Former NCAA champ unveils Caitlin Clark's emergence depends on 2 factors

Indiana Fever rookie Caitlin Clark has been delivering on the expectations most people have of her, becoming a WNBA All-Star already in her first season in the league. Her numbers have also been impressive despite adjusting to the physicality of the professional game, erasing any doubt in her first season in the league.

Caitlin Clark caught the attention of former NCAA champion and ex-NBA player, Rashad McCants, who has been impressed by Clark’s rise in the WNBA. A former star at North Carolina and a role player with the Minnesota Timberwolves, McCants praised Clark’s ability to create shots for herself but specified two factors that could unlock her potential: the mid-range game, and a pull-up jumper.

"Another one bites the dust!!!! You will not miss this goat emerge on my watch!!! Once she gets the middy floater game down and the two dribble pull up in the lane with the fade. It’s a wrap,” McCants said (per The SportsRush).

Clark has been scoring at will so far this season. According to an advanced stat via Clark Report on X (formerly Twitter), Clark is one of the most unassisted players in the WNBA, as about 2/3rds (64.4%) of her total attempts are created by herself alone, deeming her one of the best shot creators in the league.

Clark is not known for her mid-range shots and pull-ups, but she is a sniper from the three-point range, shooting 32.9% from long range this season. She also shoots 41.4% from the field, indicating her shooting touch.

Clark has been averaging 17.9 points, 5.7 rebounds, 8.3 assists, and 1.4 steals, making her one of the leading candidates for this season’s Rookie of the Year race.

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Rashad McCants thinks Caitlin Clark changed the game

Rashad McCants has long been a supporter of Clark this season. On "Gil's Arena" show, McCants praised how the Indiana Fever rookie changed the game for her team through her sheer confidence, despite being a rookie, and skill on the court.

“C has changed the game. Think about this, a mother**ker (Diggins-Smith) sped up to try to bump me. Okay. Well, I’m a rookie, you the vet. You know how f**king powerful I gotta be for you to have that type of animosity in your heart?” [1:04:33-1:04:45]

McCants also lauded Caitlin Clark for working on her game during the long WNBA Olympic break and seeing results immediately when the league returned to action.

“She looks like a completely different player because she did the work during the all-star break. Caitlin said ‘I don’t want to do none of that. I’m going to the lab. I need to fix what’s going on here’ and now we see the difference,” he said. [1:00:37-1:00:45]

Caitlin Clark is expected to continue her stellar performances through the postseason, as she is expected to lead the Fever to its first playoff appearance since 2016.