Clark‘s Fever collapsed in a road loss to the Chicago Sky.

On Sunday, Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever led the Chicago Sky and Angel Reese by a significant margin. In a crucial regular season game at Wintrust Arena, the two rookie stars—whose rivalry from their time in college has translated to the WNBA—were putting on a show. Clark was throwing out dimes left and right as Indiana jumped out to a 15-point lead in the third quarter.

Although Reese’s incredible game (25 points, 16 rebounds) helped Chicago win by one point, 88-87, Clark was chastised after the game for being too submissive to her teammates in the final minutes. However, Clark was more reserved in the fourth quarter, trying just two shots in the last seven minutes as the Sky rallied to surprise the Fever.

LeBron James was frequently criticized by both fans and the media in the early stages of his NBA career for being “too passive” in the closing minutes of games when his team was in desperate need of nearly a certain basket. Although James has always been a willing passer, when it was thought that he had adopted a “pass-first” mentality to motivate his teammates, fans frequently took issue with the NBA’s all-time top scorer.
Even after eighteen games in the WNBA, Clark continues to face a lot of the same criticism. On Sunday, she scored 17 points on 11 attempts and drilled five 3-pointers in an effective performance against the Sky. Despite the loss, she also recorded a new personal high of 13 assists; nonetheless, the Sky’s comeback was ignited by turnovers and a lack of communication between her teammates.

After the game on Sunday, Clark told reporters, “I’m sure there was an opportunity or two for me to probably attempt another shot there at the end, but I trust my teammates.” “I’m going to give them the ball every time.”

After James won his first two championships with the Miami Heat, a lot of the criticism directed at his mentality vanished. Currently a four-time NBA champion, he is considered by many to be among the greatest basketball players in history. It remains to be seen if Clark’s career trajectory will resemble that of others, but on the plus side, with every game that goes by, she is getting better and becoming more aware of her team’s requirements.