Former NBA player Gilbert Arenas claims Caitlin Clark is similar to $58.6M worth Damian Lillard: "Now, she can do whatever she wants to do"
Former NBA All-Star turned analyst Gilbert Arenas is the latest hoops personality to chime in on Iowa star Caitlin Clark`s March Madness escapade. This time, the retired player, known for his controversial takes, has compared Clark to the Milwaukee Bucks' Damian Lillard.
In a recent episode of Arenas' show "Gil's Arena," he mentioned how Clark`s game reminds him of Lillard for a few reasons:
Here`s what Arenas said:
"Caitlin Clark reminds me of what Dame does, right? If anybody notices, her first shot [is] always a three. First quarter, second quarter, third, fourth--she sets the distance on her first shot, so you have to guard her there. Now she can do whatever she wants to do."
He continued:
"Each quarter, she`d start it off with a three. Deep three, just to let you know, `Guard me from back here.` Now it puts you in fear mode. She`s playing a chess game. But that`s what Dame does. He starts the game off, he`s gonna shoot a deep three to force you to guard him from there."
Arenas is most notably mentioning Caitlin Clark`s patented deep three-pointer, which has been some sort of calling card for her. Everybody knows she can shoot from a distance, but almost no other player in college basketball shoots it with as much efficiency as Clark from way beyond even NBA range.
She`s used the shot so much that she even hoisted up one to finally break the NCAA women`s all-time basketball scoring record, previously held by the Las Vegas Aces` Kelsey Plum. As every hoops fan should know, Damian Lillard is also well-known for being an absolute sniper from the logo.
Caitlin Clark and Damian Lillard`s logo threes: a quick look
Now that Gilbert Arenas has set the stage, here`s a quick look at the overall efficiency of Caitlin Clark and Damian Lillard when shooting their deep three-point bombs.
As of early March, Clark has reportedly made 84 three-point shots from 25 feet or more (via USA Today). By comparison, the NBA three-point line at the top of the key is 23 feet and nine inches away from the basket. So anything beyond 25 feet is almost always indeed a logo three-pointer (literally touching the logo on the central court). Her overall percentage on these shots is a ridiculous 39.3%.
To put that in perspective, her percentage from 25 feet away or more is better than many players at the NBA level who shoot it from their standard top-of-the-key three-point line. She`s already shooting from way further than the college three-point line, which does what Arenas says it does: it forces teams to guard her from just beyond half-court early on.
As for Dame, he also regularly shoots from 25 feet or more, even hitting shots from 30 feet or more with frightening regularity. In the 2021 season, Lillard hit just over 40% of his threes from 25-29 feet, and 33.3% from 30-34 feet (via USA Today).
So what do you think? Is Gilbert Arenas right in comparing Caitlin Clark to Damian Lillard? Should there be a Caitlin vs Dame three-point shooting contest in the next All-Star Weekend? Let us know!