'Hurting her team': Caitlin Clark brutally called out for sloppiness

Caitlin Clark scored 23 points to go along with eight assists and five rebounds against the Minnesota Lynx. However, she made some costly errors that put the Indiana Fever in a bad spot, drawing the ire of a prominent sports media personality. All statistics are from Basketball Reference.

Jason Whitlock, formerly of ESPN and Fox Sports, posted on X, “They gotta quit making excuses for Caitlin Clark’s turnovers. It’s sloppy and hurting her team.”

The Fever are fighting for their playoff lives down the stretch of the WNBA season, which means that every victory or defeat is magnified. Clark’s turnovers, especially when committed at crucial times of the game, can deflate Indiana on their march to the postseason.

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Clark has set the single-season record for assists by a rookie already, and leads the WNBA in average assists per game. However, she’s set another dubious mark in the process; Clark also set the league record for turnovers in a season.

Whitlock’s former colleague at Fox Sports, Skip Bayless, sees Clark’s brilliance and is largely willing to forgive her mistakes. Bayless posted, “Caitlin has already shattered the WNBA single-season record for turnovers with 12 games left. But I forgive many of them because they’re so close to being spectacular passes. She also leads the league in assists and ‘wow’ passes.”

Marca somewhat echoed Bayless’ sentiment by writing, “Whether viewed as a critical flaw or a byproduct of an ambitious playmaker, these turnovers are a central part of Clark’s narrative.”

Clark isn’t the only member of the Fever who has been in the spotlight recently. Head coach Christie Sides has taken heat for her lineup decisions. Athlon Sports writes that fans were not happy to see Lexie Hull remain on the bench after a recent strong performance.

Sides has also weighed in on Caitlin Clark’s mounting technical foul total, admonishing her star guard in that area. She told Athlon Sports, “We’re gonna have a conversation. I don’t need Caitlin to sit out a game. That is definitely going to be a conversation.”

Clark is averaging nearly two more turnovers per game than the player (Alyssa Thomas) who is second in that category, so the Fever guard will need to tighten things up with better decision-making in the season’s final few weeks.

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WNBA legend Diana Taurasi thinks Clark will be fine, but acknowledges that she is going through some growing pains. “College basketball is much different than the WNBA, than it is overseas. Each one almost is like a different dance you have to learn,” she told USA Today.