Women's Fastbreak On SI

Indiana Fever Player Silences Caitlin Clark Critics

One player on the Indiana Fever got honest about the positive impact Caitlin Clark has had this season.

Grant Young

May 3, 2024; Dallas, Texas, USA; Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (22) and Indiana Fever guard Lexie Hull (10) and Indiana Fever guard Erica Wheeler (17) react during the second half against the Dallas Wings at College Park Center. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images
May 3, 2024; Dallas, Texas, USA; Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (22) and Indiana Fever guard Lexie Hull (10) and Indiana Fever guard Erica Wheeler (17) react during the second half against the Dallas Wings at College Park Center. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images / Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

Those who like to criticize Indiana Fever rookie sensation Caitlin Clark are struggling to find aspects of her game to gripe about.

One person who has been notoriously terse toward Clark is women's basketball icon Sheryl Swoopes. Among what she has said regarding the rookie is that Indiana would still be a playoff team without her in a July episode of her "Queens of the Court" podcast with Jordan Robinson.

The Fever are slated to make their first playoff appearance since 2016 and have already won more games this season than they have in the past two seasons combined.

In fact, even Fever veteran guard Erica Wheeler refuted Swoopes' claim and admitted that Indiana would not be in this playoff position without the former Iowa Hawkeye.

On September 14, X user @CClarkReport posted, "Would the Fever be in the playoffs without Caitlin Clark?"

Wheeler replied by saying, "No! But we here! Stay tuned in!"

Her response already has nearly 500,000 views and over 10,000 likes in the 12 hours since it was posted. In her post's comments, Clark fans are thankful that someone on the team is willing to acknowledge the massive positive impact that Clark has brought on the court.

While Indiana still has two more games to play in the regular season, it appears that they will lock up the No. 6 seed and therefore face off against the No. 3 seeded Connecticut Sun in the first round. Connecticut won three out of their four games against Clark and the Fever this season, but Indiana won the most recent matchup and is a vastly improved team from earlier on in the year.

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Grant Young

GRANT YOUNG

Grant Young covers Women’s Basketball, the New York Yankees, and the New York Mets for Sports Illustrated’s ‘On SI’ sites. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco (USF), where he also graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing and played on USF’s Division I baseball team for five years. However, he now prefers Angel Reese to Angels in the Outfield.

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