SEATTLE — Caitlin Clark entered her professional basketball career with sky-high expectations and has delivered on much of that hype so far, including surpassing a milestone set by a former Seattle Storm star.
The 2024 Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) No. 1 overall draft pick reached 200 points and 75 assists in just 12 games. Sue Bird previously had been the fastest player to those benchmarks, doing so back in 2002 with the Storm, per ESPN.
Clark's record-setting college career culminated at an inflection point for the sport, as collegiate and now professional women's basketball has never been as popular as it is. Many WNBA teams have moved games against Clark and the Fever to larger arenas to keep up with the huge demand for seeing the young star.
This likely won't be the last Bird record that Clark or someone else from the highly-anticipated 2024 WNBA rookie class bests. In fact, Storm rookie Nika Muhl broke some of Bird's collegiate records as the two both played at the University of Connecticut.
The Storm have played two games against Clark and the Fever this season. The first came on May 22 at Climate Pledge Arena, where a sold-out crowd watched Seattle hold off Indiana in an 85-83 win. Just eight days later, the Storm flew to Indianapolis and beat the Fever 103-88 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
Seattle-area fans will have one additional opportunity to see Clark play in person, as Indiana returns to Climate Pledge Arena on June 27.
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