When the Caitlin Clark Fever Breaks
Caitlin Clark is a player everyone can, and should be, rooting for. But she will soon be criticized by many, which means she's doing it right.
I was unlacing my sneakers after a Saturday morning pickup run.
Iowa Women’s Basketball would be playing Ohio State in a couple hours and Caitlin Clark was within striking distance of the all-time NCAA scoring record, men’s or women’s. I asked who was going to watch it, and the guys around me nodded various forms of affirmation between gulps of water.
One said, “I hope she doesn’t break the record. I want Pistol Pete to keep it.”
We cackled. “People forget Pistol Pete Marovich was a bucket,” he might’ve said.
Pistol Pete played for LSU in the 60’s, so his legend is effectively ancient history to me. Maybe Forrest Gump would have rooted against him, but I could go either way. I don’t much care. Whatever, old man. Stuff like that.
So when Clark sank the free throws that put her atop the leaderboard (albeit less dramatic than the deep three that put her atop the billboard), I cheered.
Didn’t everyone?
This is the story of a hometown kid taking her place at the top. Her childhood coaches saying they always knew she was special. Whole family at the game. Baby blanket turned superhero cape.
Clark has ascended at a time when the sports-watching public has seen boundaries fall everywhere we look: NIL deals mean she can represent both her school and herself; the NCAA Tournament Challenge App features the men’s and women’s brackets on the home page; the three point line stands as the outer limit of offensive attack, but Clark routinely pushes that boundary, too. Her style of play holds up to the scrutiny of the five-second-fan watching clips on Instagram (“Look where she shot this from!”) and the in-depth analyst (“Look how she sets up her right to left crossover to lure the defender before dropping a bounce pass to the trailer!”). She leads the country in both scoring and assists per game, neutralizing any “selfish” accusations before they can even get off the bench.
Caitlin Clark is a player everyone can, and should be, rooting for.
My sister texted me from a café in Iowa City the day after Clark broke Pistol Pete’s record. She was listening to a man explain that “it’s actually not that impressive” to break Pistol’s record because “it’s easier to score in women’s games” and that Pistol “did it in three years and it took her four.”
Since I didn’t have Tom Hanks’ Forrest Gump to validate these claims about Pistol’s achievement, I fired up Basketball Reference and scrolled to the bottom.
And, wow, this guy was a bucket. People forgot.
Pretty much undeniably so, actually. Take a look at how Pistol and Clark stack up head to head in some key metrics:
Career points per game:
Pistol: 44.2 ppg
Clark: 28.4 ppg
Highest scoring season:
Pistol: 1381 points
Clark: 1055 points
Career field goal percentage:
Pistol: 43.8 FG%
Clark: 46.4 FG%
If Clark’s accuracy was much higher than Pistol’s, I’d be tempted to say she was a more effective scorer (think Kevin Durant’s 50.1 FG% compared to Carmelo Anthony’s 44.7 FG%). But that number being so close makes it hard not to gawk at the points per game totals. I mean, 44.2 points per game is ridiculous. For context, Luka Doncic currently leads the most prolific offensive season in NBA history with 34.7 points per game.
Café Guy might be on to something, no?
Well, I’m writing this essay because:
a) Café Guy is not on to something,
b) he’s missing the point altogether, and
c) his wrongness is actually a sign of progress.
A) Café guy is not on to something
The tea leaves at the bottom of his cup tell a different story.
Career assists per game:
Pistol: 5.1
Clark: 8.2
The old joke about LeBron goes, “His most underrated skill is his passing.” Analysts used this phrase so frequently that, eventually, his passing ability became properly-rated and widely appreciated. The same effect is taking place in Iowa City. Tune in to any broadcast this March - or over the last four years - and you’re guaranteed to hear an announcer commend Clark’s underrated passing ability. Yes, she is statistically the best playmaker in the country, but still: underrated.
Café Guy just choked on his scone. He just yelled from his stool, crumbs flying everywhere. “Just search ‘Pistol Pete passing highlights” on YouTube and tell me what you see!”
Yes, Café Guy. Pistol could pass. He was an awesome passer. Very nice passes.
But, it kind of seems like a guy named PISTOL would be known more for his shooting, right? Why is that? And how did he set this record in such a short amount of time?
