Caitlin Clark Made History In The Worst Way Possible During Her WNBA Debut

Caitlin Clark (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
Caitlin Clark made unfortunate history in her regular-season WNBA debut on Tuesday night.

Clark, the No. 1 overall pick by the Indiana Fever last month, was unable to inspire her new team to her win and caught a 92-71 loss in her first game, with the Connecticut Sun’s pesky defense making things hard for the two-time national college player of the year and her teammates.

The former Iowa star led the Fever in scoring and was the joint top scorer of the night, with her and Connecticut’s DeWanna Bonner scoring 20 points. And she had to work for every point she got.

 

“There’s a lot to learn from; it’s the first one,” she told reporters after the game, per NBC. “There’s going to be good ones, there’s going to be bad ones.”

Clark, who shot 5-for-15 from the field and 4-for-11 from three, committed 10 turnovers. While her 20 points were the second-most for a player making her debut – behind Tamkia Catchings’ 23 – her 10 turnovers were the most for a first-year player since Betty Lennox made 11 on August 9, 2000, according to Across the Timeline.

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“Obviously too many turnovers — that’s not going to get the job done,” Clark admitted. “There’s a lot of things to learn from.

“I would have liked to have played a little better tonight.”

Diana Taurasi’s Warning Started Doing The Rounds After Caitlin Clark’s Debut

Unfortunately for Caitlin Clark, Diana Taurasi’s warning will make the rounds every time she has a bad game.

“You look superhuman playing against some 18 years olds but you’re going to come play with some grown women that have been playing professional basketball for a long time,” Taurasi said to ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt a few weeks ago.

Clark and the Fever will play the New York Liberty at home on Thursday night and will hope to go 1-1 in the rookie’s second game.

 

VIDEO: Caitlin Clark Got A Nasty “Welcome To The WNBA” Moment During Her Regular Season Debut

Caitlin Clark (Photo via @iam_johnw/Twitter)
Diana Taurasi is probably thinking: “I told you so,” now that Caitlin Clark has played her first competitive game in the WNBA.

The Phoenix Mercury star endured some backlash after sounding a warning out to Clark and the new rookie class while speaking to ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt a few weeks ago.

“Look, SVP, reality is coming,” she said. “There’s levels to this thing. That’s just life. We all went through it. You see it on the NBA side, and you’re going to see it on this side. You look superhuman playing against some 18 years olds but you’re going to come play with some grown women that have been playing professional basketball for a long time.”

It appears Taurasi knew what she was talking about. The Connecticut Sun did not allow Caitlin to waltz through her debut, although she scored a game-high 20 points, the second-most for a WNBA debutant since Tamika Catchings scored 23 in her first game for the Fever in 2022.

Clark went 5-for-15 from the field and 4-for-11 from three, also committing 10 turnovers, the most for a rookie since Betty Lennox recorded 11 in 2000.

Caitlin Clark’s “Welcome To The NBA” Moment

The first 20 minutes of Caitlin Clark’s debut were hard to watch. She scored seven points on 2-for-7 shooting, adding five turnovers and two fouls, both of which came in the first five minutes.

She also got a “welcome to the WNBA” moment when an opposing player stiffly challenged her on a layup attempt, sending her crashing to the floor with a hard foul.

Check it out below:

She got up with some help from her teammates, hitting both of the resulting free throws thereafter.

“I thought it took me a little while to settle into the game,” she said, per NBC. “I thought the second half was a lot better minus some of the turnovers.”

It turns out that both she and Taurasi lost their opening games.

Clark and the Fever will play their next game against the New York Liberty this Thursday.