Caitlin Clark is attempting to guide the Indiana Fever to an unprecedented championship. [Image: Flickr.com / John Mac]
A turning level in sports activities
Sometimes – as soon as a era, if that – an athlete is ready to transcend their duties on the sector of play and uplift a complete sport. The indicators are early, however the subsequent star to defy the chances seems to be Caitlin Clark, who’s about to start the pursuit of her first WNBA championship.
Clark starred for the Iowa Hawkeyes, setting the all-time NCAA document in factors (for women and men) and the Large Ten document for assists. She was drafted with the first-overall decide by the Indiana Fever with hopes of turning their franchise round after they gained a pitiful 25 % of their video games because the begin of the 2017 season.
The rookie guard completed an incredible quantity in her novice profession however is about to start her most daunting activity but, all whereas dealing with the stress of carrying a complete league on her shoulders.
Early affect
Clark is box-office. That’s a recognized reality.
Main sportsbooks, together with FanDuel, DraftKings, and BetMGM, reported that the ladies’s March Insanity remaining between Clark’s Iowa and the undefeated South Carolina Gamecocks was the most-bet ladies’s sporting occasion ever.
most-watched basketball recreation since 2019
ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro confirmed the sport additionally averaged a record-setting 18.7 million viewers and topped out at 24 million stay viewers, making it the most-watched ladies’s basketball recreation ever and the most-watched basketball recreation since 2019.
The reigning WNBA champion Las Vegas Aces prepped for his or her first encounter with Clark and the Fever by shifting their first house recreation from the 12,000-seat venue at Michelob Extremely Enviornment to the 18,000 seats at T-Cell Enviornment. The craziest half about this? They started orchestrating the change in location earlier than the WNBA Draft even started.
Though the Fever’s first recreation resulted in a 79-76 loss to the Dallas Wings, Clark tied for the game-high in factors (21) and made 5 of her 13 three-point makes an attempt. She had a tough capturing evening in her preseason debut in entrance of the house crowd on Thursday, scoring 12 factors however going simply 4-12 from the sector and 2-9 from three. She did add eight rebounds and 6 assists, although, and Indiana beat the Atlanta Dream, 83-80.
Whereas Indy has not recognized a lot success over the previous half-decade-plus, it has a pleasant stockpile of younger expertise. Together with Clark, the Fever have the reigning Rookie of the 12 months and first-overall decide within the 2023 draft, Aliyah Boston, and the 2022 second-overall decide, NaLyssa Smith. The pair averaged a mixed 30 factors and 17.6 rebounds a yr in the past.
2018 second-overall decide Kelsey Mitchell additionally led the crew in scoring a yr in the past at 18.2 factors per evening.
WNBA odds for Caitlin Clark, Indiana Fever
In accordance with FanDuel sportsbook, the Fever are fifth in odds to win the WNBA championship at +2300 only a yr after they completed tenth in a 12-team league.
That’s an enormous enchancment on the place they have been about this time a yr in the past. In accordance with FanDuel’s odds from April 28, 2023, the Fever weren’t solely final on the chances board, however they’d +11000 odds to win the WNBA title. That equals an implied likelihood of .77 %, which is half of what the second-to-last-place crew, the Los Angeles Sparks, got.
The big shake-up in betting odds comes earlier than Clark has even performed a second of regular-season basketball within the WNBA. Nonetheless, basketball legend and Phoenix Mercury guard Diana Taurasi stated throughout March Insanity that “actuality is coming” for Clark.
you’re going to return play with some grown ladies”
“You look superhuman enjoying towards some 18-year-olds, however you’re going to return play with some grown ladies which were enjoying skilled basketball for a very long time,” Taurasi stated to ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt.
The groups above Caitlin Clark and the Fever in WNBA championship odds embrace the Aces (+100), New York Liberty (+230), Seattle Storm (+1000), and Connecticut Solar (+1200).
Clark will start her official WNBA profession when she and the Fever tackle the Solar on Tuesday, April 14. The sport can be broadcast stay on ESPN2 at 7:30pm ET.
