Sports
Thompson: The Caitlin Clark panic should stop. Trust that the rookie will figure it out
No, this was not the fantastical introduction to the professional ranks for Caitlin Clark. Certainly not the bender of basketball bliss a segment of her legion was hoping to be hungover from at some point this weekend.
But rooks don’t get to jump over stuff.
Her first two games might feel like a letdown, especially Thursday’s epic home opener with the Indiana Fever. The moment was big enough for history to pull up to the venue. Sports’ latest transcendent figure created a buzz in Gainbridge Fieldhouse rivaling the New York Knicks-Indiana Pacers series.
Then the New York Liberty shut down the party, and Breanna Stewart destroyed any delusions that a rookie might be the WNBA’s best player.
But Clark will be fine. Just fine. This is just the first of many hard parts. A great game is coming. More bad ones, too. But it’s necessary. You can’t climb a mountain if it’s smooth.
Sabrina Ionescu talks about Caitlin Clark’s adjustment to the WNBA and hosting her on a visit to Oregon when she was deciding where to go to college
“I just know she’s gonna continue to work really hard and stick with it. Good things will happen to good people.” pic.twitter.com/thI8tDfs4C
— New York Liberty Videos (@SNYLiberty) May 17, 2024
The only question is whether the fans she’s brought to women’s basketball will allow her this. Clark has talked about giving herself grace. If it wasn’t a coded message to her masses, it should be received as such. She probably won’t be deterred by unrealistic expectations propped on her shoulders. But it can make the climb harder. That’s what she wants, though.
All hoopers, real hoopers, share this trait. Those groomed on inner-city blacktops, in sparkling suburban gymnasiums, at specialized academies in Australia, on dirt courts beneath rural skies. Among their commonalities is this universal truth: They embrace what’s hard. They’re motivated by the degree of difficulty. As long as success is possible in the confines of their delusional confidence, hoopers are game for the smoke. Real hoopers. They want a hill to conquer. It’s how they confirm their conviction of greatness.
That’s why Clark will be fine. We already know she is a real hooper. She’s long revealed that essence.
She could be somewhere chilling right now. Cashing in her celebrity, growing her brand before a farewell tour of a season at Iowa. Courtesy of the NCAA’s extra year of eligibility allowance for the pandemic, she could’ve gone back to her comfort zone in college. Yet, she opted for this. To be hounded by a more athletic DiJonai Carrington. To be smothered by a bigger Betnijah Laney-Hamilton. To face traps and double teams and hard fouls. To get her bearings under the weight of her enormous fan base and mercurial fame.
To take her lumps. To risk disappointment.
It might take some time to find her stride, especially because she wants to win more than she wants to dazzle. But she’s not set up to be the same Clark who seized the nation.
First off, the Fever’s schedule is brutal to start. Their next two games are rematches against New York on Saturday and Connecticut on Monday, two teams which Indiana lost to by a combined 57 points. That’s followed by a three-game roadie at Seattle, Los Angeles and defending champion Las Vegas. That’s a far cry from Fairleigh Dickinson, Northern Iowa and Purdue-Fort Wayne to warm up against early in the season.
Plus, Clark is already garnering the peak focus of much better defenders.
Her debut was a dance with Carrington, a 5-foot-11 hound who is in the league to harass ballhandlers (and who is good enough at it she doesn’t mess up her perfect makeup in the process). Clark’s home debut was a date with Laney-Hamilton, a vet in every sense. She played for eight teams in six years, including four overseas, before breaking out with the Liberty in 2021. She’s got at least 15 pounds on Clark and a decade of hard-nose hoops under her belt dating back to her Rutgers days. Another real hooper who was determined to be felt by Clark.
Both were picking her up full court or face-guarding Clark in the half court.
Dijonai Carrington is putting the clamps on Caitlin Clark 🔒 pic.twitter.com/pGQ7MlXIqb
— ESPN (@espn) May 15, 2024
Clark is still learning the offense, which is not centered on her. The Fever play inside out, posting up Aliyah Boston or whoever has the size advantage, looking to draw in the defense for the kick out. It’s not the offense I’d run with Clark as my point guard. But this is part of it, too.
