SAD NEWS: Caitlin Clark has been fired from the team of Indiana fever today due to……..Read More…

Maybe Carter is correct and Clark’s rookie game is mostly just 3-point shooting. It’s a big adjustment from the college ranks, where there are only a few good teams and players, versus the W, with just 144 roster slots featuring the best players in the world. It stands to reason Clark will continue to settle in and show the passing skills, scoring and leadership that she did back at Iowa.

What Clark brings, undoubtedly, is attention. If this happens a year ago, with another player, then only the diehard fans even know. Or care.

Everything is bigger with Caitlin Clark, which is why that smackdown spun heads and won’t stop until she smacks back in one way or another.

Caitlin Clark was never going to instantly overwhelm the WNBA. Her attempt to get there — against those who don’t appear to care for her at all — will be worth watching.

Yes, ideally, every game is played with sportsmanship and respect, but that isn’t how the real world, especially in competitive sports, is played. Nor would many fans even want that.

In a pure business sense, WNBA players should love Caitlin Clark for the sponsorship money, fan attention and media coverage she is bringing to a league that failed to truly break through in over a quarter century of existence.

The fact that Golden State’s Draymond Green weighed in saying the Fever need to sign an “enforcer” to protect their star — like Green has done for Steph Curry who was constantly physically challenged — and most people agreed is its own small victory for women’s sports legitimacy. No kids gloves here. Play ball.

What would make it even better is if everyone embraced what appears to be Caitlin Clark’s mindset — this isn’t a big deal. Carter’s shoulder was deemed a Flagrant 1 foul by the league and Chicago head coach Teresa Weatherspoon said in a statement that the action was “not appropriate,” but there will be no discipline. The way to end this is courtesy of a hard screen or a push back or, best of all, Clark using it as motivation to win.