After Caitlin Clark and the Fever’s season got here to finish, LeBron James shared an unfiltered tackle why he respects the rookie a lot.
“I’ve quite a lot of respect for Caitlin Clark, as a result of I do know precisely what it means to be drafted, be the face of a franchise, and likewise get the scrutiny from lots of people that don’t consider you’re prepared for the following soar, don’t consider you’re prepared for the massive leagues, and simply don’t assume that you just belong,” LeBron informed Esquire. “And I do not forget that once I got here into the league at eighteen years previous how many individuals doubted me and hoped and prayed that I’d fail. And so, me watching Caitlin and seeing what she’s doing, I’ve been in assist of her since day one, as a result of I bear in mind myself going via that, and he or she has my assist 100%. She’s a transcendent participant. And clearly all of us noticed that at Iowa, and I knew that it might translate to the massive leagues. And he or she’s an unbelievable expertise. It’s nice to observe.”
It’s no marvel LeBron can relate to Clark’s scenario a lot.
The Cavs drafted him out of highschool at No. 1 in 2003 and the group introduced their intention to pick out the highschool prodigy proper after successful the draft lottery.
Equally, when Clark was drafted by the Fever, she immediately grew to become the face of the franchise and WNBA viewings skyrocketed.
Nevertheless, Indiana’s 1-8 begin on the season had individuals questioning whether or not she was the true deal or not.
However, the 22-year-old confirmed out in her first season and completed the yr with unanimous Rookie of the 12 months honors.
She additionally made historical past a number of occasions all through the season, together with when she set new single-game (19) and single-season (337) help data.
She scored 769 complete factors, which additionally created a brand new WNBA single-season rookie scoring report.
Her full listing of achievements on the yr is sort of unbelievable.
In April, Diana Taurasi warned Caitlin Clark that “actuality is coming” in her rookie WNBA season.
Since then, Clark has achieved:
Unanimous ROTY
— Basketball Perpetually (@bballforever_) September 23, 2024
LeBron has defended Clark prior to now and it doesn’t seem like his public admiration for her will probably be slowing down anytime quickly.
