Caitlin Clark’s biggest critic goes in on Indiana | NBA News

Caitlin Clark’s biggest critic hasn’t held back together with her rebuttal of Indiana Fever.

Clark was a revelation all through the 2024 WNBA season, taking home the Rookie of the Year award with a whopping 66 of the 67 obtainable votes.

But regardless of her spectacular performances, the factors guard wasn’t in a position to encourage the Fever to a first WNBA title in over 10 years.

Instead, Indiana had been dumped out in the primary spherical of playoff motion, bringing a untimely finish to Clark’s maiden WNBA marketing campaign.

However, Sheryl Swoopes believes the Fever’s hopes of building on their playoff efficiency subsequent season will take a blow in the event that they don’t re-sign Kelsey Mitchell to their roster.

Speaking on NBA All-Star Gilbert Arenas’ podcast ‘No Chill’, Swoopes stated: “Personally, here’s where I think [the Fever] didn’t do a very good job, and that was with Kelsey Mitchell, who’s an unrestricted free agent.

“Because Kelsey Mitchell had a hell of a season this season, and I don’t think that she got the credit that she deserved.”

Despite Swoopes’ feedback, Indiana are reported to have made re-signing Mitchell their high precedence in the low season.

Mitchell has taken herself to China following the conclusion of the WNBA season to play for Shanxi Flame in the Women’s Chinese Basketball Association (WCBA), however questions on her future in the Hoosier State is way from sure.

It comes after Swoopes instructed Clark’s rise to prominence had stolen all of the limelight in Indiana, earlier than insinuating gamers are put off from enjoying for the Fever as a result of of the hype surrounding the rookie star.

Commenting earlier in the yr, Swoopes claimed: “There’s a lot of other s*** going on, that other [Fever] players are like ‘This ain’t where I want to be’.

“So you have players that are very significant on this Indiana Fever team that are like, ‘I don’t… I don’t think this is where I wanna be this year.'”

Clark’s stardom might show a counter-productive downside for the Fever, if gamers consider the eye being garnered by the 22-year-old goes to hurt the staff’s possibilities of success.

There’s no doubt the Iowa-born gem has been a revelation for the WNBA, with ticket purchases, merchandise gross sales and viewership all having fun with important boosts during the 2024 season.

But if the Fever need a actual shot on the WNBA title, they’ll should keep away from turning into the Caitlin Clark staff.