Hall of Famer Praises Caitlin Clark as the 'Best Passer in the League'

Stephen Douglas | Sep 17, 2024

Caitlin Clark makes a pass in the WNA All-Star game. / Joe Rondone/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK

Caitlin Clark broke the WNBA record for assists in a single season last week. With one game remaining in her rookie season, she's established herself as one of the best passers in all of basketball and people have noticed, including some of the best to ever play the game.

Tamika Catchings recently spoke with veteran sports writer Bob Kravitz for a piece on Sportscasting.com. Catchings, who played her entire 15-year WNBA career for the Indiana Fever, was on the franchise's only championship team and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2021, was extremely complimentary of Clark and her abilities. Particularly her vision and passing, which is something her teammates might not have been ready for at the start of the season.

“She was making passes here that she made at Iowa, except her Iowa teammates were already adjusted to the way she plays,” Catchings said. “A lot of times, our players weren’t expecting those passes. But like everything, time and practice helped everybody get on the same page. Now, they’re expecting those passes.”

Catchings continued, praising her basketball IQ and ability to get teammates involved.

Her court vision is the biggest thing, being able to deliver the ball, knowing who needs the ball and when; a lot of point guards miss that. But now you see Aliyah and Kelsey getting their touches, that’s just Caitlin seeing the floor, seeing the game and things before they happen, disbursing the ball at the right times to the right people."

Leading the WNBA in assists as a rookie and breaking the league record for assists is pretty strong supporting evidence of that. But the fact that the high praise comes from one of the best players in women's basketball history is just as impressive.

---

feed