"She's apolitically good" - Skip Bayless lauds Caitlin Clark for 'Larry Bird impact' on WNBA despite her flaws

By Orlando Silva

Modified Sep 12, 2024 23:05 GMT

Caitlin Clark keeps playing at a high level in her WNBA rookie season. The young guard needed time to adjust to the league after coming almost instantly from college, but once she got the hang of it, things started getting better for her and the Indiana Fever.

Skip Bayless has often shown his support for the No. 1 overall pick since she entered the league. In Thursday's episode of his homonym show, the veteran analyst went further and said that Clark is becoming the best player in the league.

"Caitlin Clark is becoming the best player in the entire WNBA, not because she's white, because she's that good. She's having Larry Bird impact," Bayless said.

"She's not the quickest, she's not the stronger, she's not leaper, and still since the Olympic break that she badly obviously needed, she's been the driving force of the hottest team in the entire league, despite her record turnovers," he added.

He continued:

"Why? Because she's that good. She's legit good. She's colorblind good, she's guilt-free good, she's apolitically good. She's real."

Just like Bayless, more people agreed that Caitlin Clark benefited from the Olympic break, even if some thought she must have made it to the USA Basketball women's team. Before the All-Star break, Clark averaged 17.1 points, 5.8 rebounds, 8.2 assists and 1.5 steals per game with the Fever. She shot for 40.5% from the field, 32.7% from deep and 89.1% from the free-throw line.

Once she returned to action, those numbers went up, with Clark posting 23.9 ppg, 5.5 rpg and 9.0 apg. Her steals went down (0.9 spg), but her shooting splits went up. She shoots 43.8% from the field, 36.3% from beyond the arc and 94.5% from the free-throw line.

---

Caitlin Clark says she failed to make an impact against Aces

As great as she's been this campaign, Caitlin Clark couldn't do much to win the duel between the WNBA MVP and ROY favorites. Gainbridge Fieldhouse was the venue for A'ja Wilson's show against Caitlin Clark and the Fever.

Following the game, Clark noted what she needed to do to perform better this Friday during a conversation with the press:

"The offensive fouls are definitely surprising at times. I do feel like I get held and get quite a bit of contact throughout the game… it is what it is… I can use my quickness a little bit better."

The Aces remain the only team the Fever are yet to beat this season and tomorrow night's game will be their last opportunity to do so.