The upcoming entrance of Caitlin Clark to the WNBA has raised the excitement among basketball enthusiasts. Amidst the anticipation, the fans have started to voice their predictions surrounding the 22-year-old. Shannon Sharpe and his co-panelist, Chad Johnson, became the latest inclusions on the list as they got completely honest about Clark’s future.
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In the recent episode of Nightcap, Sharpe elaborated on Diana Taurasi’s comments on Clark facing struggles to transition into the WNBA. Amidst the question marks over her statement, the former NFL star backed the 41-year-old while adding volume to her stance.
“When a rookie comes in, you won an award, you’re highly sought-after. We got to see why. We ain’t hating on you but we gonna see why”.
However, Johnson adopted a contrary viewpoint paving the way for an interesting discussion. The 46-year-old raised concerns over Taurasi’s statement while backing Clark for her achievements throughout the Iowa Hawkeyes years.
“To watch what she [Clark] did in college, I would have been very hesitant to make these types of comments,” he said.
This led to a debate among the panelists over time as both stuck with their side of the story. Yet, each of them expressed their desire to watch Clark eventually succeed in the WNBA in the coming years. While Sharpe pointed out that the youngster might need time to adjust her gameplay, Johnson believed that she was “going to transition just fine”.
The varied perspectives have added an exciting layer to the ongoing discussion. With the 2024 WNBA draft date approaching, the comments from the panelists gave rise to two alternative timelines for Clark. However, for the 2x AP Player of the Year, the path ahead remains a straightforward one.
What’s next for Caitlin Clark?
The Indiana Fever remains in contention to select her as the first overall pick in the upcoming draft. Hence, the upcoming journey will become an uphill one for the former Hawkeyes star. The franchise finished at the bottom of the Eastern Conference table while ranking third from the bottom overall. Consequently, they failed to qualify for the playoffs last season following a 13-27 run.
This track record certainly doesn’t suit the caliber of Clark. Thus, she will look to change the trajectory of the organization in the coming months. After all, in the past couple of years, the point guard spearheaded a similar transformation at Iowa.
The Fever fans expectedly remain hopeful of a better future. Yet, the challenges will be different this time around, testing the capabilities of Clark further. So, the coming years would prove which of the panelists was correct to stick to his beliefs.
