Athlete

The WNBA’s Caitlin Clark experience is alive and booming

Photos courtesy of: WNBA, Indiana Fever

When historians look back at Caitlin Clark’s “Welcome to the WNBA” moment, they’ll find an outpour of hysteria in the aftermath of her first-ever professional game.

Immediately following the Indiana Fever’s 92-71 loss to the Connecticut Sun—a game in which Clark committed 10 turnovers, the most ever in a WNBA debut—spectators on X unleashed a verbal barrage on the highly touted rookie. Comments ranged from rhetorical to witty to speculative

(Then there’s this GIF that, for some unknown reason, was tagged as “Probable Spam.” Is sarcasm now filed under spam in the Twitterverse?)

Since that May 14 game, Clark has played 25 more games for the Fever. While her detractors will perhaps never cease typing away, they can’t deny one reality that’s backed by cold, hard facts: This rookie is getting better and better.

Now that the WNBA is on a monthlong Olympic break, it’s a good time to crunch the numbers and take stock of how every player in the league is performing. In the case of this season’s top draft pick, the dividends are starting to emerge.

An Abundance of Dimes

Two months after her turnover fest, Clark made history once more—the good kind, this time—by dishing out an unprecedented 19 assists against the Dallas Wings. All night long, the rookie phenom fed scorers like Aliyah Boston and NaLyssa Smith by dishing pocket passes, threading the needle, and even going behind the back.

Naysayers, of course, will point out that this feat is marred by the fact that the Fever lost the game by eight. Clark’s fans, on the other hand, will look at the bigger picture: the Dallas game is part of a five-game stretch that saw Indiana pick up three wins. In the Fever’s victories over the New York Liberty and the Phoenix Mercury, Clark registered 13 assists apiece.

If the numbers in that nice stretch of games aren’t good enough for you, try this on for size: From the end of June to mid-July, Clark had a personal five-game streak of at least 11 assists. (Let that sink in for a moment.) Her prolific dimes were complemented by sizable contributions in the scoring department, as she logged games of 15 (Phoenix), 13 (Las Vegas), 19 (New York), 29 (Washington), and 20 (Phoenix again).

Oh, and did you see the way she fed longtime adversary Angel Reese in the WNBA All-Star Game? Reese sure saw that pass, huh?

Pouring in the Points

Even as Clark lives up to the Pete Maravich comparisons, her shooting percentage has gone on an upward trajectory as well. In her first 10 WNBA games, Clark shot a so-so 36.4% from the field. Meanwhile, in the last 10 games that Indiana played before the Olympic break, she had a 42.5% shooting clip to show for her troubles.

The cherry on top: since a measly 7-point outing against Atlanta on June 13, Clark has chipped in at least 13 points to add even more fuel to Indiana’s offensive production. She has reached her career high of 30 points on two occasions; interestingly, both of these splendid games (May 28 vs. Los Angeles and June 7 vs. Washington) came after dreadful scoring displays (8 points against Las Vegas on May 25; 3 points against New York on June 2).

What do these numbers mean? The superstar fondly known as “Anne Splashaway” is starting to get comfortable in the WNBA style of play. 

Back on opening night, Connecticut’s DiJonai Carrington frustrated Clark with her quick feet and pesky hands; because pace was not on the rookie’s side, she started the game with two turnovers and 0-of-4 shooting. Fast forward a couple of months, and Clark is now quicker, smarter, and shiftier. Even as defenses collapse in the paint and taller players switch to her on the perimeter, she’s gotten better at deciding when to score and when to find an open teammate.

Keeping It Real

Though Clark is evidently hitting her stride, concerns remain in the other aspects of her game. Her shooting clip from beyond the arc is unremarkable—32.7% for the season, including 27.3% for the month of July. Questions continue to surround Clark’s ability to play defense at an elite level, as well as her ability to withstand the physicality in the league.

And then, there are the turnovers—a familiar refrain for those unconvinced that Clark is worth the hype. Though Clark has avoided duplicating the record she set on May 14, head coach Christie Sides probably isn’t too happy with her 5.6 turnovers per game. Clark has a couple of outs here—she’s the starting point guard and she plays over 35 minutes per outing—but she has a long way to go in terms of managing her assist-to-turnover ratio.

At the end of the day, though, what matters most is the impact of Clark’s overall game on Indiana’s season. When the 2024 campaign began, the Fever lost six of their first seven games. On the flipside, they came away with a 4-3 record in their last seven games before the Olympic break. Dare we ask which player had a spirited offensive surge that was pivotal to this particular stretch?

WNBA, welcome to the Caitlin Clark Experience. #ponytailpete