Not so long ago, Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark was anointed as the future GOAT of women’s basketball.
Even Lisa Bluder, her coach at Iowa, went as far as to compare her with Michael Jordan. And, given the social media revolution and the TV frenzy surrounding her, there was a valid point to be made.
That’s why, after watching her regress and get hurt in her second season and get off to a slow start in her third year, some are ready to turn the page on her.
That was the case with radio host Tyrone Johnson, who shut down the Michael Jordan comparisons and claimed that she only had a ‘Linsanity’ run.
Radio host compares Caitlin Clark to Jeremy Lin
“The Caitlin Clark thing is over because she’s not the best player in the WNBA,” Johnson said on “The Carton Show”. “She’s not the best guard in the WNBA. She’s not even the best guard from her college class cause that’s Paige Bueckers, who plays for Dallas and beat them in the season opener. We look back on CC, and we’re not gonna look back on her like she’s Michael Jordan. She’s Jeremy Lin. This is just Linsanity.”
Clark was one of the greatest players in college basketball history, so it’s hard to compare that run to Jeremy Lin’s impressive couple of weeks with the New York Knicks.
However, that’s not the only reason Johnson believes the tables will turn on Clark. Her recent appearance with Morgan Wallen, who faced backlash for using a racial slur, might rub her coworkers the wrong way.
“She’s gonna fumble this, and it’s because of two things. She decided to roll up with Morgan Wallen. Wallen says the N word liberally, says it more than I do, and I’m black. And her b—-ing and moaning to the refs nonstop. But when we look back, we’ll go this girl had the world by the (expletive). She had everybody loving her. People who hate women’s sports were tuning in just for her,” he added.
While Clark isn’t responsible for Wallen’s past, hanging out with him may not have sent the right message.
Whatever the case, the lack of progress so far has been evident and, to a degree, worrisome.
She still has the talent to be one of the best — if not the best — to ever do it, but she’ll have to shake off the rust and get back to her dominant ways to silence the doubters.