Clark’s record 40.1 percent usage rate in college — meaning she used that percentage of Iowa’s plays — won’t be happening this season. Seattle’s Jewell Loyd led the league last season with a usage rate of 31.5. Clark’s usage rate through two games: 28.7.
Not only are defenses locked in on her, and the Fever’s offense prioritizing post-ups, and the ball not in her hands nearly as much as it was in college, but Clark also has teammates who can do some things, too. And they’ve got room to work as Clark draws attention. So the likes of Erica Wheeler, NaLyssa Smith and Kelsey Mitchell are professional scorers looking to take advantage of space. So the ball doesn’t work its way back to Clark often.
The other expected outcome was Clark’s getting attacked on defense. Stewart’s forcing the switch to get Clark onto her back was a window into the life of a rookie. She’s gotta get better at moving her feet instead of reaching, learn the tendencies of her opponents through film studies to gain some advantages, and — perhaps most importantly — get her strength and conditioning to new levels so having to defend doesn’t take away her legs and energy on offense.
If her legend is to continue in the WNBA, it could take months or even seasons to become a dominant player at this level. However long it takes is how long she needs, and how long she should get. As sensational as she is, it’s unfair to regard Clark as some carnival act going city to city splashing trick shots. That’s beneath her. For sure, those deep bombs release bursts of ecstasy into the air when they splash. It’s easy to want repeated hits of such a sensation.
But this is a real hooper on a journey to basketball excellence. This is a career, one that might carve her name among the all-time greats if it goes well. That’s worth having a proverbial seat and enjoying the whole process. Because if she gets there, it will be because of the struggles along the way.
With her basketball IQ, Clark likely knew this was coming. It’s a true gantlet. Like it should be. A certain portion of her legion, inebriated by Clark’s captivating style of play, expected the pros to be a continuation of her Hawkeye brilliance, as if the WNBA was some kind of lateral move. As if her meager salary was representative of the league’s ballers and not its business.
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But anyone who watches the WNBA could’ve anticipated early struggles for Clark. WNBA OGs tried to warn, even if some mixed a little hateration in their holleation. But they knew.
It’s a safe bet she’s never come off a screen into a trap with someone as tough as Connecticut’s Alyssa Thomas, or been hunted on defense by a scorer the likes of Stewart. Even if Clark is about this life, it requires adjusting.
Sabrina Ionescu, one of the league’s biggest stars, went 4-of-17 in her 2020 debut. She wasn’t on Clark’s level, but she was a massive star at Oregon. Her first game, with the Liberty, was a major deal. She got smoked by Seattle, missing all eight of her 3s with 4 turnovers in a loss.
Ionescu put up 33 points the next game. But in her third game, a Grade 3 ankle sprain ended her season. She still managed to become an All-Star and is one of the game’s best guards. Real hoopers bounce back, though. Ionescu did. Clark will.
She will shoot it at better than a 30.4 percent clip. She’s missing a lot of open shots and defending many others. She just needs to find her rhythm. And her stellar passing ability means she can have an impact on the game in multiple ways. She’s got good size at 6 feet, high IQ and a love of the craft that will keep her working. She will figure it out. Can you wait long enough until she does? Can you appreciate this part as much as the turn-up to come?
It just takes time. It takes the hard lessons of bad games and tough losses. It takes film study. It takes losing accompanied by a hatred for losing. It takes this part.
And the grace to let her go through it.
(Photo: Dylan Buell / Getty Images)
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LeBron James got the last laugh on Sunday night as he sank two free throws in the final 3.9 seconds to lift the Los Angeles Lakers over the Phoenix Suns, 116-114.
James may be in the twilight of his career, but he showed he still had some fight. He was battling with Suns forward Dillon Brooks throughout the night. The two got into multiple skirmishes as the intensity was turned up a notch.
Phoenix Suns forward Dillon Brooks fouls Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (23) during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025, in Phoenix. Brooks was ejected from the game after the foul. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)
As the game came down to the wire, Brooks hit a clutch 3-pointer to put the Suns up one point with 12.2 seconds left. James ran through him and knocked him down. Brooks got back up and stuck his chest out to ever-so-gently tap James.
A referee came over to stop the conflict from escalating any further. Brooks was ejected from the game.
