San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
INVALUABLE ADDITION
As face of women’s basketball, Clark needs to be on U.S. Olympic team
There will be other Olympics for Caitlin Clark, a time when she is well established in the WNBA and enjoying the prime of life as a global icon. But why not this one?
USA Basketball has already reached out to Clark, inviting her to an abbreviated training camp that began April 3, but Clark was engaged in the Final Four, where her Iowa team lost the championship game to South Carolina, and had to decline.
That can’t happen now, with preparations gearing up for the Olympics tournament July 26-Aug. 11 in Paris. She doesn’t have to be featured. Perhaps her appearances will amount to little more than a novelty. But she has to be there. She is the face of women’s sports in the wake of her historic collegiate career, and her presence will be invaluable in terms of marketing, television ratings and the worldwide audience.
Count on the classy and mature Clark to willingly step aside when it comes to playing time. The U.S. could start a backcourt of Sabrina Ionescu and Diana Taurasi. Or Las Vegas Aces teammates Chelsea Gray and Kelsey Plum. Or WNBA stars Jewell Loyd and Jackie Young. The talent level on this roster is just ridiculously good.
When Clark encounters these players up close, recall her memorable exchange with Maya Moore, one of the game’s all-time greats and Caitlin’s idol growing up. Prior to Iowa’s final home game of the season, Clark was outside the Hawkeyes’ locker room doing an interview for ESPN’s “College Gameday” when Moore made a surprise appearance.
In an instant, Clark was a little girl again, letting out a yelp and covering her mouth with her hands before the two embraced. Clark knows her history, as well as who makes a difference in today’s game.
“I think your dream is always to play for the national team,” she told reporters. “A lot of players in that (Olympics) pool are my idols. People I grew up watching and wanting to be like.”
There is precedent for players going straight into the Olympics out of college: Taurasi in 2004, Candace Parker in 2008 and Breanna Stewart in 2016. Clark seems a worthy successor, having personally lifted the women’s game to new heights.
“She better be on the Olympic team,” former WNBA great Lisa Leslie told ESPN. “We should not leave the country without her. She’s a bona fide baller, already one of the best players in the world.”
• Even the greatest WNBA stars admit to the humbling experience of their rookie seasons. “Look, reality is coming. There’s levels to this thing,” Taurasi said on ESPN. “That’s just life. We all went through it. You look superhuman playing against some 18-year-olds, but you’re going to come play with some grown women that have been playing professional basketball for a long time. Not saying that it’s not going to translate, because when you’re great at what you do, you’re just going to get better, but there is going to be a transition period when you have to give some grace as a rookie.”
In a league with 12 teams and only 12 roster spots for each, “there are people trying to make sure
they make the team,” former Stanford star Nneka Ogwumike, now with the Seattle Storm, told ESPN. “That they’re still valuable and their spot is still there. So with that may come a bit of jealousy, a bit of envy. But you can’t deny her impact. Anybody who says, ‘Oh, she’s not that great’ is downright completely dense.”
As respected analyst Andraya Carter said in a Zoom call ahead of Monday night’s WNBA draft, “The hits are going to be a little bit harder. The checks are going to be harder. The defense is going to be more physical, and the players will be faster.”
Never a great defender, Clark will face daunting matchups as she breaks in with the Indiana Fever, who hold the No. 1 overall pick. Her phenomenal scoring ability will make up for that, but she needs work on her dribbling against an aggressive defense, as well as developing a reliable midrange shot. UConn’s Paige Bueckers (who will return to play there next season) is a master of feathery shots among heavy inside traffic; Clark tends to misfire or pass off on those possessions, not yet trusting her finesse game.
The flip side, as vast and intriguing as the starry
sky, is that the WNBA has never seen a player like Clark. Nobody anywhere routinely attempts shots from 35-42 feet, and as the crowd’s buzz builds to a roar, plenty of them go in. She was the best passer in college ball, men or women, and you’re thinking Magic Johnson or Ernie DiGregorio on those long-range bullets delivered with searing velocity and stunning accuracy, often on a bounce. A lot of those passes were mishandled at the rim by Iowa players, but put her in an up-tempo offense with sure-handed teammates and it will be a spectacle as yet unseen in the WNBA.
Best of all, Clark doesn’t have to view herself as a savior. The league is way past that, already a can’tmiss show with A’ja Wilson, Ionescu, Plum, Stewart,
Taurasi (in her 20th season), and Brittney Griner on the scene, and once you’ve seen the likes of Kahleah Copper, Satou Sabally, Alyssa Thomas and Natasha Cloud — just to quickly name four — you realize the depth of influential talent.
• Indiana couldn’t be more perfect for Clark. It’s about a 5⁄ -hour drive to her home in Iowa, ideal for her devoted fans and her need for occasional rest. The grind of college to Olympics to WNBA (which opens its season May 14) is bound to cause fatigue. Out on the court, she’ll be passing off to first-class inside players Aliyah Boston and NaLyssa Smith, with a worthy backcourt teammate in All-Star Kelsey Mitchell.
She will also be playing her home games in this country’s finest basketball palace. I had the pleasure of covering the 2011 women’s Final Four in the arena now called Gainbridge Fieldhouse — Stanford lost a tough semifinal to Texas A&M — and with its steep incline from courtside seats to the rafters, the place is sublimely intimate despite its 18,000-seat capacity. I emailed Warriors mastermind Rick Welts before the construction of Chase Center, suggesting that Indianapolis offered the perfect model, but he had other things in mind; Chase is a spectacular facility, but the highest upper-deck seating is just a few miles from Mars.
And in other news
A quick NBA note: The regular season ends Sunday, and Brandin Podziemski of the Golden State Warriors looks like a cinch for all-rookie honors. If they were chosen by position, he’d be a virtual first-team lock in the backcourt with Utah’s Keyonte George. But it’s all about the best five players, period, with spots guaranteed for Victor Wembanyama, Chet Holmgren and Charlotte forward Brandon Miller. Small forwards Jaime Jaquez (Miami) and the Thompson brothers (Amen and Ausar) are also getting a lot of play.
Still, Podziemski stands an excellent chance to make the second team, and that goes for teammate Trayce Jackson-Davis as well. The Warriors’ 2023 draft seems to have worked out even better than they could have expected.