It’s a script made for conflict: a veteran player who isn’t quite ready to hang it up hearing the footsteps of a potential superstar that could mean a lot of time on the bench.
But Erica Wheeler and Caitlin Clark say they are not bound by those cliched roles.
Wheeler was the starting point guard for the Indiana Fever last year and knew as the WNBA draft neared that Clark was going to be the first pick last month and that her job probably was going to be taken by Clark.
Wheeler, 33, has played in the league for eight years and averaged 9.9 points and 5.0 assists per game last season. She started all 40 of the Fever’s games.
Instead of fighting the inevitable, she rolled out the welcome mat for Clark, who averaged 31.6 points and 8.9 assists a game for the Iowa Hawkeyes last season.
“I put it as like, you know, when you go to a different school, the first day of school you don’t know anybody,” Wheeler, who is in the final year of her contract, said, according to the New York Post.
“Then, you find that one person that says hi to you, and they become your best friend. For me, I just wanted to get ahead of it because I know this transition is tough.”
Wheeler said she embraces the role of Clark’s mentor.
“It’s how I was raised; I don’t have no hate in my heart. I want everybody around me to win. Whether you are winning or not, I still want to push you to be great,” Wheeler said.
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“So for me, I just thought, like, if I get ahead of it, I’m just making it comfortable right away. It’s just an easy, smooth transition. For me, I actually love it because I like being a big sister. I like helping first. I don’t really like getting help. So, it’s refreshing for me to be able to help her and be her big sister.”
Clark, 22, said the help is appreciated, noting that Wheeler “simply wants the best for people, no matter what.”
“People can say that, but she really lives it, every day, and you can tell that she’s going to push me, hold me accountable, she’s going to find ways to help me learn, but at the same time, she’s going to have my back every single day, and that’s something I’m really grateful for coming into this league, having a vet that really wants the best for you is special,” Clark said.
Indiana coach Christie Sides has been tinkering with lineups in practice and said that being flexible with Wheeler helps the team.
“All she wants to do is do whatever this team needs, whatever she needs to do for us to be successful,” Sides said, according to the Indianapolis Star.
“And I can ask her for anything. If I’m gonna tell her she’s gonna come off the bench, she’s gonna come off the bench. If I tell her I need her to do this, she’s going to do that. I mean, that’s just who she is … her voice and her leadership, it just means so much to our entire team.”
Clark knows she faces pressure. Indiana has not had a winning season since 2015, most recently made the playoffs in 2016, and has won only 30 games over the past four seasons.
“No matter what happens, there’s going to be expectations and pressure on my shoulders and pressure on this team to be really good,” Clark said, per ESPN.
“That’s how you want it. We wouldn’t want anything else. We want people showing up to our games, people expecting us to win a lot of basketball games this year, and I’m expecting myself to play really well. I don’t think it’s anything that’s ever been different for me.”
Indiana will open the regular season May 14 at the Connecticut Sun.
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