A star rookie stepped on the court with a lot of hype, won RoTY, and led their team to the playoffs. It was a first-round exit, but still a feat like no other. This describes both Caitlin Clark and Michael Jordan’s playoff debuts. Like the Chicago Bulls’ 1985 campaign, Indiana Fever made it to the postseason for the first time in years. The Connecticut Sun swept them in the first round, but not before Clark matched Jordan’s record.

Leading up to the playoffs, the comparisons between Jordan and Clark rubbed hoops fans wrong. Some don’t find it comparable, some do. But what do the numbers say?

Fever rookie matches Michael Jordan’s playoff feat

Caitlin Clark entered her second career playoff game with redemption on her mind. Her shooting was uncharacteristically disappointing in the Fever’s 93-69 loss to the Sun in Game 1 on Sunday. On Wednesday in Game 2, she recorded 25 points, 9 assists, and 6 rebounds. It didn’t overcome the score gap, and the Fever’s 87-81 loss resulted in their elimination. But Clark recorded her 10th career game with 25 or more points.

In only two games, Clark did something only Michael Jordan has done in five games of his postseason debut. They’re the only two rookies in NBA and WNBA history to average 18 points, 8.5 assists, 5 rebounds, 1 block, and 2 steals per game.

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Michael Jordan arrived in 1984 with as much hype without the social media platform. He led the Chicago Bulls to the playoffs as Rookie of the Year. During the series, he averaged 29.3 points, 5.6 rebounds, 8.5 assists, 2.6 steals and 1 block per game. The Milwaukee Bucks eliminated them in four games but the Bulls had a 38–44 record that season.

The Bulls lost 3-1 to Milwaukee in a series where Jordan’s FG% was 43.6%. His 3-point was 12.5% in 1985 to Clark’s 20%. However, Clark attempted 25 threes in the two games, making 5, while Jordan only attempted 8 threes in four games, making just a solitary one. This also shows the way the game has changed over time.

Clark’s FG was a disappointing 23.5% in the best-of-three series. Statistically, Jordan is still unrivalled even in his rookie season. Clark came close but not nearly as much.

Caitlin Clark has the MJ blueprint

MJ had more highs than lows in his rookie year. The media touted him as the face of a generation, Sports Illustrated declared, ‘A Star Is Born,’ and he made All-Star among other record-breaking feats. He’d also get subjected to a ‘freeze-out’ and get fouled a lot.

Clark came with similar hype, but her rivalry with Angel Reese had more parallels to Magic Johnson and Larry Bird. Both would be the only rookies to make All-Star and were the two top contenders for RoTY. CC also made the struggling Indiana Fever a .500 team, a first in years. The 22-year-old also set the WNBA record for most assists in a season, and had the most points by a rookie in league history, among other stunning feats.

Interestingly, both Clark and MJ were 22 in their playoff debut. Their teams had the odds stacked against them. Even with an early playoff exit, they proved cynics wrong.

As Jordan said after losing to the Bucks,  ”People didn’t think we’d make it to the playoffs and we did. Nobody thought we’d win a game after the first two [playoff losses] and we did. Then tonight, people began leaving early because they weren’t expecting us to come back. We did. I think everybody can hold their heads up high.”

Jordan made it to the playoffs every season after that. In 1986, he’d make history with a 63-point playoff game. He’d suffer first-round exits two more times before leading the Bulls to the Finals for the first time in 1991. And everyone knows what followed after that. 6 titles in 6 appearances.

Between Indiana’s two playoff games, Gilbert Arenas stubbornly shot down any comparison between both. Logically, Clark’s body of work can be comparable to Air Jordan when she builds it. But their rookie seasons have so many similarities, fans want to hope this is the blueprint for Clark.