“I just like to compete,” James said of going up against Brooks, via ESPN. “He’s going to compete. I’m going to compete. We’re going to get up in each other’s face. Try not to go borderline with it. I don’t really take it there. But we’re just competing and did that almost all the way to the end of the game.”
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Phoenix Suns forward Dillon Brooks (3) and Los Angeles Lakers forward Lebron James (23) react after a turnover during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)
Suns star Devin Booker supported Brooks’ intensity.
“Yeah, I mean there’s history there,” he said. “I love to see it. People always say everything’s too friendly in the NBA and then Dillon comes around and now it’s too much. So like I said, I’d rather it the other way — that it’d be too much.”
James scored 26 points on 8-of-17 from the field. Luka Doncic led Los Angeles with 29 points and six assists. The Lakers improved to 18-7 with the win.
Los Angeles Lakers guard Luka Doncic (77) looks to shoot over Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker, front left, during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)
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Brooks had 18 points in 25 minutes. Booker led the team with 27 points and was 13-of-16 from the free-throw line. Phoenix is 14-12 on the year.
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Who’s going to beat them?
Who’s going to stop the unstoppable offense? Who’s going to score on the persistent defense? Who’s going to outwit the coaching genius?
Who can possibly halt the Rams on their thunderous march toward a Super Bowl championship?
After yet another jaw-dropping Sunday afternoon at a raucous SoFi Stadium, the answer was clear.
Nobody.
Nobody can spar with the Rams. Nobody can run with the Rams. Nobody can compete with the Rams.
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Gary Klein breaks down what went right for the Rams in their 41-34 victory over the Detroit Lions at SoFi Stadium on Sunday.
Nobody is talented enough or deep enough or smart enough to keep the Rams from winning their second Super Bowl championship in five years.
Nobody. It’s over. It’s done. The Rams are going to win it all, and before you cry jinx, understand that this is just putting into words what many already are thinking.
The Rams’ second-half domination of the Detroit Lions in a 41-34 win should again make the rest of the league realize that nobody else has a chance.
The Seahawks? Please. The 49ers? No way. The Eagles? They’ve been grounded. The Bears? Is that some kind of a joke?
The Patriots? Not yet. The Broncos? Not yet. The Bills? Not ever.
The Rams trailed by 10 points at one juncture Sunday and then blew the Lions’ doors off in the second half to clinch a playoff berth for the seventh time in nine seasons under Sean McVay, setting them up for the easiest ride in sports.
With a win in Seattle on Thursday night — and, yes, they should beat a team that just barely survived Old Man Rivers — the Rams essentially will clinch the NFC’s top seed and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.
That means they have to win only two games at SoFi to advance to a Super Bowl at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara. That means they can win a championship without leaving California, three games played in the sort of perfect climate that gets the best out of their precision attack.
And as Sunday proved once again, they’re good enough to win three essentially home playoff games against anybody.
“I love this team,” McVay said.
There’s a lot to love.
They have an MVP quarterback, the league’s most versatile two-headed running attack, an interior defense that gets stronger under pressure, and the one weapon that no team can match.
They have Puka Nacua, and nobody else does.
Rams wide receiver Puka Nacua is tackled by Detroit cornerback Amik Robertson during the second half Sunday.
(Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)
Is he unbelievable or what? He is Cooper Kupp in his prime, only faster and stronger. He caught a career-high 181 yards’ worth of passes on yet another day when he could not be covered and barely could be tackled.
“He’s unbelievable,” McVay said. “He’s so tough, a couple of times he just drags guys with him … he epitomizes everything we want to be about … he’s like Pac-Man, he just eats up yards and catches.”
Pac-Man? The Rams even score on their old-school references.
In all, it was another Sunday of totally fun football.
They outscored the league’s highest-scoring team 20-0 at one point, they outrushed the league’s toughest backfield 159-70, they racked up 519 total yards against a team once thought destined for a championship.
And they did it with barely a smile. With the exception of Nacua repeatedly banging his fist to his chest — can you blame him? — the Rams are steady and steadfast and just so scary.
”All we want to do is go to work and find a way to be better,” said Matthew Stafford, who likely answered the crowd’s chants by clinching the MVP award with 368 yards and two touchdown passes. “It’s a fun group right now but we understand there’s more out there for us.”
Lots, lots, lots more.
