Caitlin Clark, the limitless phenomenon who is going for the World Cup: “It’s Michael Jordan”

As fine as she is brave, the more genius she brings out Caitlin Clark The more genius he is, an ax that redefines basketball on the fly with his occurrences despite the turbulence, the others can now hit him with blows and kicks that are like the ones he endured Michael Jordan that she will bring out that spontaneous artist’s stroke with those triples from infinity like the very same Stephen Curry. Whatever and from wherever because pain is inspiration for her.

Between fantasy basketball and bravery for a living, Clark is a mass phenomenon for the emotions it arouses. At the end of the day, she doesn’t feel like anything more than a girl having a blast playing basketball.

“I think it’s just the style of basketball I play,” says the petite and thin but also brave 1.83 point guard.

“But I think people love the fire and the excitement that I have, the smile that I always have on my face. I don’t get nervous for the games because I know it’s fun for me,” added the star of the Indiana Fever in the documentary Caitlin Clark: The Complete Story recently released.

Saying that Caitlin Clark, from 24 yearshas turned the WNBA and the world of basketball upside down and beyond basketball is an understatement. With unbridled creativity and character and recitals and records everywhere, the American base of West Des Moines (Iowa) had almost 4 million Americans hooked to the television in its exhibition of 37 points and 8 triples against the Chicago Sky last week, the likes of which had never been seen in a WNBA regular season game. The 44 regular phase games of this season will be broadcast on national television in the United States, an honor they only share with the Dallas Cowboys of the NFL. And the best league in the world has just secured a record sale of more than $3 billion for its television rights for the next decade.

Thus, Clark has earned in the United States the privilege of being compared with Michael Jordan and Stephen Curry and this time it is not about the cliché of comparing an athlete with men from the same sport to spread her name, but rather about putting into context her type of talent, the dimension of her charisma and the heights she can reach in basketball. Caitlin Clark’s impact transcends that and everything and evokes Jordan for her unwavering and fierce mentality and Curry for his antics.

“Caitlin Clark is like Stephen Curry (in terms of playing style), but with the mentality of Michael Jordan,” the famous American journalist said a few days ago. Colin Cowherd in a comparison that went viral. Although the always vehement Stephen A. Smith also left a quote that resonates:

“Do I need to call Caitlin Clark the female version of Stephen Curry or Stephen Curry the male version of Caitlin Clark?”

The Fever star assumes like Jordan that the cost of greatness is dealing with kicks and aggression has crossed the red line to the point of becoming violence with that episode of Alyssa Thomas, of the Phoenix Mercury, directly grabbing him by the neck on the ground. Already the quarrelsome Angel Reese began to earn her reputation as a bad girl and her role at its expense, writing the prologue to her story as a WNBA villain with her rivalry with Clark in the NCAA, where she stole the title from the point guard in the final between the Iowa Hawkeyes and the TSU Tigers before the point guard was drafted number 1 in 2024.

Now they will have to make friends with Team USA in the World Cup that begins this Friday and which will be the debut for the Fever star with the United States senior team in a major tournament. The American team, without the quadruple MVP A’ja Wilson nor Kelsey Plum, debuts against China and Spain will also debut on Friday against the host Germany with the WNBA Awa Fam, Megan Gustafson, María Conde, Raquel Carrera and Alicia Flórez who promise to make it difficult for Caitlin Clark’s team if they cross paths with her.

Never one to bite his tongue, Clark has been blunt about what he has to endure on the hardwood.

“Bullying and hate, none of that is okay,” the star recently said.

“I have always stood up and said, this is truly what I believe in, this is how I was raised. None of that is right and I don’t want anyone to go through that,” added the base, candidate to surpass the greatest of all time, Diana Taurasi.

Caitlin Clark is not as big and athletic as others like the four-time MVP A’ja Wilson and hers is more a question of skill than of strength and while she keeps her hair in place and her radiant smile – spotless no matter how much she is dragged into the mud -, she does not cut a corner fighting her enemies. And that mixture of cunning skill and immune mentality makes his detractors even more angry, the many he has on the track and also the networks, the same ones who direct their hatred even more today on authentic and rebellious people like Clark. But to her, plim.

