The Indiana Fever are riding high on Caitlin Clark-mania. They can’t stop singing her praises. Which is odd, considering former WNBA star Sheryl Swoopes suggested some of her teammates might not want to play with her anymore.
Indiana, in Clark’s first season with the club, played well over .500 basketball in the latter half of the season, made the playoffs as a 6th seed, and racked up 20 wins, their highest total since 2015.
But it’s the intangibles Clark brings to the table. She makes her teammates play better. And she brings more eyeballs to the games so they can all showcase their talents.
Case in point, in the Fever’s last game of the season a crowd of 20,711 fans showed up to the arena, the largest attendance in WNBA history.
Fever Give Caitlin Clark Some Serious Props
It’s getting to a point where we’re running out of superlatives to describe the phenomenon that is Caitlin Clark. Fortunately, though, her teammates had a lot to say about what she does for them and the sport as a whole.
Forward Nalyssa Smith gave Clark all the credit in the world for the massive crowd.
“It’s huge,” she said, according to Fox News. “This is what we’ve been hoping for forever. It’s fun to play in front of these [crowds]. You never get used to it.”
“Just always showing up and playing in front of sold-out crowds, and I mean, shoutout Caitlin,” Smith added. “Shoutout Caitlin, we appreciate her for this.”
Guard Kelsey Mitchell had similar thoughts.
“I think the reality of it is that I don’t think people would know without her. So, shoutout to Caitlin. That’s just the reality,” she said. “I think she’s done an unbelievable job of bringing obviously her own fans and the people that support her.”
Sheryl Swoopes Said Caitlin Clark’s Teammates Want Out
Mitchell’s comments are particularly intriguing after Swoopes started an unfounded rumor that Caitlin Clark’s teammates didn’t like playing with her in Indiana.
“So, as a player, do you want to continue to stay in a situation where you keep yourself vulnerable to all of the hate that you know is going to come to you if you’re not playing the way everyone thinks you should be playing?” Swoopes wondered. “And that’s for the people who don’t know basketball.”
The former WNBA star said not all players would find it best to leave Indiana, but did suggest Mitchell should consider it. She cited her by name.
“Not every player who’s a free agent should leave because the grass probably ain’t gonna be greener for you,” Swoopes said. “But a player like Kelsey Mitchell — Kelsey Mitchell could be very valuable to any team.”
Following those comments, Clark’s teammate Erica Wheeler said, “All we do is have fun with Caitlin Clark.”
Sure sounds like they all love playing with the biggest thing to happen to the WNBA, Sheryl.
