Reality check in store for Caitlin Clark in WNBA debut?
The WNBA is entering a new era, and the Caitlin Clark hype train is leading the way.
Consider: Before playing a minute of WNBA basketball, Clark was given the third-shortest odds to win league MVP at multiple sportsbooks.
BetMGM reported that Clark’s new team, the Indiana Fever, has received nearly half the bets to win the 2024 WNBA championship despite the franchise owning a combined .250 win percentage since 2017.
To be clear: Clark is the rising tide lifting all boats.
The Los Angeles Sparks and Washington Mystics are moving their home games against Indiana from smaller arenas to NBA venues to meet the high demand for tickets, and other teams are in queue to do the same. WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert cited the league’s upcoming media rights deal as the revenue stream that will allow the league to regularly charter flights for its 12 teams for the first time. That rights deal is not as lucrative without a bona fide star joining the fray.
Clark’s WNBA career officially begins Tuesday night with the Fever’s season opener at the Connecticut Sun. Some are expecting her to pour in 40 points and hit the game-winning 3-pointer from halfcourt.
Well, let’s all take a breath.
“I think she’s used to some shots that she’s taken in the last few years that are just those deep shots,” Fever coach Christie Sides said after a preseason game. “… I gave her a rule the other day. She’s got 0.5 seconds to make a decision. When she gets off the ball and she hits somebody in the high post, she has a habit of hanging out and dancing. That’s what she’s done (in college). It’s these habits that we’ve got to break.”
Clark broke the all-time Division I scoring record in large part by making 548 3-pointers, including 201 just last season. Iowa fans were used to watching Clark hunt her shot, sometimes from unbelievable distances. It works in her favor that the WNBA 3-point line is no deeper than in the women’s college game. But even for someone of Clark’s unprecedented talent level, turning pro requires an adjustment period.
Some of that can be chalked up to the more concentrated talent pool. Clark isn’t matching up against Northwestern or Iowa State on Tuesday. The Connecticut backcourt, for one example, features MVP finalist Alyssa Thomas and veteran Tiffany Hayes.
“There’s only 12 teams in this league, so every team has a superstar or multiple superstars that are really good,” Clark said. “You gotta prep in the same way and you can’t take any possessions off.”
In the Fever’s pair of preseason games, Clark scored 21 points with five 3-pointers in a loss to Dallas and tallied 12 points, eight rebounds and six assists in a win over Atlanta. She also committed 11 total turnovers, a perfectly normal sign of a rookie who’s going to have the ball in her hands a lot.
Clark has been humble when talking about what awaits her on the road ahead. That, more than anything, will keep her grounded and prepared as she starts a professional career that could turn out to be just as special as what she accomplished at Iowa.
“This is kind of what you worked for and dreamed of, and now you gotta put your jersey on for the first real time and go out there and play,” Clark said. “I think more than anything, just soak in the moment. We get to play on the biggest stage, there’s going to be a lot of people there, it’s going to be loud. But you only play your first WNBA game once. … More than anything, I’m ready for the challenge.”