Former WNBA star Candace Parker knows elite talent when she sees it, and says Caitlin Clark still has room to grow before she’s given the league’s best player label. Earlier this season, Clark’s peers within the league voted her as the ninth-best guard ahead of the All-Star Game, sparking reaction.
Parker wasn’t as hard on the WNBA’s front-facing superstar.
Using a tiered player rankings system, Parker picked three players she feels are more talented than Clark with the “S” tier representing the best and “D” as the worst. Parker began her WNBA player power rankings with three “S” threats.
“A’ja Wilson, reigning MVP, couple Defensive Player of the Years, two championships,” Parker said Monday with Complex Sports. “If there was something higher than ‘S,’ I would definitely put her up there. Napheesa Collier. She’s up there with top tier with A’ja. Just her ability to play on both sides of the ball. Pump fake, she’s gonna make you choose wrong. Breanna Stewart. The versatility. Reigning champion from last year. She’s got three of them things. I don’t think there’s any debate with that.”
And at No. 4, this is where the Indiana Fever star comes in. Parker also placed Sparks guard Kelsey Plum and Liberty guard Sabrina Ionescu in the same tier as the WNBA’s reigning Rookie of the Year.
Parker slotted Clark’s rival, Angel Reese, in the “C” tier.
“This is where it gets tricky,” Parker said. “Caitlin Clark is at an ‘A’ level. I think in time, she’s going to raise up to that ‘S,’ but in order to put her at that level, she’s gotta have a couple more years.”
It’s hard to argue with the three players Parker placed ahead of Clark given their numbers. Wilson is a two-time WNBA champion and three-time MVP. Collier, a five-time All-Star, is averaging a league-best 23.9 points per game this season, and Stewart is one of the most decorated forwards in league history since being drafted first overall in 2016.
Clark’s battling through the worst shooting slump of her basketball career this season, one that’s been marred by various ailments. Despite a career-best 13 assists in Sunday’s win over Paige Bueckers and the Dallas Wings, the former No. 1 pick shot 4 for 12 from the floor, her sixth consecutive start with a field goal success rate of 35% or lower.
Ranking Caitlin Clark’s best passes from season-high 13-assist performance in Fever win over Wings
Jack Maloney
Ranking Caitlin Clark’s best passes from season-high 13-assist performance in Fever win over Wings
Clark’s averaging 16.7 points per game, but has not scored more than 14 points in the three games since her injury return.
“I just want her to have a little bit of patience, to give herself a little bit of grace, and to still do the other things that she does so well in the game that affect winning,” Fever coach Stephanie White said over the weekend, via the Indianapolis Star. “Because yes, she’s an elite shooter. Yes, that’s what everybody wants to see. But she makes other winning plays, and she can control those things, and control the things that you can control, continue to work through the rhythm, the timing, the strength, the endurance, and it’s going to come.”
