It's been a rocky start to Caitlin Clark's WNBA career, and things weren't looking up much amid a bad shooting night on Friday.
However, Clark found her form with a couple of clutch 3-pointers down the stretch and finally got her first win as a pro as the Fever improved to 1-5 with a win over the LA Sparks.
https://twitter.com/WNBA/status/1794228742518350223
With all the hoopla surrounding Clark, a lot of her peers have been critical of her despite all the attention, relevance and revenue she's brought to the WNBA only about a handful of games into her pro career. Mind you, she literally played in the women's NCAA national championship game on April 7. Like, six weeks ago she carried Iowa through the entire NCAA Tournament, then was tasked with single-handedly elevating the WNBA with her presence. Impossible expectations. On the worst team in the league. Under the biggest spotlight in the history of women's basketball.
Yeah, it's a lot. So you could excuse Clark for wanting to get the hell away from all the noise at any given moment. Instead, the 22-year-old continues to show uncommon poise, professionalism and class. Like sure, it's cool to meet Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis, but just look at the impact Clark clearly had on their daughter upon meeting her.
https://twitter.com/IndianaFever/status/1794222345110061225
https://twitter.com/jordan_mendoza5/status/1794220002729713765
I could be wrong, but I don't think anyone in women's basketball has come along in recent memory who's so popular and a big-enough deal to where adoring youngsters lucky enough to meet them are crying tears of happiness. Now watch, I'm sure some killjoy will come along and try to say, like, "Oh why doesn't a celebrity couple introduce their kids, or pay more attention to, players in the WNBA who've actually accomplished something!?"
Can't you hear it now? The ignorant utterances are figuratively audible from miles away.
It's really puzzling, is it not? Why everyone wants to rush judgment on Clark, discredit her as an overrated basketball player who's not ready to compete with the best of the best, and tack on all these macro-societal narratives to her alleged "problematic" success. Clark quite obviously isn't a nefarious person with ulterior motives. She carries herself with a lot of grace, even when local reporters are being creepy toward her, and when the women she's uplifting in so many ways just want to tear her down.
The irony is, the more WNBA stars who come out against Caitlin Clark, the less likely they'll endear themselves to celebrities or other high-profile spectators at their games for cool postgame meet-ups like the one Clark just had. At least some around the league are embracing her...
https://twitter.com/FOS/status/1791972250423341444
