Caitlin Clark has seen a pivotal change in her gameplay that has only helped elevate her performance. For someone who once said, “Nobody gives me advice in game,” after getting defeated 89-77 by the Seattle Storm, Clark has come a long way. It probably would have happened much earlier, if there hadn’t been a mistake on Clark’s end, Charles Barkley points out.

According to Barkley, Clark’s newfound trust in her teammates has been key to the Indiana Fever’s recent success. “Some of that’s her fault,” he starts after the podcast host, Bill Simon, brings up how the Indiana Fever has been playing as a team of late, unselfishly. “She’s learning now that ‘I can play without a ball,'” Barkley adds.

Barkley drew a parallel to his own career when he joined the Phoenix Suns, noting how playing with teammates like Dan Marley and Kevin Johnson made the game easier. Like Clark, he learned the importance of trusting his teammates to maximize his own performance.”

“Playing without the ball is much easier, like for me, I can use myself as an example — not that it’s about me — when I got traded to Phoenix and they gave me Dan Marley, Kevin Johnson and those guys man,” the Phoenix Suns legend said on The Bill Simmons Podcast.

That year, Barkley won the MVP title and led the Suns to the NBA Finals, a sharp contrast from his time with the Philadelphia 76ers. He also recalled how playing for Team USA in the Olympics reinforced his trust in teammates—a lesson Clark has begun to learn since the Olympic break.

Reflecting on his Olympic experience, Barkley said, “It goes back to the stuff I told you about the Olympics man it was just so easy for me to play basketball because I didn’t have to make every pass I didn’t have to score every basket yeah and I think Caitlin is learning that now like oh I can trust her [her teammates]”

Since the Olympic break, the Fever have been exceptional, boasting the league’s best offense since August 1.

Charles Barkley believes the Olympics snub was better for Caitlin Clark 

Many fans expressed frustration on social media after Clark was snubbed from the Olympic roster, but the rookie took it in stride. ‘“Oh, I need the break,” Clark admitted. Although the snub was a bitter pill to swallow, the break turned out to be advantageous for her.  Barkley agreed, noting, “I’ll tell you what, really good happened to her not making the Olympic team.”

During the break, Clark traveled to Mexico, attended a friend’s wedding, visited the Yankees’ clubhouse, and recharged with her teammates. After a long stretch of NCAA and WNBA games, the rest was perhaps much-needed for the rookie.

Clark acknowledged that the time off helped her build better chemistry with her teammates. “I think you can tell I’d gotten more comfortable over the last few games heading into the break,” Clark said.

As the no.1 team in PPG (91.1), 3P% (40.7%), and offensive rating (111.0) since August, the Fever made it to the WNBA playoffs for the first time since 2016. Now with that in place, it seems that the ROTY title might not be too far off for the Indiana star.