Sports
Sue Bird: Caitlin Clark can be an All-Star next year
Caitlin Clark’s transcendent play, from her logo 3-point shooting to her unique skills as a “get ahead” passer, has captivated basketball fans from Maine to California. A question that often arises is how will her game translate to the next level. In a wide-ranging 60-minute interview that will air in full Thursday on the “Sports Media Podcast,” WNBA legend Sue Bird said Clark can be a WNBA All-Star in her first year.
“I think if she plays up to her potential, yes, that’s realistic,” Bird said. “And, by the way, that’s not a knock on anyone in the WNBA. It’s going to be hard, but I think she can do it. You do have to see what happens when they get there. You are now playing against adults and this is their career. But I do think she has a chance at having a lot of success early, and I think a lot of it comes down to her long-distance shooting. That is her separator. You’re not really used to guarding people out there.”
Bird went on to say that the era Clark is stepping into helps complement her style of play. Another WNBA legend, Diana Taurasi, “could have been playing the way Caitlin is playing right now,” Bird said, but did not come of age in an era to play the way Clark plays today.
Players in the WNBA just aren’t used to guarding shooters that far, Bird said. Bird retired in 2022 after a 20-year WNBA career.
Clark has the option to return to Iowa next year due to the extra year of eligibility thanks to an NCAA waiver for student-athletes affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. But if she opts to go pro and is selected by the Indiana Fever with the No. 1 pick, “that is a really good roster for her,” Bird said.
“She’s going to be teaming up with right out the gate with two really good post players (Aliyah Boston and NaLyssa Smith) that are going to complement her,” Bird continued. “There is precedent for people coming out of college and coming in and playing amazing, players such as Candace Parker, Breanna Stewart, Maya Moore, Diana Taurasi and others. But she still has to come in and do it and there’ll be some growing pains just like all those players I just listed had.”
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Bird spent time with Clark last December in Iowa City as part of an episode of her ESPN+ Original series,“Sue’s Places,” a 10-episode college basketball travelogue produced alongside Omaha Productions and Words + Pictures that features Bird darting across the country to learn about the history and traditions of college basketball. (The Clark episode ran on Feb. 14.). The fourth-ranked Hawkeyes will next play at No. 14 Indiana on Thursday night (8 p.m. ET, Peacock).
Asked why Clark had captured the imagination of the broader basketball public during her time at Iowa, Bird said it was a combination of her long-distance shooting and being one of the faces of women’s college basketball during such an ascendent time.
“There are two that stand out the most with her, and let’s start with her long-distance shooting,” Bird said. “The one thing that cancels out people’s obsession with dunking as it relates to the comparison between men’s and women’s basketball is deep shooting. If we want to call it the logo 3, let’s call it that. For whatever reason, men in particular, they don’t hate on it. There’s nothing to hate on because it is what it is. So I think that part of her game lends to people cheering for it. I think it’s also captivating, right? The way that she plays with the long-distance shooting, it’s captivating. Everybody’s interested in it. So that’s one part of it.”
Bird added: “I think the other part is that women’s basketball is having a moment and that moment needed somebody to team up with it. So Caitlin, based on just the year in which she was born and doing what she is doing in college right now, is uniquely positioned to take advantage of this moment. There are other players right now in college basketball where you can feel excitement. JuJu Watkins is killing it at USC and could arguably end up being one of the best players ever. I’m not saying that loosely; it’s because of the way she is starting her career.”
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Clark’s decision about whether to leave Iowa has become a major debate in sports media and among sports fans. Recently, former WNBA MVP Sheryl Swoopes discussed that potential rookies like Clark and LSU’s Angel Reese will take time to develop in the WNBA because it’s a veteran-heavy league.
When asked what she would do if she were Clark, Bird did not hesitate.
“If I am Caitlin Clark, I am coming out of college,” Bird said.
Required reading
(Photo: Morgan Engel / NCAA Photos via Getty Images)
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Rick Treadway, a former IndyCar driver who raced at the 2002 Indianapolis 500, died on Saturday in a motorcycle crash, the company announced. He was 56.
Treadway raced the 2002 Indy 500 under his father Fred Treadway’s race team. He started in 17th and finished in 29th in that race. He got his first start on the IndyCar circuit in 2001 in Kentucky midway through the season. He made eight starts the following season.
