Caitlin Clark is still not at her most effective for the Indiana Fever despite breaking another WNBA record, says Jason Whitlock.
Having put up 300 career points, 100 rebounds and 100 assists in a record time last week (19 games), Clark etched her name into the history books once again on Saturday night by becoming the first WNBA rookie ever to record a triple-double.
The 22-year-old sensation finished with 19 points, 13 assists and 12 rebounds in the Fever’s 83-78 win against the league-best New York Liberty, before she was soaked by her teammates in jubilant scenes afterwards.
Despite her historic evening, though, Whitlock believes she is not being managed in the right way by Indiana.
In a post on X, the conservative sports commentator claimed Clark is ‘exhausted’ after playing between 38 and 39 minutes of every game, which he feels is ‘killing her shooting’ on the court.
Caitlin Clark is still not at her most effective for the Indiana Fever, says Jason Whitlock
‘Enjoyed the victory and triple double. Caitlin Clark is great,’ Whitlock wrote. ‘However, she cannot continue to play 38-39 minutes every game. She’s exhausted and it’s killing her shooting.
‘She looks for opportunities to rest on both ends of the court. She needs to play 34-35 minutes.’
Clark’s average of 16.1 points-per-game is the 16th highest in the WNBA this season and the highest for a rookie, with Chicago Sky rival Angel Reese next in the latter list with an average of 14.1.
Whitlock had previously taken aim at Reese amid her ongoing feud with Clark and implied she is not on the same level as her old college nemesis, while even dubbing her current double-double streak as a ‘made up’ statistic.
However, last week the podcast host performed a major U-turn and suggested Reese stands a ‘real chance’ of winning the WNBA’s Rookie of the Year award.
‘There’s going to be a legitimate case for Angel Reese to be rookie of the year, and I’m going to say this for a couple of different reasons,’ he said.
‘Caitlin Clark’s plus/minus is one of the worst in the league. I think out of 145 or 146 players she ranks about 140 in plus/minus. A couple of her teammates are down there as well.
Whitlock believes Clark is ‘exhausted’ after playing too many minutes in her rookie season
The conservative podcast host says her shooting on the court is being ‘killed’ as a result
Clark is currently battling it out with Angel Reese for the WNBA Rookie of the Year award
‘Caitlin Clark is leading the league in turnovers and Caitlin Clark is shooting 33 percent from three-point range, and she goes through these scoring droughts during the game that hamper her team. This is a woman that led the NCAA in scoring two years in a row, is the all-time leading scorer… she is not an effective scorer in the WNBA.
‘I know she’s averaging 16 points a game, but I’ve watched every game. She’s a very inefficient shooter, she’s got the long 27-foot three-pointer, that’s in her bag. Occasionally she gets to the rim and gets a lay-up.
‘But between the turnovers, the plus-minus, missing 70 percent of three-pointers she shoots… Caitlin Clark has been great box-office, she’s a great player. But on the other ledger, Angel Reese… I don’t buy the double-double thing at all. That’s a bit of a gimmick and just a stat that they brought out of nowhere.
‘But she’s leading the league in rebounds. That’s a real stat, that’s a real contribution. She’s doing it as a rookie. This Rookie of the Year race is closer than a lot of people think.’
