The No.1 pick in any draft is going to face pressure. Caitlin Clark, however, is facing something unlike any player in the history of the WNBA has had to face. She became the most popular player in the league before she played her first game with the Indiana Fever — a team so bad it has had the last two No. 1 picks — selling out arenas around the league and jacking up ticket prices.
She had outlandish expectations on her from the start, and through the ups and downs so far, has handled it with grace. Clark’s rookie year has gone like many level-headed fans and analysts would have guessed. The phenom from Iowa has had some moments of sheer brilliance, like when she scored 30 against the Los Angeles Sparks and their own Rookie of the Year candidate Cameron Brink. She’s also struggled, starting with her 10-turnover debut and nine-point struggle against the Liberty in game two.
Her spotlight has only grown in the month that she’s been a pro. The Chicago Sky’s Chennedy Carter lit up the sports world on Saturday when she hip-checked Clark. Carter enflamed the issue after the game, refusing to answer questions about the incident during the postgame press conference.
Clark’s coach, Christie Sides, came to her defense on X later.
“This is unacceptable @wnba,” Sides posted. “When will the consistent complaints be heard?!? Something has to be done!”
Sides and Clark have both noticed that the rookie has had to deal with the physicality of the pro game a bit more than other newcomers. As she continues to navigate her rookie season, other former No. 1 picks have now offered their advice.
Aliyah Boston: Caitlin Clark's voice of reason
Aliyah Boston is only a year removed from being the No. 1 pick herself. She came to the Fever off an undefeated regular season and Final Four run at South Carolina that, ironically, ended at the hands of Clark and Iowa.
Now in her second season, Boston has offered support for Clark where she could. Even as fans clamor for Boston to retaliate against opponents physically for Clark’s alleged mistreatment, she has offered a hand in other ways.
“She's just been supportive and there to talk me through certain situations, especially when she can tell I get a little bit frustrated on the floor at times,” Clark said. “I think she's one of the first people that comes up to me and tries to calm me down or, like, ‘look here,’ ‘try this’ or ‘this is what's gonna help you be successful.’”
Caitlin Clark also recognized that her teammate is trying to help her while continuing to learn in a competitive league.
“That's a hard position to be in,” Clark said. “She’s only in her second year too, but she's also trying to help me at the same time while she's still learning.”
Sabrina Ionescu, Breanna Stewart share their advice
Like Indiana, the Liberty have two former No. 1 picks on their team in Sabrina Ionescu and Breanna Stewart.
They might be the closest approximations to Clark that exist in the WNBA. Ionescu was one of the first college stars to break through in the women’s game renaissance of the early 2020s. Her consistent triple-doubles at Oregon and friendship with Kobe Bryant made her a household name before the Liberty took her No. 1 overall in 2020.
Her rookie year, however, did not go as expected. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Ionescu played just two full games in the WNBA bubble. Her season-ending ankle injury not only cut her rookie season short, but hampered her development into year two.
“Every rookie is going to come in and just have adversity from the beginning,” Ionescu said back in May. “It's just a lot different than college. And so, my advice to any rookie is to just continue to grind and stay with it.
“Figuring out ways that you can continue to get better — I think that's a big part of elevating your game and understanding that what you did in college was enough, and you deserve to still have that confidence going into the league. But knowing there's so much more room for improvement.”
Then there’s Stewart, who the Seattle Storm took No. 1 overall in 2016. She came to the WNBA out of UConn, where she won an unprecedented four consecutive national championships and four NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player awards.
Her rookie year went much closer to plan compared to Ionescu. Stewart put up 18.3 points, 9.3 rebounds, and 3.4 assists per game en route to the WNBA Rookie of the Year award. But Stewart was not used to losing.
The Storm went 16-18 that year, a six-game improvement from the year before that got them into the WNBA Playoffs. But Stewart lost just five games in four years at UConn — four of them as a freshman. Going through a losing season in the pros was jarring.
“Understanding how to navigate [losing] and instead of just being completely frustrated, taking whatever I can and learning from it, and just being in the gym,” Stewart said of the lessons she learned as a rookie.
“There's a jump from college the WNBA. This is the best league in the world. Keep learning, keep paying attention, keep watching film and create a good schedule.”
That schedule is a little more complicated for Caitlin Clark. It’s an Olympic year, meaning the schedule is more compact than usual to accommodate a midseason break. It’s the first since the league schedule expanded to 40 games, and the Fever’s schedule is front-loaded. On Sunday they’ll play their 11th game in the first 19 days of the season.
It’s enough to wear anyone down. Or, if you’re a rookie in the WNBA, to learn a ton out of the gate.
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