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Rick Treadway drives a Chevrolet G Force for Treadway and Associates Racing during the Copper World Indy 200 at Phoenix International Raceway in Phoenix, Ariz., on March 17, 2002. (Robert LaBerge/Getty Images)
“The Indy 500 start was the highlight of Treadway’s INDYCAR SERIES career, which consisted of 11 races in the 2001 and 2002 seasons for his father’s teams, Treadway-Hubbard Racing and Treadway Racing,” Indianapolis Motor Speedway said in a news release.
IndyCar drivers like Conor Daly and Arie Luyendyk paid tribute to Treadway in posts on X.
Arie Luyendyk puts on his fire retardant mask before getting into his Treadway-Hubbard Racing G Force Oldsmobile during practice for the Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis, Ind., on May 10, 2001. (Robert Laberge/Allsport)
“Really sad to see this news today. If you listen to @SpeedStreetPod you know how much this name means to a certain segment of our show. RIP Ricky. We’ll keep doing our #indy500 driver research in your honor!” Daly wrote.
Luyendyk added, “Sad news hearing Rick Treadway passed away last Saturday. Our condolences go out to my former @IndyCar team owner Fred Treadway, Janice and Brian Treadway. Rick was a fun, crazy, humble, wild and brave personality.
“RIP Ricky. We are thinking of you, Treadway family.”
Laurent Redon of France drives the #34 Dallara/Infiniti car next to Rick Treadway in the #55 G Force/Chevrolet during the 20th Anniversary Grand Prix of Miami at Homestead Miami Speedway in Homestead, Fla., on March 2, 2002. (Brian Cleary/Getty Images)
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Treadway previously competed in the Formula 2000 junior formula racing series and competed in the Indy Legends Charity Pro-Am Race from 2014 to 2018.
As if anyone needed a reminder, the Rams know how to go all-in.
Their no-fear approach and penchant for pulling off massive trades resulted in two previous Super Bowl appearances — and one Super Bowl title.
On Monday, with a clear eye toward playing in Super Bowl LXI at SoFi Stadium, they did it again.
Having already built a Super Bowl-ready roster, Rams general manager Les Snead added another gigantic piece, acquiring defensive end Myles Garrett — the league’s defensive player of the year — in a deal with the Cleveland Browns for edge rusher Jared Verse, a 2027 first-round draft pick, a 2028 second-round pick and 2029 third-round pick.
In Garrett, 30, they add star power to a team already bursting with it.
Garrett is a nine-year veteran, five-time All-Pro and two-time defensive player of the year. Last season, he amassed a league-high 23 sacks, increasing his career total to 125½.
Garrett is scheduled to earn $31.5 million this season, according to Overthecap.com.
Verse, 25, was the 19th player chosen in the 2024 draft. He was the NFL defensive rookie of the year and last season and had 7½ sacks for a Rams team that advanced to the NFC championship before losing to the eventual Super Bowl-champion Seattle Seahawks.
Verse is scheduled to carry a salary-cap hit of $2.9 million this season, according to Overthecap, but is presumably in line for a massive contract extension.
“Thank you for everything LA,” Verse posted on Instagram.
“Thank you, Jared! Best of luck in Cleveland,” the Rams posted to X after the trade was announced.
Rams linebacker Jared Verse (8) celebrates after a defensive stand against the Colts in September.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
The trade for Garrett is the second major offseason deal for the Rams. In March, they sent the No. 29 pick in the draft to the Kansas City Chiefs for All-Pro cornerback Trent McDuffie, and then signed him to an extension that makes him the highest paid player at his position in NFL history.
Even before the trade for Garrett, the Rams were regarded as a favorite to play in the Super Bowl.
But the deal harked to other major moves Snead has engineered since the Rams returned to Southern California from St. Louis in 2016.
Yes, we’ve seen this act before.
In 2018 — two years after Snead traded up 14 spots to draft quarterback Jared Goff No. 1 overall and a year after the Rams hired coach Sean McVay — Snead traded for cornerbacks Marcus Peters and Aqib Talib and signed defensive end Ndamukong Suh before trading for receiver Brandin Cooks. At the trade deadline, the Rams traded for edge rusher Dante Fowler. They advanced to Super Bowl LIII before losing to the New England Patriots.
