Five games into her WNBA career, Caitlin Clark is already a target.
Clark’s Indiana Fever team is searching for its first win tonight against the Los Angeles Sparks at downtown’s Crypto.com Arena. They are 0-5 heading into tonight after playing a tough early season schedule. Clark has so far done well, averaging 17.8 points, 5.8 assists and 4.6 rebounds.
UPDATE: Clark had a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds as the Fever won its first game, 78-73. A Sparks record crowd of 19,103 saw the action.
Ahead of her game tonight, Clark was asked about the “narratives around the attention” she’s gotten, “versus some of the vets that have been in this league for a long time.”
“To be honest, I’m not really on social media. I don’t read that,” Clark said.”This is my job. My job is to compete and play basketball every single day. I think the more attention we can get on every team around this league, that’s only going to help me get better and better.
“My job is just to continue to show up and help this team get better. We’re fighting for our first win. That’s my main focus.”
The heat was turned up on Clark this week when her fellow WNBA rookie and former LSU rival, Angel Reese of the Chicago Sky, appeared to take a shot at Clark on social media.
Reese said the Sky’s latest win wasn’t because “of one player on our charter flight.”
No less than Lakers star LeBron James has chimed in to defend Clark.
“People need to realize, the Indiana Fever — this is the second year in a row they had the No. 1 pick. Do y’all know what that means? That means they’re not that good,” he said. “I’m rooting for Caitlin because I’ve been in that seat before. I’ve walked that road before. I hope she kills. I hope Aliyah Boston does amazing. I hope they do great.
“The one thing that I love that she’s bringing to her sport — more people want to watch. More people want to tune in. I saw, for the first time, they had a chartered plane. For the first time in their league history, they flew private. That should be celebrated in its own right.”
Clark’s WNBA debut against the Connecticut Sun averaged 2.1 million viewers and peaked at 2.3 million, beating out the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Her Fever jersey also set records on Fanatics shortly after she was drafted.