NBA broadcaster David Aldridge just wants to enjoy watching Caitlin Clark play basketball.
Aldridge, who previously worked for TNT, ESPN and NBA TV, discussed Clark’s rookie season in the WNBA on OutKick’s “The Ricky Cobb Show.”
“[Clark] is such a great player, can we just watch her play and enjoy watching her play without bringing all of the other baggage into it?” Aldridge said.
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Caitlin Clark of the Indiana Fever reacts in the second half against the Phoenix Mercury at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on August 16, 2024, in Indianapolis. (Justin Casterline/Getty Images)
“Do we have to bring all of the other stuff into it? I don’t really care why people love Caitlin Clark or hate Caitlin Clark. I just think she is a great player, just like I think Angel Reese is a great player. Let’s just watch them play basketball.”
Aldridge compared the Indiana Fever’s rookie phenom to some NBA legends as players who move “the needle.”
“It’s clear that she moves the needle, right?” he said. “People want to watch her, they want to watch her play. She’s a great player. And I think she is certainly a person that gets attention from casual fans; and, again, that’s kind of the lifeblood of a league that’s really surviving and thriving is when people who aren’t really big basketball fans turn it on anyway because they just want to watch her play because they like watching her play.”
FEVER’S CAITLIN CLARK BATTLES THROUGH TWEAKED ANKLE TO TIE WNBA ROOKIE RECORD IN WIN OVER DREAM
David Aldridge (Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images/File)
“We’ve seen that in the NBA certainly over the last four decades with some guys just move the needle,” he said. “Whether it’s Magic or Bird or Kobe Bryant, now it’s Steph Curry and LeBron, people move the needle because people love watching them and people hate watching them.”
On Monday night, Clark tied the WNBA rookie-record for most 3-pointers made in a single season with 85. She tied the Atlanta Dream’s Rhyne Howard for the record.
Clark, over 30 games, is averaging 18 points per game, just under six rebounds a game and just over eight assists per game. The former Iowa superstar was named a WNBA All-Star and is the front-runner to be the rookie of the year.
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Caitlin Clark of the Indiana Fever passes the ball against the Washington Mystics at Capital One Arena on June 7, 2024, in Washington, D.C. (G Fiume/Getty Images)
“Enjoy watching her dime people up, enjoy watching her attack a defense, enjoy her working with her teammates, she’s got some great teammates, and they’re starting to figure each other, and that’s why the Fever are starting to win.” Aldridge said. “I just wish we could just enjoy watching them play basketball, man.”
In 2016, Aldridge was awarded the Curt Gowdy Media Award by the Basketball Hall of Fame. The award is given to outstanding basketball writers and broadcasters.
Aldridge is currently a senior columnist for The Athletic. He has worked for nearly 30 years covering the NBA and other sports for Turner, ESPN and the Washington Post.
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