Most people have either forgotten this or have never known it, but when Magic Johnson and Larry Bird came into the NBA, it was on life support. Drugs had hurt a lot but so had selfish basketball. The soul of the game was tarnished. The ultimate team game, it had been reduced all too often to an exercise in selfishness.
Magic and Bird revived the game because they tapped into what makes it special: five players working as a unit that is better than its individual parts.
Michael Jordan came along to carry the torch and as great as he was, he was a very different sort of a player. It was often more a case of personal pyrotechnics as opposed to what Bird and Magic did, which was to lift a group up to a higher level. That’s not to knock Jordan – everyone watched and it was thrilling – but it wasn’t the same thing.
We’ve been waiting for someone to come along who had that gift that Magic and Bird shared, but never thought it would be in the WNBA.
Caitlin Clark is that player and this play is the proof.
First she hits Kelsey Mitchell with a gorgeous pass that really threads the needle and then Mitchell drops a perfect behind the back pass to NaLyssa Smith for a layup.
It’s exquisite basketball: economic, intuitive and sharing the ball – and her teammates are buying in and their confidence is soaring. This isn’t just beautiful basketball, though it is. The Fever are finding a level of pleasure in the game that few ever know.
Clark, as we said yesterday, is revolutionizing women’s basketball. Hopefully young boys who are learning to play are watching her too, because whatever that magic it is, she’s got it. She’s taking her team, and her league, on a ride no one is going to forget. Everyone should strive to play like this.
