Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James gave some advice to Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark, who just recently began her WNBA career after being selected by the Fever with the top pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft.
“But I didn’t come in with that type of aura,” James said when comparing the start of his NBA career to the start of Clark’s WNBA stint. “I just wanted to come in and learn from the vets and then put the work in. So, I think for my advice to Caitlin and my advice to anyone that comes in with this level of notoriety, out-of-this-world expectation, whatever the case may be, I just think just it’s all about having a — be a horse.
“The Kentucky Derby — put your blinders on. Go to work. Show up to work. Punch yo clock in. Prepare yourself. Work on your game. Work on your craft. Kinda keep your mouth shut and just learn from the vets. When they ask, you voice your opinion if they want your opinion early on because everybody is looking for you to say anything, and they’re gonna splice it and cut it and make it a negative thing.”
Clark has played four games for the Fever so far in the 2024 WNBA season, and she got off to a slow start to her pro stint in terms of scoring efficiency. After all, in her first two WNBA regular-season games, which came against the Connecticut Sun and New York Liberty, she combined to shoot just 5-of-18 from deep and knocked down just one of her seven shots from deep in Indiana’s blowout loss to the Liberty on May 16.
But the 22-year-old has rebounded from her underwhelming scoring performances by scoring the ball with impressive efficiency in her two most recent games with the Fever.
First, in another game against the Liberty on May 18, she enjoyed her most productive outing of the season in terms of scoring the ball. She dropped 22 points while shooting 9-of-17 from the field and 4-of-10 from 3-point range in a game the Fever lost by 11 points.
Fast forward to Indiana’s second matchup of the season against the Sun on May 20, and Clark once again provided consistent and efficient scoring for the Fever. The former University of Iowa standout scored 17 points on 11 shots from the floor and knocked down all four of her shots from the charity stripe.
While Clark’s recent play suggests that she has now seemingly found her footing from an offensive standpoint, her recent showings haven’t resulted in any wins for the Fever. Indiana owns a poor 0-4 record so far this season, which is tied with the Washington Mystics for the worst record in the Eastern Conference at this point in time.
Clark and the Fever will try to pick up their first win of the 2024 regular season when they take on the Seattle Storm — who have won just one of their four games thus far — on Wednesday night.
