On ESPN’s First Take Monday morning, Shannon Sharpe made an astounding Caitlin Clark comparison to NBA icon LeBron James.
Caitlin Clark had another fantastic performance Sunday evening against the Dallas Wings, leading the Indiana Fever to their fourth straight victory and finally getting above .500 at 17-16 overall.
This is the first time since 2016 that the Fever have been above .500. With seven games remaining, if Indiana can make the postseason, they would end a seven-year playoff drought.
Clark has been highlighted, talked about, scrutinized, and praised since her days at Iowa, and Sharpe said it resembles a lot of what James went through when he was coming out of high school. How both players lived up to the hype and exceeded expectations.
“The kind of hype that LeBron came into the NBA with, Caitlin Clark came into the WNBA with the same kind of hype, and she backed it up.” Sharpe said on First Take
On the season, Caitlin Clark leads all rookies in points, assists, steals, field goals made, three pointers made, and free throw percentage, and after scoring 31 points Friday night in an epic performance, she caught the attention of LeBron James.
Clark is averaging 18.7 points, 8.4 assists, 5.6 rebounds, and 1.4 steals per game. She is a heavy favorite to win rookie of the year and even has an opportunity to make an All-WNBA team in just her first season.
Her incredible journey has been as impactful as LeBron’s was when he was entering the league and that is iconic in it’s own right.