Former NBA All-Star Explains Indiana Fever’s Biggest Caitlin Clark Mistake

Just five short months after drafting Caitlin Clark No. 1 overall, the Indiana Fever snapped their seven-year playoff drought and sit just 2.5 games behind the No. 5 seed Seattle Storm in the WNBA standings.

There’s no question Clark’s addition helped put the Fever, who already had a solid core of foundational players in Kelsey Mitchell, Aliyah Boston and NaLyssa Smith, over the top.

And as good as the Fever have been this season, two-time NBA All-Star and 2014 Defensive Player of the Year Joakim Noah believes the Fever made one crucial mistake involving Clark this season: they failed to put some muscle in the lineup to protect her from the beating she’s taken through 36 games.

“If I was the owner of the Indiana Fever, I would get a real enforcer in there to protect her,” Noah told Fox news Digital . “Sometimes I feel like she is getting hit because she is a very talented person. But at the end of the day, we’re in the business of winning games, so if I’m the owner [of the Fever], I’m getting a real enforcer in there.”

Clark has drawn several flagrant fouls this season (most of which have come against the Chicago Sky) and been on the receiving end of a few questionable hits from opposing players, which have some concerned that a potential injury is just waiting around the corner.

Clark has been the target of 16% of the flagrant fouls committed by the entire WNBA (five of 31).

After Sky rookie Angel Reese announced she suffered a season-ending wrist injury on Saturday, those concerns likely only heightened as Clark, who’s been playing at an MVP level since the Olympic break, will only draw more attention the better she plays.

Related: Crazy Stat Backs Up Accusations Chicago Sky Have Been Targeting Caitlin Clark