In 2019, the Rams traded multiple first-round picks for cornerback Jalen Ramsey, giving them a back-end star to pair with Aaron Donald.
Two years later, they traded Goff and multiple first-round picks to the Detroit Lions for quarterback Matthew Stafford, and then bolstered their Super Bowl chances by signing free-agent receiver Odell Beckham Jr. and trading for edge rusher Von Miller.
The result: A Super Bowl LVI title won at SoFi Stadium.
Now, five years later, after an historic Super Bowl hangover and then seasons that ended with losses in the wild-card and NFC divisional rounds and the NFC championship, the Rams are primed for another expected Super Bowl appearance in the stadium owner Stan Kroenke built.
Stafford, at 38, is the reigning NFL most valuable player. The Rams recently signed him to a one-year, $55-million extension that ties him to the Rams through the 2027 season.
The offense also features receivers All-Pro Puka Nacua and future hall of famer Davante Adams, running back Kyren Williams and multiple tight ends that helped make the Rams the top-scoring team in the NFL last season.
The Rams addressed their biggest weakness by trading for McDuffie and signing cornerback Jaylen Watson, his former Chiefs teammate. They join a secondary that includes safeties Quentin Lake and Kamren Curl, both of whom signed extensions.
While Verse is an ascending star, the Rams have added a player in Garrett capable of taking over games in a way not seen by the franchise since Donald retired after the 2023 season.
Garrett joins a front that includes tackles Kobie Turner, Braden Fiske and Poona Ford and edge rusher Byron Young, who was voted to the Pro Bowl last season.
That unit should take pressure off a rebuilt secondary and enable McDuffie and others to make plays that were missing in last season’s losses to the Seahawks.
So the Rams, once again, are clearly built for another Super Bowl run and a boom or bust season.
It begins on Sept. 10 against the San Francisco 49ers in Melbourne, Australia.
The Rams are betting that Garrett is the piece that ensures it ends in the Super Bowl at SoFi Stadium.
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Christian Pulisic is considered to be one of the best American-born soccer players in the world and is expected to be a major part of the U.S. national team’s run in the upcoming World Cup.
It’s why the goal drought going into a friendly against Senegal was absolutely bizarre. Pulisic hadn’t put one into the back of the net since Dec. 28 when AC Milan defeated Hellas Verona in a Serie A match.
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United States forward Christian Pulisic shoots past Senegal forward Cherif Ndiaye during the first half of an international friendly soccer match in Charlotte, N.C., on May 31, 2026. (Scott Kinser/AP)
He got the weight off his back on Sunday when he scored in the 19th minute of the U.S. match against Senegal.
“Now maybe we can stop talking about it,” he said after the match.
The Americans won, 3-2, despite Sadio Mané tying the match early in the second half. Folarin Balogun put the U.S. ahead in the 62nd minute.
Pulisic was scoreless in his final 19 matches for AC Milan. The score also ended an eight-match scoreless streak while playing for the U.S. national team.
United States forward Christian Pulisic celebrates with midfielder Sebastian Berhalter after scoring in the first half against Senegal in an international friendly soccer match in Charlotte, N.C., on May 31, 2026. (Scott Kinser/AP)
“I felt this confidence, like I have played really well in recent months, but all everyone seems to want to worry about is goals. So, hopefully, we can stop talking about it,” Pulisic said. “We have games ahead and I have to be ready.”
US SOCCER LEGEND CLINT DEMPSEY PREVIEWS TEAM’S WORLD CUP CHANCES, DISCUSSES ‘RESPONSIBILITY’ TO GROW THE GAME
Pulisic added that it was a relief to finally get the goal.
“The performance of Christian, for 45 minutes, was really, really good,” U.S. coach Mauricio Pochettino said. “He still has the potential to improve. But I think it is the way that he is training from day one. (The) way he played for 45 minutes was the habits that he created last week. Every day training with this attitude, with this commitment, with this energy. I think now we need to try to extend (it) until 90 minutes.
“I am happy for him also because after a long time, a few months, he scored again. Obviously, that is important for our players in the preparation to the World Cup.”
United States forward Christian Pulisic reacts after scoring in the first half at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, N.C., on May 31, 2026. (Bob Donnan/Imagn Images)
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The U.S. will play Germany in its next friendly on Saturday. Then, it’s off to its first World Cup Group D match against Paraguay.
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The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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