Sue Bird Says Caitlin Clark Faces ‘Most Pressure’ Any Player Has Had Entering WNBA
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Indiana Fever rookie Caitlin Clark is facing the “most pressure” ever for a first-year player in the WNBA in the eyes of legendary point guard Sue Bird.
“Sometimes it feels like the weight of the WNBA is on her shoulders,” Bird said last Friday on the Rich Eisen Show. “That is both a compliment and warranted in a lot of ways but also may be a little bit unfair to put so much on her.”
Rich Eisen Show@RichEisenShow
<a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/SueBird?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#SueBird</a> won 2 National Championships at UConn, 4 <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/WNBA?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#WNBA</a> titles with <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/Seattle?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#Seattle</a> and 5 Olympic Gold Medals for Team USA. So she is uniquely qualified to comment on the adjustments that Caitlin Clark will need to make as she starts her pro career. <a href=”https://t.co/AOyrvpKXww”>pic.twitter.com/AOyrvpKXww</a>
Expectations are always going to be high for a player who compiled the résumé that Clark did at Iowa. She was twice a national player of the year, led the Hawkeyes to two straight national championship games, and left as the all-time leading scorer in Division I history.
But the 22-year-old is being tasked with more than just helping turn the Fever into a contender. People are looking to her to help take the WNBA as a whole to new heights.
The league is on the cusp of what could be a pivotal moment. Interest in women’s basketball has never been higher based on both the WNBA’s viewership trends and the massive ratings for the 2024 women’s basketball tournament. This is coinciding with the W inching toward the expiration of its media rights deal, and the next television deal could dramatically alter the financial landscape of the league.
Clark isn’t the only marketable star in the WNBA, but there’s no disputing the impact her popularity can have. That effect is contingent on her living up to the hype on the court.
It’s a heavy burden for one player to carry, especially one who’s only three games into her pro career.
