Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James offered his support to Indiana Fever rookie Caitlin Clark after her first week of professional basketball.
“The one thing that I love that she’s bringing to her sport, more people want to watch, more people want to tune it,” James said on his “Mind The Game” podcast with JJ Redick. “Don’t get it twisted, don’t get it fucked up, Caitlin Clark is the reason why a lot of great things is going to happen for the WNBA.”
The Fever are one of two teams that have not yet won a WNBA contest this season. Over her first four professional games, Clark, the No. 1 pick, is averaging 17 points on 41.2% shooting, along with 5.5 assists and four rebounds. The 22-year-old is being guarded differently than she was while at Iowa and seeing the ball less often.
“But for her individually, I don’t think she should get involved on nothing that’s being said, just go have fun, enjoy,” James said. “But I’m rooting for Caitlin because I’ve been in that seat before, I’ve walked that road before. I hope she kills, I hope Aliyah Boston does amazing. I hope they do great.”
James was similarly seen as a generational prospect when he jumped to the NBA from high school and was selected as the No. 1 pick in the 2003 NBA Draft by his hometown team, the Cleveland Cavaliers.
James offered a similar perspective for his son, USC freshman guard Bronny James, who is going through the draft process. The younger James suffered a cardiac arrest and underwent a heart procedure before making his debut in December. He averaged 4.8 points and 2.8 rebounds while shooting 36% from the field in 25 games with the Trojans.
“I’m getting the same thing from watching my son, who’s a 19-year-old, kind of getting a lot of animosity and hatred towards him when he’s just a kid trying to live out his dream,” LeBron said. “There’s a very small number of men and women that actually get to live out their dream of playing a professional sport, and we have grown-ass men and women out here doing whatever they can to try and make sure that does not happen. That is the weirdest thing in the world.”
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