She had shot 1 of 10 — 1 of 7 from 3 — her legs gassed following back-to-back games, when something went very wrong, when Caitlin Clark began walking off the court in distress to her Indiana Fever bench, motioning to her ear in the fourth quarter.
Minutes later, she disappeared through the tunnel that leads to the visiting locker room before returning to the bench for the conclusion of Liberty 104, Fever 68 at Barlcays Center. She scored a career-low three points, with five assists.
“Just got hit on a screen a little bit,” Clark told The Post afterwards. “I’m all good though. I just couldn’t hear very well, so kind of hard to get your surroundings.”
I offered my guess that her confidence has not been shaken. “No, Absolutely not,” she said. “Continue to shoot the ball, that’s what I’m gonna do. I know I’m really good at that. But I think I gotta take some rest and get my body right. Feel a little break is gonna be really good for me.”
This comes on the heels of some Unwelcome-to-the-WNBA moments that have unceremoniously greeted her at the start of her professional career.
Clark is being tested. She is being tested physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. Some of it is petty jealousy. Some of it is by veteran players who choose not to be punked by any rookie.
Even if Clark is hardly any rookie.
Her foes should appreciate that she has drawn more eyeballs to the WNBA, but that doesn’t mean that she should expect them to bow down to her on the court and treat her with kid gloves. And she doesn’t.
She is the face of the WNBA, whether they like it or not, and of course not everyone likes it, and of course there are those who get their dander up that the new face of the league happens to be a white face that is late to this WNBA party. To her credit, Clark has defused any and all suggestions that race has played a role here…
She is the one who signed the $28 million Nike contract even before attempting her first logo 3. She is the one in the State Farm commercial. She is a marked woman.
She understands that it comes with the territory of professional sports. It’s part of the deal. LeBron James confronted Welcome-to-the-NBA moments as The Chosen One. What’s good for the gander is good for the goose, yes.
But in the wake of Chicago Sky guard Chennedy Carter shoulder-banging Clark to the floor away from the ball on Saturday in Indianapolis and seeming to mouth the B-word and liking anti-Clark tweets and the persistent hammering that Clark has been subjected to, the league should do itself a favor and get tougher on any and all flagrant incidents, and start cracking down on any would-be, self-appointed vigilantes. The WNBA upgraded Carter’s foul from a common foul to a Flagrant 1 on Sunday morning. Better late than never.
A hard foul is one thing. A flagrant foul is another.
It is one thing to be tested, another to be targeted.
Clark doesn’t ask for special treatment, nor is she entitled to it.
The last thing anyone in the WNBA should want is injuring the golden goose that lays the golden egg.
The golden goose recalled when she was a frailer, younger version of herself in college and opponents would take liberties with her. She knows the last thing she or the league needs is coming off as a crybaby.
“I grew up playing basketball with the boys … you gotta find a way to hold your own,” she said before the game, and smiled. “And then I grew up with two brothers, things were very very physical, a lot of blood, a lot of tears, whatever it was. So I’m definitely prepared for it.”
She has mostly handled her new reality admirably, three technical fouls notwithstanding. She has been adapting to the physicality of stronger, more mature women. Calls that she might have gotten playing for Iowa that she is not getting now. Growing pains with new teammates. Eleven games in 20 days. The losing. All of it.
It has not shaken her love of the game.
“I always remind myself sure, there’s moments where I’ve been frustrated and upset, we’ve lost here, I haven’t performed here or things that I want to clean up,” she said, “but there’s so many people that would love to be in my position or would love to have this opportunity. I get to do this as my job, like how lucky am I? Sometimes that’s hard to remind yourself of and put everything in perspective, but that’s what I try to do, and I think at the same time that kinda takes the pressure off and really allows me to have fun and just keep playing the game I love.”
She hasn’t blinked. Even in the eye of a storm. It will get better for Clark. She makes the WNBA better in so many ways. The WNBA better make sure it does its part to make it better for her.