Career Field Goal Attempts
Pistol: 3166 FGA
Clark: 2660 FGA
Average Field Goal Attempts Per Season
Pistol: 1055.33 FGA
Clark: 665 FGA
Career Field Goal Attempts Per Game
Pistol: 38 FGA per game
Clark: 20 FGA per game
Wait, THIRTY-EIGHT shots a game?!
Yes, it took Clark an extra season than Pistol. Yes, she had the three point line, and the shot clock, which Pistol did not.
But my guy was letting it fly. He shot almost twice as frequently as Clark did!
Clark has led her team to three consecutive Big 10 championship wins, an appearance in a National Championship game, and has been the best player on a perennial powerhouse for the entirety of her legendary career.
Pistol? Never made the tournament. Good stats, bad team.
Enjoy your scone, Café Guy, but please: have a seat.
B) He’s missing the point altogether
Lost in the points per game tables is the actual point of all this:
Caitlin Clark is a player everyone can, and should be, rooting for.
She’s in the stratosphere of Pistol Pete, a man whose legend I knew just from being around old guys at the park. This man is a Hall of Famer, a top 75 all-time NBA inductee, with a name synonymous with scoring. Clark just broke that guy’s record. Celebrating the greatness of one athlete does not need to detract from another’s.
But in sports, this is what we do.
I compared her to LeBron earlier, another hometown kid to represent his home state’s biggest basketball team when he was still a teenager. He has been among the best basketball players on the planet since I played on the yellow team at the YMCA, and just last month he eclipsed 40,000 regular season points in the NBA. He has been the defining athlete of my generation, and I’ve tuned in to witness his spectacle as often as possible.
But when LeBron passed his scoring milestone, just days before Clark passed hers, one reader of The Athletic expressed the feelings of the many:
“Dude been playing for two decades, he better break some records!”
We celebrate our stars until they let us down, or we get sick of them, or their greatness threatens the stars we grew up with. Consider:
Kevin Durant’s “You the real MVP” speech, followed by his departure to Golden State
Trae Young’s ascension to the conference finals, followed by years of mediocre finishes
Kawhi winning Finals MVP for two different teams, followed by years of load management
Jayson Tatum over-performing for his young age, followed by years of not getting it done
LeBron’s Sports Illustrated cover in 2003, followed by comparisons to Michael Jordan for the rest of eternity
What happens if Minnesota collapses in the playoffs this year? How quickly will we forget Anthony Edwards’ transcendent block against Indiana last week? Or if Dallas falls to any of the mighty teams atop the West, will we discard Luka’s string of consecutive 35-point triple-doubles? If OKC doesn’t make a conference finals, will we label Shai as a regular season performer who can’t get it done in the clutch?
If Iowa Women’s Basketball does not win a National Championship - say they fall to the undefeated Gamecocks of South Carolina - will we declare Caitlin Clark’s career as one tainted by disappointment?
We shouldn’t, but we would. Maybe not all of us, but Café Guy, definitely.
C) His wrongness is actually a sign of progress
The thing is, this is a unique moment where Caitlin Clark is under such heavy scrutiny. She has to lead her team to at least the Final Four, or her shortcoming will follow her to the Indiana Fever next year. If Iowa exits early this year, wouldn’t that get brought up if Clark finds herself in the WNBA playoffs next year? Wouldn’t some analyst question if she has the clutch gene, or if she has what it takes to get it done on the biggest stage?
Café Guy would be chomping at the scone to take her down a notch.
And this is actually a good thing.
It’s an unfortunate rite of passage for Caitlin Clark into American superstardom. She has ascended, superhero baby blanket billowing atop it all. And now, sports fans will do what they do. We will celebrate her when she wins, crush her when she loses, and change our opinions with every shot she makes or misses.
The sign of progress is that Café Guy has an opinion about Caitlin Clark. She’s made it to the stratosphere, and that comes with every groundling having an opinion about whether she belongs there.
She has to beat two different versions of LSU: the Angel Reese LSU, and the Pistol Pete LSU. It might be impossible for her to ever win over Café Guy.
But for the rest of us, we’d do right to remember how it feels to celebrate her at the peak of her powers, and have some empathy when it’s not so new anymore.
If Caitlin Clark can make us rethink what it means to be a superstar, maybe we can rethink what it means to be a fan.
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