This year a similar column appeared in this space regarding the Dodgers. By the first round of the playoffs, one just knew that they were going to run the table.
The same feeling exists here. The Rams look unrelenting, unfazed, unbeatable.
“Guys just kept competing, staying in the moment,” McVay said.
This moment belongs to them. One knew it Sunday by the end of the first half, which featured a Stafford interception and a struggling secondary and Jared Goff’s vengeful greatness and a 10-point Lions lead.
Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford passes in the first half of a 41-34 win over the Detroit Lions at SoFi Stadium on Sunday.
(Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)
Then the Rams drove the ball nearly half of the field in 30 seconds in a push featuring Stafford and Nacua at their best. Stafford connected with Nacua on a brilliant 37-yard pass in the final moments that led to a Harrison Mevis 37-yard field goal to close the gap to seven.
“Right before that I told the guys, ‘Let’s go steal three,’” Stafford said.
Turns out, they stole a game.
“One of the key and critical sequences,” McVay said of that late first-half hammer, which led to a dazzling third quarter that finished the flustered Lions.
“We never panic,” Blake Corum said. “Because we know … what we have to bring to the table.”
What they’ve increasingly been bringing is a running attack that perfectly complements the awesome passing attack, as evidenced Sunday by Corum and Kyren Williams combining for 149 yards and three touchdowns.
The Lions’ more vaunted backfield of Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery? Seventy yards and one score.
“We push each other to the limit,” Corum said of Williams.
Rams running back Kyren Williams stiff-arms Detroit Lions safety Erick Hallett II during the first half Sunday.
(Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)
Potentially disturbing was how one noted Ram may have pushed past his limits, as receiver Davante Adams limped off the field early in the fourth quarter after apparently reinjuring his troublesome hamstring.
To lose him for the playoffs would be devastating, as he frees up space for Nacua and is almost an automatic touchdown from the five-yard line and closer.
Then again he’ll have a month to heal. And the Rams still have a bruising array of tight ends led Sunday by the touchdown-hot Colby Parkinson, who caught 75 yards’ worth of passes and two scores, including one inexplicable touchdown in which he clearly was down at the one-yard line.
The Rams got lucky there. But even if the right call was made, they would have scored on the next couple of plays. The way the Rams attacked, they could have been scoring all night.
“You knew that it was going to be that kind of game where there was some good back-and-forth,” McVay said. “You needed to be able to know that points were going to be really important for us, and our guys delivered in a big way.”
Just wait. By the time this season is done, McVay’s guys will have delivered a trophy representing something much bigger.
It rhymes with Strombardi.
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Kansas City Chiefs star Patrick Mahomes will be out for the rest of the season as he suffered a torn ACL on Sunday in a loss to the Los Angeles Chargers, according to multiple reports.
Mahomes’ knee buckled while he was scrambling and as he was getting hit by Chargers defensive end Da’Shawn Hand. He was helped off the field and he limped to the locker room. An MRI reportedly confirmed the extent of the damage.
Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes grabs his knee after being injured during the second half of an NFL football game against the Los Angeles Chargers, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025 in Kansas City, Missouri. (AP Photo/Reed Hoffmann)
The quarterback wrote a message to fans as word of his injury trickled out.
“Don’t know why this had to happen,” Mahomes wrote on X. “And not going to lie (it) hurts. But all we can do now is Trust in God and attack every single day over and over again. Thank you Chiefs kingdom for always supporting me and for everyone who has reached out and sent prayers. I Will be back stronger than ever.”
Chiefs coach Andy Reid offered a gloomy outlook for Mahomes as he spoke to reporters following the loss.
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Los Angeles Chargers linebacker Odafe Oweh (98) sacks Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes (15) during the second half at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium on Dec. 14, 2025. (Jay Biggerstaff/Imagn Images)
“… It didn’t look good,” Reid said when asked whether he knew if Mahomes’ injury was serious. “I mean you guys saw it. We’ll just see where it goes.”
The loss to the Chargers also meant the Chiefs will not be making the postseason. Kansas City made it to the AFC Championship each season since 2018. They made it to the Super Bowl in each of the last three seasons, winning two titles in that span.
Mahomes will finish the season with 3,398 passing yards and 22 touchdown passes.
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Kansas City is 6-8 on the year.
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