“I don’t read the comments,” the point guard, the player to reach the fastest, said during the Fever’s recent visit to Toronto. 1,000 points and 500 assists among other records. Even those who know her best are amazed by Clark’s proud mentality, what’s in that head.

“She hates losing more than she likes winning,” her coach in Indiana recently told MD. Stephanie White. They say that at school the teachers had to stop playing games in class because of their aversion to losing.

White also praises his star for his way of defusing pressure and criticism.

“She is very mature. She understands that noise is just that, she understands that perception is not reality. She trusts her work and that of her teammates. She has had to deal with it her entire life, it is not something new for her. I don’t know how at 24 years old you can handle this with the grace that she does. But she has been able to do it,” the coach highlighted.

The work ethic and her great relationship with pressure when it is most suffocating are also mental attributes of Caitlin Clark.

“She is a worker, so she is constantly in the gym to work on her game. She wants to grow, improve, she wants to have the ball in decisive moments. There are many players who run away from those moments but she never runs away from the moment. All these intangibles along with her obvious abilities make her really special,” adds the Indiana Fever coach.

As a Clark player who does not shut up even under water while answering so many haters on the court, she also holds nothing back when she acts as orchestra director on the court.

“He talks a lot,” he highlights. Aliyah Bostonpartner of the base of that Big Three of the Fever of which Kelsey Mitchell is also a part. “I think talking a lot is great, especially the base. Being on the court and having her talk about what she sees on the court and what we need to do is always good,” Boston adds.

The trident formed by Clark, Boston and Mitchell is producing en masse in what is an offensive frenzy never seen before, as the Fever go into the World Cup break with an offensive rating of 116.5 points every 100 possessions, a figure that places them as the best attack in history. In her third season in the WNBA, the point guard is averaging 22.5 points, 4 rebounds and 8.4 assists with 46% in field goals and 37% in triples with a high volume of 8 attempts. In the last two games the American has scored a point or more per minute, with those 37 against Sky in 32 minutes -unfairly overshadowed by Enes Kanter’s ‘show’ Freedom-, and 34 points in 34 minutes against Connectitut Sun.

The Fever are fifth at 26-14 and dream of doing something big after reaching the semifinals last year without Caitlin Clark, who said goodbye to the season in June with a muscle injury after only 13 games played.

As a sign of her character, of her ambition to grow as a leader, Caitlin Clark is rolling up her sleeves in defense this season like she has never done before.

“I’m not a bad defender,” the phenomenon said in July. “I have never been the best defender, I understand that, but I am also intelligent. I can read angles, I have a high IQ. I can understand how to help my teammates and I can do very well by grabbing defensive rebounds. Therefore, there are many things that I can contribute to this team,” Clark explained in statements reported by ESPN.

Apart from her natural offensive progression, her team appreciates the enthusiasm that the ’22’ is putting on the other side of the field. Your coach is sorry.

“The first thing is mentality. I’m not going to say willingness, but I understand that this is necessary. The second thing is the physical intensity. She is dictating now instead of reacting to the things that are happening. She is capable and now understands how important she is at this particular level. She is putting pride in it and I am really proud of her,” highlighted Stephanie White.

Sophie Cunninghamone of the Fever veterans at 30 years old, also spoke about that change on Clark’s part.

“We know he can do it. He already spends a lot of energy in attack, but he shows his growth and potential on both sides of the court and everyone tries to encourage him,” highlights the outsider.

As part of that even greater determination and bravery of the intrepid Caitlin Clark, the Indiana Fever coach says that the light player has worked to not flee from contact by attacking, a part of her offensive game that has improved such as shooting more from mid-distance taking what the defenses give her, as well as attacking with her lower hip.

The World Cup and the slower, more physical FIBA ​​game with more contact will be a real test for Caitlin Clark. The world waits with its swords raised to stop a Clark who will be a target to shoot at even more with two sensitive casualties in Team USA like Kelsey Plum and, above all, the best player on the planet, A’ja Wilson.

The United States has won the last four World Cups, but whatever the result, Caitlin Clark will continue to be the stubborn girl who doesn’t give up on anything she believes in the most when there is the most struggle. Against everyone and against everyone and against the world if necessary.