Since she arrived on the scene in the WNBA last year, Caitlin Clark has had her fair share of opponents pushing her limits.
Things reached a fever pitch for the guard in Indiana’s win, though, as she was poked in the eye by Connecticut Sun’s Jacy Sheldon before getting shoved to the ground by Marina Mabrey.
This begged the question: Does Clark need an “enforcer” on the Fever to step in at times like these?
“Can we get Caitlin Clark a little protection out there?” Chris Mannix asked Rachel Nichols on Sports Illustrated’s “Open Floor” show. “That’s your [Michael] Jordan, that’s your Steph Curry, that’s your LeBron [James], that’s your Kobe [Bryant]. That’s your face of the league. You gotta protect the face of the league, ladies.”
While the Sun continuously pressed Clark with physicality Tuesday night, it took a whole quarter before Clark’s teammate Sophie Cunningham tackled down the face-smacker Sheldon — the first real punch back from Indiana.
Clark’s case reminded Mannix and Nichols of Stephen Curry’s Warriors tenure.
Aside from the similarities in their otherworldly shooting abilities and their play styles, Curry has also had his fair share of teams trying to physically bully him in an effort to slow him down.
“I don’t think the WNBA is going to be any more lenient than the NBA,” Nichols said. “Look, we’ve seen Steph Curry, that you mentioned, be beat up like this for years. I mean, that is basically the game plan against Steph Curry is just try to out-physical him and beat him up a little bit because, of course, you can’t match the skill level. I think the W is sort of taking a page from that. But, so far, she’s been able to handle everything that’s been thrown at her. I don’t really worry about her toughness. She might be her own enforcer.”
But Curry has had one man in particular on his team throughout all these years: Draymond Green.
“That’s the franchise. Draymond gets it. He protects Steph Curry,” Mannix refuted Nichols. “We’ve seen Caitlin Clark get laid out a few times. Look, some of that comes with the territory when you’re a flashy rookie. You’re gonna take some shots. We’re in Year 2 now with Caitlin Clark. I think people on her team, the women on her team, if somebody takes a shot at her … You gotta level that girl, right?”
Perhaps it’s time for someone on the Fever to assume the role.