Dwyane Wade, a former player for the Miami Heat, offered his thoughts on the treatment Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark has received since entering the WNBA.
“I’m viewing this Caitlin Clark talk with everyone hazin’ like I know what happened when I came in my rookie year,” Wade remarked. “You’re going to hit that wall. If you intend to keep coming in here, you should feel this ground.
Every time I ran into the paint, Jamaal Magloire and P.J. Brown gave me a tap. … Hazin’ is what people say, but this is all part of the “Hey, you gotta show us that you built for this league” mentality.
In a game between the Sky and the Fever on June 1, Chicago Sky guard Chennedy Carter scored a point and was called for a flagrant foul in the process.
That was one instance where it appeared like Clark was the target of her opponents.
After the game, which the Fever won 71-70, Clark responded to the hard foul. Clark replied, “I wasn’t expecting that.” But all it says is, ‘Respond, please settle down and let your play speak for itself.'” That’s just the way things are.
Go make the free throw, then carry out your offensive play.
In response to what happened between Clark and Carter earlier this month, another former NBA player, Nick Van Exel, shared his opinions and said that the controversy the former was causing was beneficial for the league.
After having a poor start to the 2024 season in terms of scoring, Clark’s recent play indicates that she has adapted to life in the WNBA.
She has shot no worse than 44.4 percent from the field in any of her last five games for the Fever, and she has scored more than 15 points in each of those games.
She scored 15 points on 4-of-9 shooting from the floor and 3-of-7 shooting from 3-point range in her most recent game on June 27 against the Seattle Storm. She also dished out seven assists and pulled down six rebounds.
Her best scoring performance of this recent stretch came against Carter’s team in the Sky on June 16, when Clark totaled 23 points while shooting 63.6 percent from the field.
She also chipped in nine assists, eight rebounds and a pair of blocks in the Fever’s eight-point victory.
Clark will have a shot to extend her streak of scoring 15-plus points for the Fever to six games on Sunday when the team is set to take on the Phoenix Mercury.
The Mercury own the sixth-best record of any team in the WNBA at 9-8 and are winners of six of their last 10 contests.
Following their matchup against the Mercury, the Fever — who are riding a two-game losing streak — will take on the Las Vegas Aces — the defending WNBA champions — on July 2.
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