If Sue Bird were still playing in the WNBA, there’s one team and, more specifically, one player she would not want to see in the playoffs: the Indiana Fever and first overall pick Caitlin Clark.
The four-time WNBA champion and 13-time All-Star offered a warning to other teams in the league during a recent episode of her podcast with Megan Rapinoe, “A Touch More,” saying that Clark’s dominance in her rookie year makes her a big threat in the playoffs.
Sue Bird looks on prior to the game between the United States and South Africa at Soldier Field on September 24, 2023, in Chicago, Illinois. (Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
“What I’ve learned in my WNBA experience is pace of play trumps physicality, it trumps size, it can trump experience,” she began.
“In 2018 and 2020, the years we won, that was our whole mantra – pace, pace, pace, pace. And what I see in Caitlin, what I see in Kelsey Mitchell, they’re just ramming it down people’s throats. And it’s really hard – it can have your head spinning.”
Bird said that Clark continues to impress this season, and it’s not something she expects to see trail off any time soon.
“She’s gonna break records nonstop for the next couple of years. It’s just going to be a constant record break.”
But just as she predicts that Clark will continue to grow, Bird said that players in the league should expect the same.
Caitlin Clark #22 of the Indiana Fever dribbles the ball during the game against the Phoenix Mercury on July 12, 2024, at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Justin Casterline/NBAE via Getty Images)
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“The only thing that I find most interesting is at the start of the season everybody had their panties in a twist over Caitlin getting picked up full court and Caitlin being denied, and what I’m not surprised by is naturally during a WNBA season, teams and players start to get a little tired, you’re kind of in the doldrums of the every day or every other day is a game and it’s hard to keep that discipline to guard a player like that. So, I’m not surprised it dropped off.”
Clark recently broke the WNBA’s rookie assists record, and Bird believes that the numbers the former Iowa star is putting up midseason are because she’s adjusting well to the physicality of the game and playing smarter.
“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].”
Caitlin Clark, #22 of the Indiana Fever, reacts in the game against the Phoenix Mercury at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on August 16, 2024. (Justin Casterline/Getty Images)
Clark has scored at least 20 points in five of her last six games. She is averaging 23.7 points on 47% shooting from the field, and 11.7 assists over that span. Indiana has one game this week at Minnesota on Saturday as the team looks to continue to solidify a playoff spot.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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