Caitlin Clark logs 19-assist game after Olympics snub, opts out of 3-point contest
Caitlin Clark set a WNBA record with 19 assists in Indiana's final game before the break, adding another feather to her cap.
This comes on the heels of Clark being left off the Team USA roster for the upcoming Paris Olympics, as well as the newly-minted All-Star declining to participate in the upcoming 3-point competition — sending basketball fans into a frenzy.
Colin Cowherd explained why Clark's absence from the Paris Games team and in the iconic 3-point contest is "silly" considering all Clark has done for the sport already on Thursday's episode of "The Herd."
"She's a rookie on a bad team," Cowherd said of Clark. "She has scored or assisted on 66 points — 71% of the Fevers points. That's the most ever in league history. She's breaking records every week, so part of the silliness of not allowing her on the Olympic team is [that] she was a very quickly improving player, and now you kind of look silly.
"She's arguably the best playmaker in the league [and] arguably the second-best 3-point shooter in the league. I don't know, [those attributes] seem valuable in Olympic competition."
Clark is averaging 17.1 points, 5.8 rebounds, 8.2 assists and 1.5 steals per game through 26 games (all starts).
Paul Pierce reacted to Clark's record-breaking game on Thursday's "Undisputed," saying that there's no doubt the 22-year-old is a shoo-in for Rookie of the Year honors.
"That put her ahead of the race for Rookie of the Year for me," Pierce said. "Angel Reese was in the lead because she beat Las Vegas, double-double. … Now Caitlin Clark comes [in with] 19 assists [for a] WNBA record. She retook the lead."
Reese's double-double streak recently came to an end after Chicago Sky's loss to the New York Liberty on Saturday.
"It's game by game, so this is gonna come down to the wire," Pierce said about the evolving Rookie of the Year odds.
Clark now heads to Phoenix for the WNBA All-Star Game on Saturday, when she'll play against the U.S. Olympic team heading to Paris 2024 led by A'ja Wilson and Breanna Stewart.
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