Caitlin Clark has taken the WNBA by storm, and if you let the media and her cult following of fans tell it, she has no flaws.
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When her game is referenced, most discuss her passing prowess which has resulted in the rookie leading the WNBA in assists, and her scoring ability, which has gotten progressively better since the beginning of the season.
Despite all of Clark’s fanfare and the hyperbole about her all-time standing as a women’s basketball player just 30 games into her rookie season, there’s one glaring negative to her game that subjective fans and those celebrating her daily refuse to address.
Caitlin Clark Already Has A Record Amount Of Turnovers
It’s just as much a reason why her team is only 13-15 and fighting for a playoff spot despite boasting the past two No. 1 overall draft picks.
Turnovers.
How do you say you don’t know basketball without saying it?
Well, people overlooking the fact that Clark is atrocious at times with giving the ball back to the other team either don’t understand efficiency or refuse to acknowledge it’s important when it comes to the WNBA’s savior.
Her turnovers are just as historically and strikingly bad as her captivating brand is good.
She already broke the WNBA single-season turnover record back in July.
Per ESPN Stats & Info, when Clark recorded her 139th turnover, it was the most turnovers in a season in WNBA history, but all we really heard about was Clark passing Sue Bird for the most assists in a season by a rookie since 2000.
Clark, who leads the WNBA in assists at 8.3 per game, had nine Sunday to reach 232, passing Ticha Penicheiro’s previous rookie record of 224 set in 1998.
She is also quickly approaching 200 turnovers which is an unthinkable amount for a supposed elite guard, which suggests that despite Clark’s passing abilities she’s not a point guard.
There are some who do allude to the turnovers as a reason why she shouldn’t win Rookie of the Year over Angel Reese, but they are clearly “Chi Barbie” fans who are also jaded in some regards when it comes to discussing the matter.
Caitlin Clark On Her Way To 200 Turnovers
One X user said: “CC is going to have 200 Turnovers. That’s Embarrasing.They let her do anything, most would be benched.”
Clark is currently at 155 turnovers with 12 games remaining and needs to average just 3.7 per game to reach the infamous milestone. She’s averaging 5.5 turnovers per game now.
For all of the remarkable things Clark has done on the court, to ignore how inefficient she’s been with protecting the ball and not acknowledging that she is allowed to make mistakes that most players would never be allowed to make is disingenuous when discussing the full scope of her impact
If head coach Christie Sides found a way to cut those turnovers in half, think about how many more wins the Fever would have.
They would probably have a winning record. While we credit Clark and only Clark, it seems, for the 13 wins the team does have, then she also has to shoulder the blame for the 15 losses and the seventh-place standing.
Clark Fans Continue To Make Excuses For Unfathomable Turnovers
She’s had six or more turnovers 14 times in 28 games and had 10 turnovers in her celebrated debut.
Anyway you slice it, those are the signs of an inconsistent player. Plenty of fans try to blame her “inferior” teammates, but an objective eye can see the flaws that must be fixed.
We can sit here and praise Clark as if she’s perfect, but she has to take some culpability for her team’s underachieving ways, same as probable 2024 league MVP Aja Wilson does for Las Vegas Aces’ disappointing 17-9 record.
You can’t have your cake and eat it too, although Nike already gave Clark her dessert before she even started the appetizer in the form of a $28 million sneaker deal.
The Caitlin Clark Effect on the WNBA is tangible with increases in revenue, ticket sales and attendance, private chartered flights and an unprecedented $2 million media deal piece off from the NBA, plus a significant leap in male viewership all coming to a peak during her watch.
However, real journalists are still going to do their job, and if you watch basketball it’s clear that Clark has much improving to do when it comes to running a team and protecting the rock.
