No WNBA player has quite as many eyes on them as Caitlin Clark does.
With those eyes comes pressure — pressure that fellow rising star Paige Bueckers doesn’t think is fair.
“I would just say [Clark] handles it with grace, and the pressure that she’s put on every single night to perform at the level that she does — it’s inhumane, really,” Bueckers said Thursday. “To expect people to be perfect and to not have off games or off nights. If she doesn’t go 8 for 10 from three, people are questioning things. It’s unfair to have to deal with that.
“She’s a great person at dealing with it, and just tuning out the noise and just continuing to be there for herself and for her team.”
The wildly high standards that Clark is held to have been especially amplified recently, as the Indiana Fever superstar has struggled mightily across her last three games.
She shot 1-for-23 in those games from 3-point range, which brought her season numbers to 1-for-28 in away games.
It’s a far cry from the 22-for-50 that she’s posted from long range in home games.
Adding salt to the wound of her struggles, Clark is now facing a groin injury, which forced her to miss the Fever’s Thursday game against the Sparks in which Indiana fell to Los Angeles, 85-75.
Bueckers can relate to the expectations that Clark faces, as she too entered the WNBA as the No. 1 pick, has been breaking rookie records and has a plethora of hype surrounding her name.
“I’m a perfectionist, I think every shot I shoot should go in,” Bueckers continued about the pressure that players like her and Clark face. “But then, also like [Clark] talked about, just being able to give yourself grace and know that you are not perfect and there’s going to be ups and downs.”
Not only does she have similar expectations and standards, but Bueckers is going through similar rookie growing pains like Clark did, as the Wings have struggled.
They currently sit at the bottom of the WNBA standings at 4-12, despite Bueckers’ stellar per-game averages of 17.7 points, 4.6 rebounds and 5.8 assists.
“There’s gonna be good games, there’s gonna be bad games,” Bueckers said. “But as long as you keep it forward, keep pushing, and keep learning from game to game, that’s all you can ask for.”
