Caitlin Clark‘s blockbuster entry into the WNBA has kickstarted many narratives in basketball media. One such narrative is that her prowess in collegiate basketball will not translate into the professional world. Clark was recently a guest on the Pat McAfee Show, where she dispelled such ideas. During the show, the Fever’s rookie sensation was asked about her confidence levels as she makes her transition to the WNBA.
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Being candid with the hosts of the show, Clark did admit that her transition to the big leagues isn’t going to be flawless, “There will definitely be some learning curves and some challenges.”
While the 6’1 sharpshooter was humble enough to admit that she might struggle initially, Clark replaced her anxiety with confidence in her teammates. The Iowa native seemed to have faith in her Fever teammates, expressing her excitement at the opportunity to ‘feed’ her talented teammates, “I think my passing translates. People always want to talk about the logo threes, the scoring, whatever. But to have the talents around me that I am going to have, I am going to feed them the ball.”
The co-hosts brought up Kelsey Plum’s comments on the show on how she was ‘cooked’ in her first year as a pro. But Clark seemed to have faith in her passing abilities to circumvent that predicament. Clark did show an uncanny ability to distribute the ball during her college days. The Hawkeyes legend even ended up 6th on the NCAA’s All-Time Assists list, racking up 1,144 assists during her four-year campaign with Iowa State.
Even though Clark’s ability to play hero ball has gotten her a lot of attention, the 22-year-old has never been interested in personal accolades, instead choosing to focus on team success. Clark seems to be carrying a similar mentality as she enters the WNBA,
“Helping us get back in the Playoffs I think that is goal number No.1. I think everybody in the Fever organization believes that that’s where we can be in year one for sure…I think there is just so much young talent on this roster, and that’s the biggest thing, just buying into that.”
While wrapping up the segment, Clark also mentioned the importance of home support, calling it one of the vital factors in winning games. While things always remain uncertain on the road, Caitlin is of the opinion that a team must win as many games as possible at home, a goal she even envisions for the Indiana Fever this season around.
Kelsey Plum had a hard time transitioning to the WNBA
While we haven’t quite seen a talent like Caitlin Clark enter the WNBA, Kelsey Plum might be the closest thing we have seen to Clark in terms of sheer production. Similar to Caitlin, Plum was a superstar in college, setting new scoring records with each year she spent at Washington State. But once Plum left Washington and joined the WNBA, a rude awakening awaited the former NCAA scoring champion. Sharing her experience of transitioning to the WNBA, WNBA superstar Kelsey Plum recently took to the Pat McAfee Show.
Talking about her rookie year, the two-time WNBA champion had the following to say, “Oh Man, I got cooked my rookie year. I sucked, I got put in a blender. Brutal. Absolutely, Brutal…The WNBA, it’s a grown woman’s league. Just the physicality and the speed at which people close gaps is night and day from college. Also, the IQ is so much higher.”
Plum even honestly told her hosts that it took her 4-5 years to reach an “All-Star” level of play, even though she was averaging over 30 points during her college days. The two-time WNBA champion did agree that Caitlin Clark might have an easier time transitioning to the league, pointing to the 22-year-old’s mentality as being the separating factor between Clark and the remainder of the league.
