Caitlin Clark seems to have finally figured this whole WNBA thing out

This is For The Win’s daily newsletter, The Morning Win. Did a friend recommend or forward this to you? If so, subscribe here. Have feedback? Leave your questions, comments and concerns through this brief reader survey! Now, here’s Mike Sykes.

Good morning, Winners! Welcome back to the Morning Win. Thank you so much for rocking with us today. We appreciate you giving us a bit of your time.

It sure seems like Caitlin Clark has figured out this whole WNBA thing, huh?

The rookie point guard had a single-season record of 19 assists and 24 points in a loss to the Dallas Wings on Wednesday night. The record was previously Courtney Vandersloot’s, who established it in 2020. Clark broke it here, and honestly, she could’ve had more.

It’s beginning to feel like Clark is pulling off feats we’ve never seen every time she steps on the court. Just a week ago, she had a stat line that no one in either the WNBA or NBA had before in a loss to the Mystics. Before that, she became the first rookie to record a triple-double. She’s also the fastest player to tally 400 career points and 200 career assists, getting there in just 26 games.

She’s in a groove right now. The wins aren’t there yet, but she’s found her stride in the league and has pulled it off relatively quickly. It’s impressive, honestly.

Diana Taurasi told us it would take time, and it did, to be sure. Don’t get it twisted. She started extremely slow. She took her lumps and people whined about it. They claimed she was being treated unfairly when, really, she wasn’t meeting the standard of the competition. It was as simple as that. She knew that. She was ready for it. The people weren’t.

Now that the game has slowed down for her, you don’t hear as much about the extracurricular stuff anymore. There’s no more hemming and hawing about how people treat her or questions about whether the rest of the league is jealous of her. No one cares about the hard fouls anymore. That was always nonsense, truth be told.

Now, we’re in a space where most people can just enjoy her game. She’s fun! In case you didn’t know, Caitlin Clark is really good at basketball. She’s closer to being one of the best point guards in the league than being at the bottom of the ladder in just half a season. That’s the talking point from now on.

We were always going to get here one way or another. I’m just glad we’ve — or, rather — she’s finally arrived.

USA Basketball is alright

After a close game against Australia on Monday there were questions about whether LeBron James and Steph Curry’s Team USA was truly the real deal.

After the way they dominated Nikola Jokic and Serbia? Yeah, I don’t think anyone should be asking that question anymore. Prince Grimes has more in his latest Layup Lines column.

“Because the U.S. doesn’t have a cohesive national team of players who consistently play with one another, it was always going to take a few games for them to gel. So this blowout was more on time than overdue. And because gelling isn’t necessarily linear, future games may not necessarily be as dominant as this one was.

There actually isn’t a whole lot that should be gleaned from this game considering it was just an exhibition and Serbia didn’t likely show the U.S. everything it has.

However, with so much talk about how much the world is catching up, this type of performance sent a clear message of “but not yet” to everyone at home and abroad.”

Team USA has a couple exhibition games left against South Sudan and Germany in London, then it’s off to Paris for the Olympics. Bring it on.

Caleb Williams may have broken the bears already

Caleb Williams finally signed on the dotted line to officially become a Chicago Bear on Wednesday, but it didn’t come easy.

Williams raked the Bears over the coals during his contract negotiations. He tried to get the Bears to commit to including a clause preventing the team from using the franchise tag on him when its time to negotiate his next deal.

The franchise tag is one of the most player-unfriendly tools NFL teams have. It’s an automatic, fully guaranteed year of salary that prevents players from entering free agency.

No rookie has ever had that. But that’s precisely why this is a smart play. Robert Zeglinski has more here on why:

“As a rookie, he never had a say in the NFL’s implementation of the franchise tag, which can be incredibly restrictive of a player’s career and financial freedom. Asking a team already building its future around you to nix out the tag in writing before you join the organization is the only real leverage someone like Williams has. And he knows it. He’d also be the first NFL rookie ever to secure such a critical provision, making this battle a big deal for future young players.

After all, one could easily argue the Bears need Williams much more than he needs them. So, if I were the Bears, I would just let him have this win and make that history.”

Ultimately, Williams signed his deal. It’s unclear if the tag provision is included — in all likelihood, it isn’t. But the fact that he’s already prepared to challenge the conventions of the NFL like this should be an encouraging sign for players everywhere.

Quick hits: Marina Mabrey trade grades … How to play CFB 25 … and more

— A WNBA trade! Meg Hall has Marina Mabrey trade grades for you here.

— College Football 25 comes out at midnight. Here are 10 minigames for you to play that will help you find your groove with it.

— Speaking of College Football 25, here’s how the For The Win staff is playing the game.

— FIBA refs are showing no mercy for foul baiting and it’s hilarious. Andrew Joseph has more.

— Here’s Caroline Darney with a list of major contenders for the 2024 Emmy nominations.

— Here’s Prince again on how Paul Skenes late start is costing him a shot at history.

That’s a wrap, folks! Thanks so much for reading. See you again tomorrow. Peace.

-Sykes ✌️