Caitlin Clark's individual greatness is becoming undeniable, but her effect on teammates has drawn recent attention. That's in part due to comments from LSU coach Kim Mulkey made back in April of 2024 that appear spot-on today.
Mulkey praised Clark's ability to lift the play of those around her after LSU lost to Iowa in the Elite Eight of the 2024 NCAA Tournament.
"She's just a generational player and she just makes everybody around her better. That's what the great ones do," Mulkey said. "Caitlin Clark is not going to beat you by herself. It's what she does to make those other teammates better that helps her score points and them score points to beat you."
Mulkey's comments came back into focus after Clark's playmaking helped set the stage for teammate Lexie Hull's career-high 22 points in the Fever's win against the Seattle Storm on Sunday. Hull is far from alone in experiencing a positive bump since joining up with Clark.
Clark's winning tendencies are obvious from looking at the standings. A year after finishing 13-27, the Fever find themselves at 13-15 through the season's first 28 games. The benefits to her teammates are also evident in how much they improve statistically when she shares the court with them.
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These Caitlin Clark stats prove Kim Mulkey was right
If you've watched any Fever games, you will see Clark bending defenses and creating open looks for teammates thanks to her brilliant passing. You don't break the record for assists by a rookie without having fantastic court vision.
The quality of those looks is reflected by how much better her teammates shoot when she's on the floor with them. Many of the high-minute players on the Fever see a dramatic uptick in their effective field goal percentage (eFG%) when sharing the court with Clark.
Effective field goal percentage is a stat that accounts for 3-pointers being worth more than 2-pointers.
| Player | eFG% w/ Clark | eFG% w/o Clark | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aliyah Boston | 54.8% | 42.3% | +12.5% |
| NaLyssa Smith | 51.2% | 40.0% | +11.2% |
| Erica Wheeler | 48.0% | 38.6% | +9.4% |
| Temi Fagbenle | 56.2% | 50.0% | +6.2% |
Nobody benefits from the Clark effect more than Boston, whose effective field goal percentage improves by 12.5 percentage points when the two play together. That should be unsurprising given that Clark's 73 assists to Boston are the most between any two players in the entire WNBA.
Clark has been spoon-feeding Boston easy shots from beautiful passes that few other guards in the league could make. Given Boston's lethal finishing, it's been a great partnership thus far.
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Boston isn't alone in seeing more shots go down with Clark, as Smith, Wheeler and Fagbenle each see dramatic increases in their shooting percentages. There is a lot of short-term luck in shooting numbers, though. Is there a better way to quantify how good of a look teammates are getting from Clark?
Darryl Blackport has modeled shot quality at PBPStats, using factors like shot distance and time on the clock to estimate the probability that a shot is made. Using his shot quality metric, Boston again leads the pack in how drastically her shots are expected to improve with Clark on the floor.
| Player | Shot quality w/ Clark | Shot quality w/o Clark | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aliyah Boston | 52.9% | 46.5% | +6.4% |
| Lexie Hull | 58.9% | 54.6% | +4.3% |
| Kelsey Mitchell | 53.8% | 52.1% | +1.7% |
| Erica Wheeler | 47.7% | 47.1% | +0.6% |
In other words, the Clark effect is more than random hot shooting — she really is creating higher-quality looks for teammates that are expected to go in more often, particularly for Boston.
Many of those looks are coming right at the rim, which is the most valuable shot in the game. Clark is the best in the league at setting teammates up for those easy layups. The gap between her and second place is enormous.
| Player | Assists for layups |
|---|---|
| Caitlin Clark | 121 |
| Alyssa Thomas | 81 |
| Sabrina Ionescu | 75 |
| Skylar Diggins-Smith | 73 |
| Marina Mabrey | 73 |
| Arike Ogunbowale | 72 |
| Natasha Cloud | 61 |
| Courtney Williams | 60 |
| Julie Vanloo | 48 |
| Jewell Loyd | 46 |
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Mulkey has seen a lot of great players in her day. She recognized quickly what puts Clark firmly within that group. The Fever guard is a great table-setter who knows how to bring out the best in everyone.
It's remarkable that Clark has been able to learn the tendencies of her teammates so quickly, and a great sign for the Fever as she continues to figure out how to put them in the best position to succeed.
As Mulkey said, "That's what the great ones do."