Steve Kerr Offers Unique Parallels Between Treatment of Caitlin Clark and Steph Curry

Caitlin Clark of the Fever drives against the Sparks' Aari McDonald in Indianapolis on May 28, 2024. (Michael Conroy/AP Photo)

The comparisons between Caitlin Clark and Steph Curry are obvious. They are both prolific scorers, as Curry led the NCAA in points in each of his last two seasons at Davidson College, while Clark is the all-time leading scorer in Division I basketball history.

Their styles of play are also similar, as each is known for pulling up from 30-plus feet for a logo 3-pointer that either sends the home crowd into a frenzy or sends a road crowd from its feet to its seat. With the high frequency of shots from beyond the arc for both, Curry is the NBA’s all-time leader in both 3-pointers made, while Clark is the Division I women’s all-time leader in 3-point makes.

But there’s another similarity between the two that many may not realize. Curry’s coach for the last 10 years with the Golden State Warriors, Steve Kerr, said the harsh treatment Clark is getting in her rookie WNBA season isn’t unlike what Curry received when he entered the league 15 years ago.

“I think it’s kind of a rite of passage for young players, whether it’s the WNBA or the NBA. The other players are going to test you,” Kerr said on Monday. “And actually, Caitlin reminds me a lot of Steph Curry. A lot of people may not remember this, but in Steph’s first couple of years, he was not a superstar. He was not who he is now. He had to get stronger, he had to understand people were coming after him. That’s what is happening with Caitlin right now.”

The most infamous example of WNBA players going after Clark came in a June 1 game when Clark’s Indiana Fever took on the Chicago Sky. Chicago guard Chennedy Carter gave Clark a shoulder check from behind that knocked the rookie to the ground and was initially ruled a common foul. The WNBA eventually upgraded the foul to a flagrant-1 violation. Uproar then ensued over whether Clark was being targeted by fellow WNBA players.

However, Kerr sees that as just part of the game for a young player who entered the league with the type of hoopla never before seen with a WNBA rookie.

“I think it’s all in the name of competition,” Kerr said. “She’s handling herself beautifully. She’s an amazing player, but like every college player who comes into the WNBA or the NBA, it takes time. They’ve got to get stronger, more used to the contact, the physicality, the athleticism. So she'll be fine, and I think everything she’s going through right now is just all part of being a pro.”

The contact and physicality of the pro game affected Curry’s first few seasons, just as it’s doing to Clark as a rookie. Curry ended up missing 50 games due to recurring injuries during his first three years in the NBA, and the Warriors were under .500 in each of those seasons. They had an 85-145 record over that span, and just five NBA teams had worse records during this timeframe.

As for Clark, her Fever enters Thursday with a 3-10 record, the second-worst in the WNBA. Indiana has the worst point differential in the league, and Clark has already lost twice as many games as a WNBA rookie than she did in her entire final collegiate season.

Being part of a losing squad may have played a role in Clark being left off the United States women’s national team that will head to Paris for the 2024 Olympics. Kerr would also know a thing or two about what goes into constructing these Olympic squads as he has been coach of the U.S. men’s national team, since 2021.

He was asked about Clark being snubbed from the women’s team and emphasized that winning is all that matters when it comes to player selection.

“When you put these Olympic teams together, all you care about is winning,” Kerr stated. “It’s probably going to take Caitlin a couple of years to really be at the top echelon. I think the women’s team is taking the 12 players they think can help bring home a gold, and that’s exactly what the men’s team did. That’s the name of the game. No politics in the Olympics, we just want to win.”

Not making the Olympic team is another characteristic that Clark shares with a young Curry. The two-time MVP wasn’t a part of the 2012, 2016 or 2020 Olympic teams for various reasons, with the 2012 omission coming because he simply wasn’t selected by the committee. But Curry will make his Olympic debut this summer as a 36-year-old with his Warriors head coach as his national team head coach. So, there will still be plenty of time for the 22-year-old Clark to chase Olympic gold.