WNBA Legend Rebecca Lobo Praises Caitlin Clark's Poise Amid Most Recent Award Win
While many people within the sports media world have given Caitlin Clark her flowers across her incredible basketball career, few have achieved a comparable degree of on-court success as the 22-year-old.
One person who has is Rebecca Lobo, who has been inducted into both the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame and the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, won an Olympics gold medal with Team USA in 1996, was a 1995 NCAA champion at UConn, and became a 1999 WNBA All-Star.
Lobo, who has been an outspoken Clark advocate, had some high praise for Clark once it was announced that Fever superstar was named AP Female Athlete of the Year for 2024 — which is an award Lobo also earned back in 1995.
“I would say she’s navigated it almost flawlessly. She hasn’t had any big missteps or misspeaks at a time you’re under constant scrutiny,” Lobo said of Clark in a December 24 article from the Associated Press. “She’s seemed to say and do all the right things. That’s just incredible at a time when it’s constant attention and scrutiny. She has not done anything to tarnish this sort of mild persona she has.”
Lobo later added, "She’s brought unprecedented attention both in the building, but also viewership to the sport that was worthy of it but didn’t have it yet.
“There’s never been anything like this," she added.
Caitlin Clark honored as AP Female Athlete of the Year following her impact on women's sports https://t.co/FUpdChPSI5
— The Associated Press (@AP) December 24, 2024
It's cool to hear Lobo admit the run Clark is on has never been done before, especially given everything she has accomplished in her own basketball career.
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.