A’ja Wilson says Caitlin Clark cannot be in GOAT dialog till she does this
A’ja Wilson has completed all of it on the subject of basketball and says that Caitlin Clark is lacking one main factor if she desires to be thought-about the perfect ladies’s faculty participant of all time.
Four-time WNBA champion Sue Bird believes Caitlin Clark’s recreation will translate effectively into the WNBA.
“I do assume she has an opportunity at having numerous success early,” Bird stated throughout an look on “The Sports Media Podcast” with Richard Deitsch, which airs in full on Thursday.
Bird cites the Iowa star’s vary as the important thing weapon to her success. (Clark did break the ladies’s all-time NCAA scoring document final week on a 35-foot emblem shot, in spite of everything.) “I feel numerous it comes all the way down to her long-distance taking pictures. That is her separator. You’re not likely used to guarding folks on the market,” Bird defined.
WATCH: Caitlin Clark’s historic 3-point emblem shot that broke the ladies’s NCAA scoring document
QUIZ: Love her or hate her, what sort of Caitlin Clark fan are you? Take our quiz to seek out out.
Bird stated it is “life like” for Clark to be an All-Star her first yr within the league “if she performs as much as her potential.”
“That’s not a knock on anyone in the WNBA. It’s going to be hard, but I think she can do it,” said Bird, who retired from the WNBA in 2022 after 22 seasons. “You do have to see what happens when they get there. You are now playing against adults and this is their career. But I do think she has a chance at having a lot of success early.”
There has been much speculation about whether Clark will return to Iowa next season. The 22-year-old guard has an extra year of eligibility due to the COVID-19 pandemic or she can declare for the 2024 WNBA Draft, where Clark would be a surefire No. 1 pick for the Indiana Fever. Bird said Indiana has “a really good roster for her.”
“She’s going to be teaming up right out the gate with two really good post players (Aliyah Boston and NaLyssa Smith) that are going to complement her,” Bird stated. “There is precedent for people coming out of college and coming in and playing amazing, players such as Candace Parker, Breanna Stewart, Maya Moore, Diana Taurasi and others. But she still has to come in and do it and there’ll be some growing pains just like all those players I just listed had.”
OPINION: Should Caitlin Clark keep at Iowa or go to WNBA? How concerning the Olympics? It’s sophisticated
Whether she chooses to remain at Iowa or transfer to the WNBA, all eyes will likely be on Clark. Bird attributed the limelight round Clark to her long-range recreation and the evolution of girls’s sports activities, notably basketball.
“Let’s start with her long-distance shooting,” Bird stated. “The one thing that cancels out people’s obsession with dunking as it relates to the comparison between men’s and women’s basketball is deep shooting. If we want to call it the logo 3, let’s call it that. For whatever reason, men in particular, they don’t hate on it. There’s nothing to hate on because it is what it is. So I think that part of her game lends to people cheering for it. I think it’s also captivating, right? The way that she plays with the long-distance shooting, it’s captivating. Everybody’s interested in it. So that’s one part of it.”
Bird added: “I think the other part is that women’s basketball is having a moment and that moment needed somebody to team up with it. So Caitlin, based on just the year in which she was born and doing what she is doing in college right now, is uniquely positioned to take advantage of this moment. There are other players right now in college basketball where you can feel excitement. JuJu Watkins is killing it at USC and could arguably end up being one of the best players ever. I’m not saying that loosely; it’s because of the way she is starting her career.”
Clark subsequent performs on Thursday when No. 4 Iowa takes on No. 14 Indiana.
CAITLIN CLARK units sights on Pete Maravich with subsequent recreation vs. Indiana
