Caitlin Clark made the kind of shot Monday night that Stephanie White wants the rest of the WNBA to start treating as routine. The Indiana Fever head coach made sure to drive that point home after the game.
Clark hit a step-back three-pointer with 1.2 seconds left to lift the Fever past the Washington Mystics 78-76 at CareFirst Arena. The shot covered for two missed free throws Clark had with 36 seconds remaining, the kind of redemption sequence that has defined her young career.
White was effusive afterward, and her message had a clear undercurrent. Stop taking Clark for granted.
“I don’t know if the noise is ever going to be quiet,” White told reporters. “This is what Caitlin does. She makes big shots and she has big moments. When you have a player like her, it’s very easy for people to just take it for granted.”
The Fever coach went further, calling Clark a generational talent and insisting more clutch moments are coming. “Sometimes we take great players, generational talent for granted. What she did was incredible for us. She’s going to have many more moments like that. I know she is. We needed this one tonight.”
The context matters. White and Clark were at the center of a viral sideline confrontation earlier this season, the kind of moment that fueled days of media speculation about whether their relationship was salvageable. Both sides have publicly downplayed it since, and Monday night looked like a head coach trying to put the chapter to bed.
Clark finished with 19 points, five assists, three rebounds, and four threes on 7-of-16 shooting. The Fever are now 6-5 and host the Chicago Sky on Thursday at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. White wants the conversation to start being about the basketball. With game-winners like Monday’s, she may actually get her wish.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
