Caitlin Clark has dominated the league this season. Not only did she make a record-breaking comeback and become an MVP contender, but she also made the USA women’s national basketball team ahead of the 2027 FIBA World Cup.

However, WNBA analyst Rachel A. DeMita made a surprising observation while browsing the official FIBA World Cup website. The graphic for the ‘Choose your hero’ poll included several popular players, including Clark.

However, she realized that the only American player fans can actually vote for is A’ja Wilson.

“It just feels like she should probably be a part of this survey,” DeMita said during the August 31 episode of the Courtside Club podcast. “I thought it was funny cause’ I was looking on the website and I was like, ‘Oh, they have all these different polls and things where you can kind of interact. I love that they're getting the fans involved. The fans can interact.’ But I'm like, ‘Where's Caitlyn? You used her to promote this.’”

DeMita’s comments during the Courtside Club podcast suggested that Clark deserved to be on that list. And not just because her face was used in the graphics for the poll. 

The analyst explained that out of all the 2026 WNBA MVP candidates, Clark was the only one who was actually on the US team, since Wilson withdrew from Team USA due to health concerns.

Furthermore, Clark had won MVP during the FIBA World Cup qualifiers, the anlyst pointed out.

And Clark’s fans seem to agree. DeMita noted that all the names on the poll received below 5% of fan votes. But the ‘Other’ category recorded a whopping 84% votes from women’s basketball fans.

But the analyst didn’t just find flaws with the fan poll candidates. She also had a bit to say regarding FIBA’s early MVP ladder.

Analyst Rachel A. DeMita comments on the FIBA MVP ladder

During the same podcast, DeMita also spoke about FIBA’s early MVP list. However, she didn’t quite agree with the rankings portrayed there.

The list posted Breanna Stewart at the top of the list, followed by Gabby Williams at number two. Emma Meesseman sat in third place, with Caitlin Clark at fourth, and Marine Johannes rounding out the Top 5 at fifth place.

“I don't even think Brianna Stewart is top five right now in the MVP race, or if she is top five, she's fifth in the MVP race in the WNBA,” DeMita reasoned. “Maybe they don't want to put Caitlyn Clark up there just yet. But again, Caitlyn Clark did win MVP during the qualifiers.”

DeMita believed that Clark deserved to be higher up on the list if not at the top. But she did agree with France’s Marine Johannes being among the Top 5.

But as far as overall impact goes, she believed Dominique Malonga belonged higher up the ladder than Meesseman.

Written by

Arundhoti Palit

Edited by

Arundhoti Palit