Was waiting for that question to pop up :D

Shoutout to the women

The only reason i watched the women's final this year is because of Caitlin Clark, she's fun to watch and not annoying.

The growth is also because there are so many fans of basketball that have yet to discover how fantastic women's basketball is. The growth will only continue.

W Early release 🧠🏀 GoodjobMindThegame

I think another thing is that the stigma of women's sports is hugely going down, it isn't criticised nearly as much and real fan bases are starting to form, rather than there just being the existence of a woman's version.

I think the fact men’s college basketball is 1 and done created this opportunity as well. There aren’t men’s college stars like when JJ Reddick was at Duke per say. Almost every college would have a 4 year senior making a run in the tourney now you can’t really get locked in as much cause every year it’s a whole new team damn near

My Mom starting watching basketball because of MJ. My Mom never would ever have imagined she would watch this sport. She started watching him with me during the Bulls playoffs and became entranced. I watched Golden State launching 3s hitting from every direction for how many years...Yes, Curry obviously mainly and I was and still am blown away. Similarly, Caitlin can SHOOT AND ASSIST. Scoring off a quick pass, and can back off from height disadvantages without a problem. I feel like she is a generational talent and is going ro help the sport tremendously.

JJ is spot on!!! It is a trend and I actually think the WNBA right now is approaching where the NBA was in the 80s where they really learn to market their superstars correctly. Clark, Reese, and Brink really have an opportunity here to increase the viewership of the WNBA. That brings more revenue and increases salary. I just hope the execs at the WNBA are prepared and ready. And the current players are going to be open to this new change.

I wore my ed cota jersey all the time😅

simple answer … Caitlin Clark

Back in the day. I followed Pat Ewing at Georgetown, Chris Mullin at St. Johns , Hakeem, Clyde Drexel at Houston. The 80's had great college teams.

The best podcast out here

Agreed. Also, there's so many routes to the nba now. young talent don't look at the ncaa as the be all and end all anymore. Nowadays I'm looking at draft predictions and half of the talent isn't even from college ball. You've got overseas ball, g league ignite and all these other leagues having a crazy influence now.

I think the style of play is also a factor. I watch games and women’s college looks more like 90s basketball than modern NBA. Some people enjoy that. Also, without a ton of money in the women’s sports yet I bet some people feel it’s more “pure”. But I know that money is gonna be coming now

Kobe was paving the way for the women, the four years he was able to spend investing in WBB shouldn't go unnoticed. He helped create a lot of buzz on the west coast and I believe he made the skill level go up greatly. It's a shame he's not around to see the girls and the product he helped to create.

Wow this was actually a great discussion and Lebron with the awesome throwback names. I remember Ed Cota. He was a great PG.

Women's basketball is in a great place.

Bronnnn🔥🔥🔥💯

Caitlin’s rivalry with Angel Reese is the only reason that I started watching, I saw that national championship game and I said, yup this is it. This year I watched the entire women’s March madness and I am now a fan, I will 100% start watching the W just to keep watching the girls that were just drafted, I literally do not care about the women that were there prior to this draft, and I believe they are part of the viewership problem.

Caitlyn Clark is the primary reason/catalyst people started watching. And once they did, they also became big fans of the other stars (Reese, Bueckers, Cardoso, etc etc)

Men’s college hoops now if you stay after your 2nd year everybody assumes you ain’t good enough for nba

The girls are a beast!

I started watching college again because of Angel Reese. Once Clark and Reese started their rivalry, it became intense and electrifying ❤

We’ll probably see men’s basketball getting a boost next year, with Cooper Flagg at Duke. But outside of the big big star at a school like Duke/UNC/Kansas, with all the transfer movement and one and dones it’s hard for the men’s side to grow.

The football take is wild, i wonder what he means

man yall feeding us good

The icons really carried the Women’s tournament. It was awesome to watch them develop and storylines progress over the years. Men’s college just doesn’t have it. It’s all about being an NBA prospect 1&done

Glad to see the narrative changing with women’s sports. Women’s rugby and football are both excellent products as well.

Lebron Football ⚽️ is the biggest sport!

Smh the youth dont wear hoop shorts at all times anymore, we're losing the recipes

LeBron has a great point about timelines. NCAAB was at its strength in 80s/90s when guys were playing 3-4 years with one program. In female NCAA we get that still and it's better for fan engagement. But I think transfer portal isn't nearly as big a factor as no stars staying longer than a year.

I been telling ppl this. WNBA is on the same trajectory the NBA was on. 25-30 years in, NBA was on tape delay and had a serious drug problem, they merge with the ABA, Magic and Bird get drafted and the rest is history. WNBA 25-30 years in, they get hit with the pandemic, struggle to make it through that year, since then ratings and attendance have increased year over year every year and now they have Caitlin, Angel, Paige, Juju, etc all coming in over the next few seasons.

