There’s just one game left in this NBA season — a Game 7 Finals matchup between the Thunder and Pacers. After that, it’s back to months of waiting before tip-off returns. But unlike in years past, there’s no sense of basketball withdrawal setting in. That’s because the WNBA has fans hooked, riding a wave of popularity. And who deserves the credit for that? The one and only Caitlin Clark.
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That said, being the face of the league comes with a price. The Indiana Fever superstar has been getting roughed up by rivals dating back to her rookie season a year ago. Clark’s latest foe was Connecticut’s Jacy Sheldon, who poked her in the eye during the Fever’s 88–71 victory a few days ago and was later ejected following a separate incident near the end of the game.
NBA Hall of Famers Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett weighed in on the physicality the 23-year-old has been dealing with on the latest edition of KG Certified. Pierce kicked things off by comparing the situation to how NBA teams in the late ’80s and early ’90s handled Michael Jordan.
“Yeah, she gets targeted just like Jordan got targeted,” stated Pierce. “The Jordan Rules. They had the Jordan Rules. When you so good, yeah, you gonna get targeted. It just is what it is.”
The comparison is fitting, but there’s a slight difference. WNBA players are probably trying to rattle Clark, but more because of her status than her gameplay. NBA teams enforced the Jordan Rules as a strategy. It wasn’t about MJ being a rising star; it was because that was the only way they could try to stop “His Airness” from taking over. And most of the time, it still didn’t work.
Still, Pierce believed this to be the case. He went on to explain the mindset of a player targeting Clark. “When you at a disadvantage, just like boxing or something. If fighting against the best, you got to do something to junk it up. ‘I got to hold a little bit more. I got to elbow, I got to take you out of your element. I got to bring you down to my level now.”
It was at this point that Garnett jumped in. “It’s a privilege to be in a position where others are hating on you, and when others are hating on you, that means you’re doing something right,” he said with a smile, as if to suggest Clark had rightfully earned the abuse she was enduring.
But KG wasn’t just sharing an opinion. He subtly offered advice to CC, reminding her that, despite getting beaten, the physical side of the game is a crucial part of balling. “That physical element is a real element that you got to work through, and if you can’t work through it, sometimes it hinders you,” the 15-time All-Star said. “They’ll put you in the scouting report.”
Garnett is right. If Clark wants to be in the same conversation as MJ, she’ll have to keep doing her talking on the court. The good news? She’s delivering, especially now that she’s healthy after missing several weeks with an injury.
The big question is, which team will push Clark into that mindset of absolute domination? For MJ, it was the Bad Boy Pistons, a team that didn’t just enforce the Jordan Rules, they practically wrote the book on them. Will it be Angel Reese and the Chicago Sky? The defending champs, the New York Liberty? Or has that rival yet to emerge? CC has firmly established herself as the face of the W. Now, she’ll look to prove why she can’t be toppled.
