Could Caitlin Clark Play in the NBA?

[Chi town]

Most important trait in the NBA is shooting, esp from range and created off the dribble.

Discuss.

Watch on YouTube

[Chi town]

Watch on YouTube

[Susan]

If she played at Iowa State and Gar was still here, yes.

[MGB8]

Given that HS boys soccer teams have beaten the US women’s soccer team, in a sport where sheer size isn’t as definitive an issue … my guess is “no.” Arcidiacano going trans would likely be the MVP of the WNBA.

[DuckIII]

No. Even elite NBA shooters have to be able to get open and defend.

She’s pretty amazing though.

[RSP83]

Maybe not the NBA, but I think some WNBA players can actually play in Mens Pro Basketball League in Asia. If their goal is to break the barrier and make history. Maybe they should try out the league in the Philippines or Indonesia. Or Japan? I don't know, players in this leagues are smaller in size than US or European leagues.

I still don't see how women can play in the NBA, I mean the physicality is on a different level. Unless there's some rule change to make the NBA even more less physical.

[BullChit]

The more intriguing question is would John Lucas III be MVP in the WNBA

[Brolic]

No, she could not. That is said with all due respect.

Bigger ball, and the athleticism just isn’t there. And that’s OK. There’s no barrier to break because not all things are physically equal.

[CROBulls]

No women could play in NBA. No disrespect. It's just different rules

[sami71]

Different sports I know, but a club team of 13 year old boys crushed the Women's National team of Finland 19-1 iirc in hockey. The difference in physique esp. in explosiveness etc. is massive. Women are much closer to men in ultra distance competitions.

[Chi town]

Clark is like female version of Haliburton.

I wonder if she could play 30mins off the bench as a shooter if her team played zone on D. Literally all she would do is shoot and pass.

[dougthonus]

I will never say never, but also worth remembering that women also play with a smaller ball that is by default easier to shoot and has considerably more margin for error going in and easier to handle. All of her skills, even against other women, will be worse with a larger ball, and the adjustment period to retrain herself to use a large ball (and still be worse after adjustment) would also be fairly large.

It's pretty difficult to imagine a woman ever playing in the NBA to me, but you'd need the LeBron James of women to do it. Someone who's absolutely ridiculous athletically built compared to all other women and would therefore be close to the men (though still likely deficient in total size/athleticism), and then beyond being a top .1% of all women's athletes, she'd need to be similarly elite in skill.

[Friend_Of_Haley]

Those highlight clips are impressive, especially the range, but then I pulled up her stats and she's still only like a 36% 3PT shooter?

If there is some women who could possibly make the jump to men's as a specialist shooter, I'd expect them to be draining like 50%+, at a high rate. Like there'd have to be some expectation of drop off, and they need to be able to hit from a very deep range where it forced the D to be stretched. And then assume they aren't gonna be a liability on D.

Not sure to find recent stars by range, but 30% from 30 feet was an elite shooter a few years ago (source:https://hoopshype.com/2019/04/24/portland-trail-blazers-damian-lillard-37-feet-deep-three-pointers/)

If someone could hit 33% from 30+ there'd probably be at least a niche role they could fill at the end of a bench. But I'm assuming if she's 36% from all threes, she's much less than that from way deep? (that's all before accounting for the ball size change)

[AshyLarrysDiaper]

I will never say never, but also worth remembering that women also play with a smaller ball that is by default easier to shoot and has considerably more margin for error going in and easier to handle. All of her skills, even against other women, will be worse with a larger ball, and the adjustment period to retrain herself to use a large ball (and still be worse after adjustment) would also be fairly large.

It's pretty difficult to imagine a woman ever playing in the NBA to me, but you'd need the LeBron James of women to do it. Someone who's absolutely ridiculous athletically built compared to all other women and would therefore be close to the men (though still likely deficient in total size/athleticism), and then beyond being a top .1% of all women's athletes, she'd need to be similarly elite in skill.

It’ll never happen, but I have an easier time seeing it with someone in the Caitlin Clark mold than the female LeBron James.

Women can’t compete on pure size/strength/speed athleticism. But could a herky jerky, body control specimen with lights-out shooting come in and play a Patty Mills role if you chalk up her defense as a loss? Still no, but it seems more plausible than a woman succeeding when athleticism is her main strength.

A 5’10” version of this girl is what I have in mind:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CmXgUiLKazV/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

[madvillian]

Women's sports have made incredible progress the last twenty years. That said, no, not even close. Men's athletic advantages are just too great.

[Taj FTW]

Clark is like female version of Haliburton.

I wonder if she could play 30mins off the bench as a shooter if her team played zone on D. Literally all she would do is shoot and pass.

You know there is zero chance of this happening.

[Friend_Of_Haley]

I will never say never, but also worth remembering that women also play with a smaller ball that is by default easier to shoot and has considerably more margin for error going in and easier to handle. All of her skills, even against other women, will be worse with a larger ball, and the adjustment period to retrain herself to use a large ball (and still be worse after adjustment) would also be fairly large.

It's pretty difficult to imagine a woman ever playing in the NBA to me, but you'd need the LeBron James of women to do it. Someone who's absolutely ridiculous athletically built compared to all other women and would therefore be close to the men (though still likely deficient in total size/athleticism), and then beyond being a top .1% of all women's athletes, she'd need to be similarly elite in skill.

It’ll never happen, but I have an easier time seeing it with someone in the Caitlin Clark mold than the female LeBron James.

Women can’t compete on pure size/strength/speed athleticism. But could a herky jerky, body control specimen with lights-out shooting come in and play a Patty Mills role if you chalk up her defense as a loss? Still no, but it seems more plausible than a woman succeeding when athleticism is her main strength.

A 5’10” version of this girl is what I have in mind:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CmXgUiLKazV/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

I think Doug is saying both. A 99.99% athletic profile and 99.99% skill profile.

[AshyLarrysDiaper]

I will never say never, but also worth remembering that women also play with a smaller ball that is by default easier to shoot and has considerably more margin for error going in and easier to handle. All of her skills, even against other women, will be worse with a larger ball, and the adjustment period to retrain herself to use a large ball (and still be worse after adjustment) would also be fairly large.

It's pretty difficult to imagine a woman ever playing in the NBA to me, but you'd need the LeBron James of women to do it. Someone who's absolutely ridiculous athletically built compared to all other women and would therefore be close to the men (though still likely deficient in total size/athleticism), and then beyond being a top .1% of all women's athletes, she'd need to be similarly elite in skill.

It’ll never happen, but I have an easier time seeing it with someone in the Caitlin Clark mold than the female LeBron James.

Women can’t compete on pure size/strength/speed athleticism. But could a herky jerky, body control specimen with lights-out shooting come in and play a Patty Mills role if you chalk up her defense as a loss? Still no, but it seems more plausible than a woman succeeding when athleticism is her main strength.

A 5’10” version of this girl is what I have in mind:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CmXgUiLKazV/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

I think Doug is saying both. A 99.99% athletic profile and 99.99% skill profile.

Rereading I see that now. She’d have to be a god, basically. Fair enough.

[Red8911]

A women playing in the NBA lol, is this a joke? Highly doubtful.Completely different level between men and women. It’s a fact, just fooling yourself if you think otherwise.

[Axl Rose]

Damn she's nice.