Caitlin Clark's WNBA hype is drawing comparisons to "Linsanity" after a former NCAA player took a sharp swipe at the Indiana Fever star, and the timing couldn't have been more brutal.

The criticism came hot on the heels of Indiana's season-opening loss to the Dallas Wings, a high-scoring thriller that ended 107-104. In that game, Paige Bueckers—Clark's former college rival—dropped 20 points on efficient shooting to lead Dallas to victory. Clark also finished with 20 points but struggled from beyond the arc, giving critics a clean narrative to work with.

On "The Craig Carton Show," Tyrone Johnson didn't hold back. He argued that Clark's spotlight is already dimming because she's not the WNBA's best player or guard. "The Caitlin Clark thing is over," Johnson said. "She's not even the best guard from her college class—that's Paige Bueckers, who beat them in the season opener."

But Johnson didn't stop there. He took the comparison a step further, likening Clark's rise to Jeremy Lin's iconic 2012 "Linsanity" run with the New York Knicks. "This could be all we look back on Caitlin Clark," Johnson said. "We're not gonna look back on her like she's Michael Jordan. She's Jeremy Lin. This is just 'Linsanity.'"

It's a harsh take. Linsanity was electric but brief—a global sensation that fizzled into a solid, yet unspectacular NBA career. Johnson's point is that Clark's fame might be outpacing her actual standing in the WNBA hierarchy, and that's the part that stings for Fever fans.

The counterargument is obvious: Clark remains the league's biggest commercial force, and one game doesn't define a career. But with Bueckers getting the first win in their latest head-to-head chapter, the basketball conversation is starting to catch up with the hype. Whether Clark can sustain her star power over the long haul is now the question on everyone's mind.