Rachel Nichols Caitlin Clark Credit: FS1

WNBA superstar Caitlin Clark debuted to fanfare on Tuesday night. 2.11 million people tuned in to watch Clark and the Indiana Fever battle the Connecticut Sun, a tremendous rating for a WNBA regular season game as the league continues to experience growth. Veteran sportscaster Rachel Nichols is among those who’ve been complimentary of the superstar Clark. In Nichols’ eyes, she might even deserve more.

Nichols joined Undisputed on FS1 on Wednesday after Clark’s celebrated debut. Nichols praised the former Iowa Hawkeye and boasted that she’s earned even more credit for deeper reasons.

“She’s got so much poise, she’s had so much heaped upon her shoulders. She is expected to go out there and represent women everywhere every time she takes the court. No one in the NBA is expected to do that, by the way,” Nichols said.

“Anthony Edwards – if he has a bad game, the only people who are affected by that are the Timberwolves and the Timberwolves fans right? When Caitlin Clark has a bad day, all of the sudden it’s a statement on what it means for women in America and can women play basketball and should anyone be paying attention to this? And hte fact that she doesn’t crumble in those situations … but she also made the point that it’s not going to help her, or the team, she made the point of saying, to beat herself up and go into some sort of tailspin. I thought it was an incredibly poised, mature reponse. I have been bowled over. I mean, she is young … she has been so, so self-possessed, and I loved seeing that last night, because I think that is an indicator more than anything else.”

Clark’s poise and leadership were certainly on display in her postgame interview. Nichols had no problem waxing poetic, and it’s likely more will follow if she keeps her cool going.

[Undisputed]

About Chris Novak

Chris Novak has been talking and writing about sports ever since he can remember. Previously, Novak wrote for and managed sites in the SB Nation network for nearly a decade from 2013-2022