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Caitlin Clark Channels Michael Jordan With Reaction to Alyssa Thomas' Hard Foul

Fever rookie Caitlin Clark re-enacted an iconic gesture NBA icon Michael Jordan during Wednesday's game.

Grant Young

Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (22) smiles at an official Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2024, during a game between the Indiana Fever and the Connecticut Sun at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. The Fever defeated the Sun, 84-80.
Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (22) smiles at an official Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2024, during a game between the Indiana Fever and the Connecticut Sun at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. The Fever defeated the Sun, 84-80. / Grace Smith/IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK

Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever seem unstoppable right now.

They just defeated the Connecticut Sun in a hard-fought, 84-80 game on their home field, which improved Indiana's record to 15-16 in the WNBA regular season and 4-1 in August alone.

While Clark's 19 points, 5 assists, and 5 rebounds is a somewhat pedestrian stat line compared to what she has been doing in recent games, fans who were watching her on Wednesday saw Clark orchestrate the fast-paced Fever offense to a tee.

Although the Fever faithful was not happy about one play in the game, where Clark was leveled to the floor on a hard screen set by Sun superstar Alyssa Thomas.

Thomas was called for an offensive foul on the play, and Clark appeared to be shaken up for a moment.

But then she got up, showing that she was all right, and began walking back down the court.

While doing so, she stuck her tongue out.

This brought NBA legend Michael Jordan to mind, who was notorious for having his tongue sticking out while he was playing for the Chicago Bulls. And while Clark did so during a pause in the action, it's still cool to see the rookie sensation re-enacting something that has become ingrained in basketball lore.

This isn't the first time Clark and Jordan's names have been said in the same sentence today, as media mogul Joe Budden compared the two during a recent episode of the "Joe Budden Podcast".

While Clark still has a long way to go before she can compete with MJ's legendary resumé, she appears on the path to doing so, given the way that Indiana is playing right now.

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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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