Linda Cohn believes the WNBA is sitting on the biggest marketing gift in its history in Caitlin Clark, and she isn’t happy with how ESPN handled it during Sunday’s Fever-Dream thriller.

The controversy started during the second quarter of Indiana’s matchup with Atlanta. Angel Reese helped ignite a 7-0 run that pushed the Dream ahead 44-40, and ESPN’s broadcast team ran with it.

Monica McNutt praised Reese for shifting the game’s momentum, even though the forward was shooting just 3-for-10 from the field at that point. When Chiney Ogwumike tried to highlight what Caitlin Clark and the Fever were doing on the other end, host Malika Andrews steered the conversation right back to Reese, calling her the catalyst who turned things around for Atlanta.

Linda Cohn watched the exchange and didn’t buy it.

Cohn argued the broadcast missed the moments that actually decided the outcome. Andraya Carter never mentioned Reese’s missed chance in regulation that could have sealed the win for Atlanta.

Clark’s fingerprints were all over the finish. Her playmaking down the stretch and a string of clutch free throws helped the Fever escape with a 95-91 overtime win, details Cohn felt got buried under the Reese narrative.

For Cohn, that wasn’t a small oversight. It was a pattern.

Cohn didn’t stop at critiquing one broadcast. She used her podcast to make a bigger argument about how the WNBA and its media partners should be treating its most-watched player.

“Acknowledging Caitlin Clark’s impact does not diminish A’ja Wilson, does not diminish Olivia Miles, does not diminish Paige Bueckers. In fact, it’s the exact opposite. Caitlin Clark’s enormous popularity gives the WNBA an opportunity to make all of these women bigger stars,” Cohn said.

Her message to the league and its broadcast partners was direct.

“If one player helped open that door wider than it’s ever been before, don’t resent her for it. Don’t minimize it. Don’t manufacture somebody else to replace her in the spotlight,” Cohn added.

Cohn pointed to the NBA’s own history as proof that this strategy works. The league built its resurgence around Larry Bird and Magic Johnson, letting their rivalry dominate headlines while stars like Patrick Ewing, Karl Malone, and Charles Barkley grew right alongside them.

Michael Jordan took that formula even further. As his fame spread beyond basketball entirely, the NBA cashed in on an audience that had never paid attention to the league before.

That is the model Cohn wants the WNBA to follow instead of running from.

The WNBA spent years chasing this level of attention. Now that Clark has delivered it, Cohn’s argument is that scaling back her coverage would waste the exact moment the league fought so hard to reach.

Her stance isn’t about picking favorites among the league’s stars. It’s about using Clark’s audience as the entry point that introduces casual fans to Wilson, Bueckers, Miles, and everyone else carrying the WNBA forward.

Whether ESPN and its broadcast partners take that message to heart the next time these two teams share a court remains to be seen.