Is Caitlin Clark facing challenges which she should not face as a rookie? Notably, even before the WNBA season started, there were allegations against some established WNBA stars of being jealous of Clark. It is worth mentioning that Clark gained immense popularity during her college basketball season.

It seems these allegations of jealousy and Clark’s Indiana Fever losing their first match have developed a sense of concern in Nick Young. He fears that the promising former college basketball star will have a similar career as Lonzo Ball. “If the WNBA want bigger ratings build clark up and stop trying to tear her down .. y’all trying to Lonzo Ball her so bad,” he posted on X.

It is worth mentioning that ahead of Caitlin Clark’s WNBA debut, Phoenix Mercury Guard Diana Taurasi had said, “Look, SVP, reality is coming… There’s levels to this thing…,” Taurasi told SportsCenter’s Scott Van Pelt. She further stated how players in college look superhuman playing against 18-year-olds. “But you’re going to (be playing against) some grown women that have been playing professional basketball for a long time,” she added. A certain section of the fans perceived these comments stemming from jealousy. “Quit trying to tear her down when you should be celebrating the women’s game,” wrote one fan on X.

In a similar instance, WNBA star A’ja Wilson faced backlash from fans after she posted a Bible scripture, “Psalm 37:7,” on X. Notably, the said scripture is about a message of being patient amid the success of others. Some fans viewed this as Wilson being jealous of Caitlin Clark’s recent success. “The jealousy in the wnba is crazy !!!!!! Caitlin bout to bring a new level of viewership to your league and you hating on her ???” commented one user.

These instances explain the most likely reason behind “stop trying to tear her down” part of Young’s post. As for the Lonzo Ball reference, Ball was expected to have a great NBA career ahead of him, but circumstances led to something else.

What went wrong with Lonzo Ball?

It is worth mentioning that Ball was a basketball prodigy ever since his high school days. In fact, he was considered as the best passer back in the day. The fact that, as a senior, he led his Chino High School team to 35-0 in the season in 2016 reflects his proficiency. And the team also won the state championship the same year.

In his one season with UCLA, he averaged an impressive stat-line of 14.6 points, 6.0 rebounds, and 7.6 assists. Apart from this, he claimed multiple awards and accolades within a single season of his college basketball. These include the NCAA season assists leader, NABC Freshman of the Year, and Pac-12 Freshman of the Year.

His successful run at high school basketball scenarios and then college as well led to the LA Lakers drafting him. This turned his father’s dream of making Ball an NBA star come true. However, his career trajectory did not go on the line he would’ve expected. Notably, the 26-year-old’s career stayed plagued with injuries from the very start till now. Some of these include left shoulder sprain in 2017, knee injury in 2018, multiple ankle injuries from 2018 to 19, and then again a knee injury in 2021. 

As a result, Lonzo Ball has not played since 2022, however, there has been some hope for him recently. “It’s coming along, man. Week by week… It’s improving, so that’s all I can ask for,” Ball said of his knee injury on his podcast. This makes it clear why Nick Young does not want Caitlin Clark’s career to suffer a similar fate to that of Ball.