If Sue Bird were still lacing up her sneakers in the WNBA, there’s one player she would dread facing in the playoffs: Caitlin Clark of the Indiana Fever. The four-time WNBA champion and 13-time All-Star didn’t hold back on a recent episode of her podcast with Megan Rapinoe, “A Touch More,” where she highlighted just how dangerous Clark has become in her rookie season.
“What I’ve learned in my WNBA experience is that pace of play trumps physicality, size, and even experience,” Bird explained. Reflecting on her own championship runs in 2018 and 2020, she emphasized the importance of speed, adding, “And what I see in Caitlin, what I see in Kelsey Mitchell, they’re just ramming it down people’s throats. It’s really hard – it can have your head spinning.”
Clark’s relentless pace and ability to score have made her a formidable opponent, and Bird doesn’t expect that to change anytime soon. “She’s gonna break records nonstop for the next couple of years. It’s just going to be a constant record break,” Bird said, acknowledging the rookie’s incredible trajectory.
Clark recently shattered the WNBA’s rookie assists record, and her scoring has been equally impressive, with at least 20 points in five of her last six games. Over that stretch, she’s averaging 23.7 points on 47% shooting, along with 11.7 assists per game. Bird attributes these numbers to Clark’s growing comfort with the physicality of the league and her evolving basketball IQ.
“The only thing I find most interesting is at the start of the season, everybody was all worked up about Caitlin being picked up full court and denied the ball,” Bird noted. “But naturally, during a WNBA season, teams and players start to get a little tired, and it’s hard to keep that discipline to guard a player like that. So, I’m not surprised it dropped off.”
As Indiana continues to solidify its playoff position, Bird offered a final warning to the rest of the league: “She’s definitely getting used to it, which is, you know, trouble for everybody else. That’s why I don’t want to see her in the playoffs.”
With the Fever set to face the Minnesota Lynx this Saturday, Clark will have another opportunity to showcase why she’s quickly becoming one of the most feared players in the WNBA.
