The Indiana Fever continued their impressive performances by winning their seventh game since the WNBA season resumed. Caitlin Clark and co. have already clinched a spot in the postseason, but are making the most out of the remaining games to finish higher in the standings. By responding to a question regarding the importance of the current home game stretch, the rookie has even displayed her Kobe Bryant-like mentality.
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The Fever are amid a six-game home stand. As of now, they are currently placed 6th in the standings with an 18-16 record. Considering that the #5 Seattle Storm are 5.5 games in front of them, with only six games remaining for the conclusion of the regular season, it’ll be near impossible for Christie Sides’ team to make a push to jump a spot up.
Despite there being no real opportunity to finish 5th in the standings, Clark and the Fever are approaching the ongoing home stand as a way to grow in confidence with the playoff just around the corner.
“These are games you really need to win at home. The more we can win, the better we can position ourselves to the playoffs… It’s just continuing to go one step at a time and continue to build that confidence. But I feel like we’re playing really good inside this building. So it’s just continuing to build on that,” Clark answered after lodging her second triple-double of the 2024 campaign.
Usually, we’ve often seen this happen in the NBA, where a team usually rests its best players with no real shot at moving up the standings. However, Clark is still dedicated to entertaining the fans who make their way to the stadiums to watch her team play.
“We’re just a competitive group of individuals, like nobody wants to lose. That’s not fun especially in front of these fans that a lot of them like get to see the Fever play one time and they spend a lot of money to come here and watch us and have fun with us. So, you want to kind of give them a show every single time,” Clark said.
The perspective of 22-year-old Caitlin Clark after her triple-double and another Indiana victory: “A lot of (fans) only get to see the Fever play one time. They spend a lot of money to come here and watch us and have fun with us. You want to give them a show every single time.” pic.twitter.com/HdvqWAhraN
— Christine Brennan (@cbrennansports) September 5, 2024
With this comment, keeping the fans’ interests in mind, the Rookie of the Year frontrunner has displayed her Bryant-like mentality. As revealed by Vanessa Bryant during her husband’s Hall of Fame enshrinement speech, the Los Angeles Lakers legend would suit up and set foot on the hardwood as much as possible so that every fan could get their money’s worth coming to the games.
“I remember asking him (Kobe Bryant) why he couldn’t just sit a game out because he was hurting. He said, ‘What about the fans that saved up to watch me play just once?’ He never forgot about his fans. If he could help it, he would play every minute of every game. He loved you all so much,” Vanessa revealed.
Bryant would’ve certainly been proud of this statement made by Clark. Additionally, the latter has also wowed the entire basketball community with the performance she’s having in her first year as a pro–18.9 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 8.4 assists per game.
