For most, the sentiment around Caitlin Clark is that she’s the crown jewel of the league, but the GMs serving around it feel otherwise. We’ve seen in the last few years how CC doesn’t just drive the league in terms of attendance and viewership while dominating on the court with her stellar backcourt presence. Yet none of it helps her top the charts in key metrics in the latest WNBA GM Survey, as Paige Bueckers and A’ja Wilson dominate against her, prompting backlash from fans.
On Tuesday, the WNBA published the survey while making an announcement through its social media handles, where the league’s GMs answered 42 most-trending questions around them.
In the question where the GMs had to pick a player around whom they would want to start a franchise, most GM’s picked Wings guard Bueckers over Clark. It’s immensely surprising, considering CC’s skill set on the court in ball-handling, shooting, and leaving opponents’ defenders shaking in transition. Besides, the business Clark brings to the Indiana Fever would definitely tempt a franchise to keep her on the roster.
Fever’s valuation increased from $90 million in 2024 to around $560 million in May 2026. This rise is more than 6x and has been a result of sold-out arenas, high merchandize sales and a significant jump in television viewership after Clark’s arrival.
The survey trends clearly indicate that the GMs are leaning towards a couple of teams before the season. The Las Vegas Aces, Dallas Wings, and their subsequent players have dominated the questionnaire. The Aces were voted as the favorites to win the 2026 WNBA Finals, making it back-to-back, while the Dallas Wings were selected as the most improved team in the league for the upcoming season.
The 2026 GM Survey results are in 
GMs across the league answered 42 of the most asked about questions in the W.
Who takes home MVP? Who will win the 2026 WNBA Finals? Check out some of the results 
pic.twitter.com/v3llOLXaZo
— WNBA (@WNBA) May 5, 2026
Yet despite that, the WNBA GM’s leniency towards Bueckers is quite surprising, and fans were quick to share their sharp criticism of some of these survey results.
Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever’s Snub Leaves Fans Questioning WNBA GMs’ Basketball Knowledge
“Either the GMs are total m***** OR they are blowing political smoke up everyone’s back sides Those answers were total bovine excreta…and we all know it,” a fan wrote.
“Based on the off-season moves, these gms are morons,” stated another.
Several fans, including these ones, ain’t quite buying into the survey trying to sell, and these comments perfectly reflect that. Of course, there can be some serious debates over some of the survey results. One among them is the “players” category, where, for context, there were eight probes. And subsequently, five of these answers were either A’ja Wilson or Paige Bueckers.
No doubt that Wilson and Bueckers are tremendously good players and even finished last season as the league MVP and the Rookie of the Year. Yet despite that, players like Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese not getting into a single category is quite surprising. Another category the fans mentioned was the “offseason” questionnaire in the survey, giving 47% to the Dallas Wings for the best moves in that period.
Bringing in Alanna Smith, Azzi Fudd, and Jessica Shepard are top-tier moves to build around their strong core. But the Las Vegas Aces also made light work of the offseason to ensure continuity in the roster, and so did the New York Liberty, which signed a star forward like Satou Sabally. But the WNBA GM Survey failed to give much recognition to these teams, as Dallas and Atlanta dominate 90% of the votes.
The Indiana Fever’s effort to bring Monique Billings, Raven Johnson, and Myisha Hines-Allen to build a star-studded team around Clark was also ignored in the survey.
“Pathetic. The point guard survey put two non-point guards out of the three just to diminish the point goddess Caitlin Clark,” remarked another.
Of course, this isn’t true. The other two players who fared the most with CC were Chelsea Gray and Bueckers. Gray, as we all know, is one of the point guards in the country, while Bueckers has played that role, though we’ve also seen her play at shooting guard. So, it makes a fair debate against Clark. As for the percentages, Gray received 73% of the GM’s support, while Clark trailed at just 20%.
Now, from a skill perspective, there isn’t much to debate, as both fare pretty similarly, though from an experience perspective, Gray is a step ahead. But even then, Clark trailing by 53% in the category she was supposed to win is something the fans found pretty unbelievable. But it might be due to their contrasting 2025 seasons: Gray won the WNBA Championship while CC sat out most games due to a groin injury, resulting in a kind of recency bias, since last season both Gray and CC received 50% of the votes.
“It’s kind of scary (and embarrassing) to know that a bunch of general managers in a professional basketball league don’t know much about basketball. 
” stated a netizen.
“I guess those GM’s are as petty as WNBA players & are paying Fever back for that “Now You Know Campaign”
” chimed in another.
If you’ve been watching the WNBA for the last two seasons, you’d know there are very few teams that have created a stir in the community like the Indiana Fever. With an array of young players like Clark and Aliyah Boston, the team has positioned itself to dominate the WNBA charts, both on and off the court (in terms of ticket sales and broadcast ratings).
But guess what? The team didn’t even emerge as a single, outright answer in the WNBA GM survey. For instance, when asked who would win the WNBA Championship this season, most leaned toward the Las Vegas Aces. New York Liberty and even the Atlanta Dream followed suit, but there was no sign of the Indiana Fever. This, again, isn’t to the fans’ liking and, in turn, has them seriously questioning the GMs’ basketball knowledge.
Now, it must be underscored that these are personal opinions, and whatever the answers turn out to be, it won’t diminish the opportunity of every team, including Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever, to win the coveted WNBA title when the season starts in a few days. Till then, you can let us know your early predictions for the 2026 WNBA Finals winners in the comments.
