While the young WNBA stars are helping bring popularity to the women's game in America, they are still a little behind when it comes to global notoriety.
Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese, and Paige Bueckers may have settled for a bench role for Team USA at the FIBA World Cup, but that hasn't affected their popularity.
But so far, they aren't the players who have attracted the most interest from fans, with two players from China attracting the most attention.
Photo by Lilou Cassin/Eurasia Sport Images/Getty Images
According to data from EssentiallySports, Caitlin Clark, Paige Bueckers, and Angel Reese have dominated the interest when it comes to global FIBA search trends.
Clark, Bueckers, and Reese rank third, fourth, and fifth, respectively, in the top five players with the highest page views on their player profiles.
However, all three of the standout WNBA stars find themselves behind two stars from China, with Han Xu ranking second on the list, and Zhang Ziyu having the most-visited player profile page on FIBA's website.
The two Chinese players topping the list might come as a surprise to some fans, given the lack of global popularity of the WCBA compared to the WNBA.
But fans must remember that China is the most populous country in the world, and a large portion of the page views would likely be coming from within the country.
On top of that, interest in the Chinese players likely would have grown when they played Team USA in the group stage of the FIBA World Cup.
Regardless of where they stand, the trio of young WNBA stars attracting such global attention is huge for women's basketball.
All three players have been credited in some capacity for the immense explosion in popularity of the WNBA ever since they joined the league in 2024.
Bueckers followed Reese and Clark a year after they arrived in the league. Since then, all three stars have become household names and some of the biggest stars in the WNBA.
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