What Is Watching Caitlin Clark Actually Like?

If you ever watched the NBA from 1984-1998, this will make more sense. That’s the Jordan Era. I don’t intend to say that Caitlin is Michael Jordan in every respect, but she’s the player that is taking the WNBA from a marketing perspective to a similar place as Jordan did. He became literally the worldwide icon of the game. His popularity didn’t diminish other great players; it brought the overall talent into sharp relief. Like Clark now, no one would have said Jordan was the best in the league in 1984, or even 1987. But the fans saw what they saw, and “voted” with their dollars and attendance and TV viewership.

She absolutely has the ability to be a multiple time MVP, scoring champion, league champion, and assist leader. How is she not like Jordan? Right now, I don’t see Caitlin being the best offensive and defensive player at the same time, as Jordan was. Or as the great A’ja Wilson is right now. I hope she proves me wrong. But like Jordan in 1997, Caitlin is good for 20 every night, no matter how badly she plays. (You could pencil in Jordan for 25 under the same conditions.) Caitlin’s career high is 45 points. She’s still 24 years old.

Also, the distance between Caitlin and the rest of the league is unlikely to be as great as Jordan at his peak. The talent level in the WNBA overall is mind-boggling. If and when Clark becomes the best player in the league, she’ll have to fight to stay there. And I can’t see her earning near-universal acclaim and respect as Jordan had and still has. A’ja Wilson is going to be named MVP for the fifth time in her still young career, and the team she leads, the Las Vegas Aces, has 3 WNBA championships and seeks a fourth.

Legendary coach and executive Gregg Popovich helped create a winning culture that is almost unbelievable. The San Antonio Spurs since the year 2000 have a winning percentage of .625, far and away the highest from that point until now. Higher than any team LeBron James has been on. Higher than the Kobe-Shaq Lakers. Higher than any team Allen Iverson was on. The peak created by David Robinson and Tim Duncan persisted long after Robinson retired. The winning culture made legends out of unheralded players like Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili. Popovich became some combination of president/GM/head coach in 1996, only taking a largely honorary position as President of Basketball Operations last season at age 76 after a stroke. In the latter half of Tim Duncan’s career, he named an assistant coach, Becky Hammon, the first woman to coach in the NBA. Hammon had retired as the third-leading scorer in WNBA history herself, and after winning an NBA Summer League title—it’s a showcase for newly drafted rookies—Hammon became the head coach of the Las Vegas Aces, where she remains today. Indeed, Vegas was once directly affiliated with the Spurs. On a personal note, if you honestly think women can’t coach men and in the NBA, you are stupid, and you can kiss my grits. I want to ask Jesus to send the great Pat Summitt to haunt you.

Despite the league doing unproductive ideological crap that harms its current astonishing growth, I’m definitely watching. It’s fun all over the place. Give me every bloody highlight package you can find. Especially if it has Caitlin in it.

Dear Alyse

Today, you’re 35. Or at least you would be, in this place. You probably know this, but we’re OK. Not great, but OK. We know you wouldn’t want us moping around and weeping all the time. We try not to. Actually, I guess part of the problem is that you didn’t know how much we loved you. And that you didn’t know how to love yourself. I hope you have gotten to Love by now. Not a place, but fills everything in every way. I’m not Him, but he probably said, “Dear daughter/sister, you have been terribly hard on yourself. Rest now, and be at peace.” Anyway, teaching is going well, and I tell the kids all about you. They all say you are pretty. I usually can keep the boys from saying something gross for a few seconds. Mom and I are going to the game tonight. And like 6 more times, before I go back to South Carolina. I have seen Nicky twice, but I myself haven’t seen your younger kids. Bob took pictures of the day we said goodbye, and we did a family picture at the Abbey. I literally almost a...

Hilarious Com-Box Quote of The Day: "I was caught immediately because it is the Acts of the Apostles, not the Acts of the Holy Spirit Acting Erratically."--Donald Todd, reacting to the inartful opposition of the Holy Spirit and the Magisterium. Mark Galli, an editor at Christianity Today, had suggested that today's "confusion" in evangelicalism replicates a confusion on the day of Pentecost. Mr. Todd commented after this reply , and the original article is here. My thoughts: By what means was this Church-less "consensus" formed? If the Council did not possess the authority to adjudicate such questions, who does? If the Council Fathers did not intend to be the arbiters, why do they say that they do? At the risk of being rude, I would define evangelicalism as, "Whatever I want or need to believe at any particular time." Ecclesial authority to settle a particular question is a step forward, but only as long as, "God alone is Lord of the con...

A Friend I Once Had, And The Dogmatic Principle

I once had a friend, a dear friend, who helped me with personal care needs in college. Reformed Presbyterian to the core. When I was a Reformed Presbyterian, I visited their church many times. We were close. I still consider his siblings my friends. (And siblings in the Lord.) Nevertheless, when I began to consider the claims of the Catholic Church to be the Church Christ founded, he took me out to breakfast. He implied--but never quite stated--that we would not be brothers, if I sought full communion with the Catholic Church. That came true; a couple years later, I called him on his birthday, as I'd done every year for close to ten of them. He didn't recognize my number, and it was the most strained, awkward phone call I have ever had. We haven't spoken since. We were close enough that I attended the rehearsal dinner for his wedding. His wife's uncle is a Catholic priest. I remember reading a blog post of theirs, that early in their relationship, she told him of the p...

Safe Haven

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