Was being left off the U.S. Olympic team for the 2024 Paris Summer Games the best thing that could happen to All-Star WNBA rookie phenom Caitlin Clark?
After winning every accolade imaginable during a record-setting NCAA run with the Iowa Hawkeyes (she is now the highest-scoring player in college hoops history, female or male), the 6-foot point guard was the No. 1 pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft. She was selected by the Indiana Fever, where she joins 2023 No. 1 pick Aliyah Boston, already a two-time All-Star power forward/center.
Both Indiana players are just 22.
On Friday, the Fever hosted the Phoenix Mercury in their first action since July, in front of a sellout home crowd of 17,274. The league took a break to accommodate the 12 All-Star players chosen to represent the U.S. in the 2024 Paris Olympics. Neither Clark nor Boston were among them.
But the break seemed to do Clark a world of good. In the 98-89 Indiana victory, the two-time Associated Press Women’s College Player of the Year and four-time First-Team All-American scored 29 points on 8-of-16 shooting from the field (4-of-11 from beyond the arc) and 9-of-10 shooting from the charity stripe, while also chipping in 10 dimes and notching a +13 plus-minus.
Guard Kelsey Mitchell scored 28 points on 11-of-22 shooting from the field (6-of-13 from beyond the arc). Boston notched 14 points.
With the win, the Fever improved to a 12-15 overall record (7-5 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse), while dropping the Mercury to a 14-13 overall record (6-9 away). The sixth-seeded Mercury is directly above the No. 7-seeded Fever in the current league standings. The top eight teams in the league will advance to the playoffs.
Hall of Fame former NBA power forward/center Kevin Garnett, a 15-time All-Star-turned-Showtime pundit, has an intriguing take on the whole affair.
“What if @CaitlinClark22’s Olympic break was the [offseason[ adjustment for the league that @wnba rookies don’t get before their 1st season… s*** looked crazy out there yesterday… 💯 Can tell she was in the film room,” the 2004 MVP and 2008 Defensive Player of the Year wrote.
Has Clark already stepped up with the playoffs in her sights?
It’s possible. She’s already grown by leaps and bounds throughout the season. Clark is neck-and-neck with her longtime LSU nemesis, now-Chicago Sky first-year power forward Angel Reese, for Rookie of the Year honors. Both players made the All-Star team as rookies, the first time that’s happened since 2014.
Thus far this season, Clark is averaging 17.6 points on .409/.329/.892 shooting splits (that 3-point conversion rate arrives on 8.4 triple tries a night), a league-leading 8.3 assists, 5.8 rebounds, 1.4 steals, and 0.8 blocks per game.