LBJ my man... the numbers don't lie. FOOTBALL (Soccer) worldwide is head, shoulders, chest, belly, waist and part of the hip above the rest.

I love Bron but I have to respectfully disagree with his take about basketball being the most popular sport in the world as that's not true. The two most popular sports in the world are football and cricket.

Hate it or love it, Caitlin Clark is the queen of women’s basketball. She has a big target on her back and has inspired just as many fans as haters. A hero and a villain at the same time like she’s Batman.

Viewership is being pulled from different directions which is what creates such a HUGE number of people watching. There was a huge number drawn to watch Caitlin Clark play (imo this is what drew most men to watch) but there’s also a huge number drawn to the drama and entertainment from the personalities of the other players like Angel Reese. It’s not just one reason or one player. Girls playing sports is also growing at the same time as more and more programs are becoming accessible and it’s now more respected than ever for girls to dream playing in sports causing the kids and their families to tune in! Social media is also huge. We don’t just rely on the big sports networks to tell us what’s important to watch, cuz we can share and post and create interest in players ourselves. These girls are talented, entertaining and demonstrating that women don’t need to stick to one lane. So many reasons to watch and that’s why the numbers are so high. It’s not just Clark, it’s not just Paige, not just Reese… so many reasons for viewership!

love this

Having played basketball 20 years ago, I can tell you it was slightly depressing because we always knew that Tennessee or UConn would win the national title. This is quite defeating to other teams. The separation between the top 2% talent and the rest was EXTREME 20 years ago. As a fan, that's just not that exciting. It's almost like before the season starts, you already know who's going to win the national title. What has been the driving force has been the change equality across the spectrum nationally. Now you see amazing players like JuJu, who are deciding not to transfer to the University of Connecticut because they truly feel that they can get their home team to the national championship. Clark may be the figurehead for this type of movement, since she stayed Iowa. I'm really not bashing on "super teams" like South Carolina was this year, but it's just more enjoyable to watch close games instead of total blowouts. Let's be honest, when it's a blowout game and the same team always wins the chip, you tend to change the channel. The only people that watch those games are the people that live in the state of the blowout team. . . . Even South Carolina, who is really good, still had some close games this year. I think it's great for the status of women's basketball. I hope young women all over the country choose where they want to go, based on what kind of education they want to receive, where they want to live, and family factors (as well as coaching quality) because in today's sport, if you go anywhere with a few good players, you have a chance!! ❤

Hey JJ in one of your next episodes can you ask LeBron about characters like Pat Bev, Dillon Brooks, and especially Lance Stephenson and what kinda of roles those people play on teams. Cause I was rewatching a pacers versus heat game where Stephson blew in his ear and I think it would be funny to hear Brons thoughts on that moment and those kinda players.

LeBron spent two minutes talking about why it's grown when all he had to say was two words: Caitlyn Clark.

Ed Cota was the man. My favorite player as a kid too

There are a few factors besides Caitlyn Clark that's contributing to the popularity of womens basketball. #1 They are playing at a higher intensity. Last year LSU scored 102 points against Iowa, the most points ever in a championship and an inspiring performance from Jasmine Carson. #2 The players are starting to truly embrace their femininity and are not afraid of being girlie. #3 Angel Reese and Flaujae Johnson are extremely popular and have been everywhere, putting more of a spotlight on the sport.

Zach Edey, Burns, RJ

I was a big Syracuse fan because of Travis Best.

I’ve been watching ever since I seen a highlight video of Caitlin Clark on Twitter. I’ve never seen a woman play like her before, she’s incredible. 🎉

I think with the way things are with Clark and Reese. They got all of media wrapped around their finger. And with them going go over to the WNBA, they’re going to help it grow immensely and I’m all for it.

Very good LBJ ur explanation 3:14 on the women's game

Damn Ed Cota... Forgot about him. Was solid 😎💪

It's the story of the team and players. That is what keeps people coming back. I remember those duke and UNC days from the 90s. Players just stay and play.

DOPE!! 🔥

I watched the women’s final for the first time ever. South Carolina played good sound basketball. I enjoyed the game.

I wanna know more about this game in 79 vs magic and Larry? I’m so intrigued

Lebron went up a notch for wanting to go to Carolina! Hell yeah

Ngl I only watched only to watch Iowa and Caitlin Clark

So true, when I was a kid men's college basketball had hero's and we all paid more attention to the school and the program. The women athletes in college are more interesting and polarizing, absolutely because they are around long enough to cheer for. I think the WNBA is going to snowball and snowball, those ladies are amazing.

All of the other names he mentioned has never brought in that many viewers. Caitlin Clark deserves more credit than what these guys give.