Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy has been a prominent Caitlin Clark fan and supporter over the years, but even he was critical of Clark’s performance against the Las Vegas Aces on Thursday night.
The Indiana Fever fell in an 86-84 overtime thriller to the defending WNBA champion Aces on Thursday night. And while Fever superstar Clark did have 20 points, she did not play a great game, and her mistakes down the stretch cost her team the win.
Clark’s Struggles
While Thursday’s game was a hard-fought battle between two elite teams, Clark did not have her best performance, even despite her 20 points and eight assists.
Clark finished the game with eight turnovers – far above her season average – and none was bigger than the last as she turned the ball over on the team’s final possession of overtime, leading to a game-winning buzzer-beating three-pointer from Aces star Chelsea Gray.
The turnover came after another uncharacteristic mistake in regulation when Clark missed two free throws with seven seconds left in regulation and Indiana up by three. Making either one of the free throws would have sealed the game for Indiana.
“Obviously just can’t happen. And those are free throws I usually make, and certainly frustrating. One of them gives us a two-possession lead and kind of cost my team there for sure, so that’s on me,” Clark said after the game.
‘She sucked’
As Clark faced some heavy criticism for her mistakes, Portnoy, who is an outspoken fan of Caitlin Clark and has been for years, was not shy about admitting her failures.
Portnoy said that clark “didn’t play great,” before flatly admitting that she “sucked.”
“Caitlin Clark didn’t play great tonight. 2 huge missed free throws down the stretch and a huge turnover at the end of OT. No excuses. She sucked. Thats the beauty of me. I always answer the bell good, bad or indifferent. Need more leaders taking accountability like I just did,” Portnoy said in a post on X.
We’ll have to see how Clark bounces back from this, but it’s safe to say that Portnoy will remain a fan going forward.
About Dave Kelsey
Contributing author to The Comeback.