Caitlin Clark flops too much. She talks too much trash. She campaigns for calls too much. Those are the casual reasons to root against her.
Then there are the heavier ones. Clark’s stardom has become a mirror for bigger arguments. Is the spotlight on her fair? Does she take responsibility for her platform? Is the WNBA grateful enough for her popularity?
‘‘I would be lying to you if I didn’t say it’s a little bit exhausting to constantly have to deal with things,’’ Clark said. ‘‘A lot of the time, it’s very distracting from the product and the game.’’
Clark is right. With all the surrounding noise, it’s easy to forget there’s an exciting basketball debate to be had: Who’s the best point guard in town for the All-Star Game this weekend?
Clark entered the WNBA as perhaps the most hyped prospect in league history when the Fever chose her No. 1 overall in the 2024 draft. Three seasons in, she mostly has delivered: an All-Star every season, electric in transition and lethal in the two-man game with Aliyah Boston.
But her rise has been choppy, slowed by injuries that kept her out of most of her second season and have limited her minutes this season. Meanwhile, Paige Bueckers, the top pick in the 2025 draft, keeps getting better.
Voted by general managers as the player most would want to build a franchise around, Bueckers has backed that up by pulling the Wings from last place straight into title contention.
And now there’s a newer challenger: Lynx rookie Olivia Miles. The player who likely should have been the No. 1 pick in the 2026 draft has her own swagger, too.
Miles called Clark an incredible player and said she’s excited to team up for the weekend. But she isn’t conceding anything.
Asked about her mindset every time she steps on the court, Miles sat up a little taller.
‘‘No one can touch me,’’ Miles said. ‘‘It’s not cocky at all. It’s just the thought you have to have to be a killer. If you step on the floor and you doubt yourself, you already lost.’’
Like everyone else around the league, Clark has taken notice. She has been a fan of Miles’ game since her college days. Clark’s word for Miles’ style: flawless.
‘‘It’s fast in the right moments, it’s slow in the right moments,’’ Clark said. ‘‘You can see her creative juices flowing on the floor. I think that’s the thing about being a point guard. I always tell people I’m really not a creative person, but my creativity just comes out on the court.’’
It just might be the golden age for the creative point guard after a lull that followed the primes of legends such as Lindsay Whalen, Sue Bird and Courtney Vandersloot.
When asked to compare her game to Clark’s and Miles’, Bueckers pointed to differences in what makes them most dangerous: Clark’s deep range and Miles’ ability to pressure the rim.
‘‘I’m kind of in the middle,’’ Bueckers said with a smile.
In the middle but not average. At the All-Star break, the mid-range master trails only four-time MVP A’ja Wilson in the betting odds for the MVP race.
And Bueckers helped draw out what really separates them: Clark’s audacity, Miles’ shiftiness and Bueckers’ control of the game.
The common thread, Bueckers said, is confidence. Each stepped onto a WNBA floor and took ownership of her franchise from the first day.
All three have drawn massive attention, though no player deals with the spotlight quite like Clark.
‘‘There’s going to be some people that love you and some people that hate you, and that’s just the reality of the world when you get into a position like this,’’ Clark said. ‘‘That’s also a good thing for the game. Not everyone’s going to be your biggest fan. They can love different players. They can support different players.’’
So take your pick among Clark, Bueckers and Miles. Argue about it all you want. Just try to remember to have fun with it.
And if you need a refresher about how, listen to Courtney Williams — who happily gave up point-guard duties when the Lynx drafted Miles — talk about the new generation.
‘‘They so raw,’’ Williams said. ‘‘They overly raw. I tell Liv all the time, like, ‘Yo, you make me feel, ‘‘Yo, could I go do that? Why don’t I be doing that?’’ ’ They just make the game look so easy. The league is definitely in great hands.’’
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