Wherever else you stand on Caitlin Clark’s inexplicably controversial rookie season, there’s no arguing the fact she is starting to get acclimated to WNBA Life. She had a four-game stretch earlier where she failed to hit double digits in points in three of them. But more recently, she’s looked like the Clark who put millions of eyeballs on hundreds of thousands of screens while she was at Iowa. And very much like she belongs in the pros.

In nautical terms, it seems as though Clark’s maiden voyage and shaking out cruise are pretty much over, and now it’s “Woman the torpedos, full speed ahead.” Subsequently, after starting the season 0-6, the Fever have started to turn it around, winning their last three and four of their last five.

Which, this being Caitlin Clark and this being 2024, means this doesn’t sit well with a lot of people. Most notably, the Lex Luthor to her Supergirl, Angel Reese, as Ohio’s Tate posted:

That’s all the evidence any of us should need that Clark’s arrival in the WBNA is complete. Once they start chirping you for getting all the calls, you have made it onto the Big (thanks to her) Stage. Your status as a true star is official. This is the truth in basketball, at any level, and with either gender. Once people blame all your success on favorable treatment by the officials, you know they don’t know how to stop you. As the saying goes, once you start taking flak, you know you’re over your target.

The kick in the head though, is that Clark is not getting the Superstar Treatment from refs. Not by a damned sight. They’re still giving her the Rookie Hazing treatment. She’s getting the “special whistle” alright. just not in the way Reese seems to think. And judging by her reaction to this blatant non-call, she’s mad as hell and not going to take it any more:

And so it seems, Clark is passing yet another test. To pledge this sorority, you’ve got to prove you can take the physical punishment, of course. But the next phase of this Rush Week is to prove you’re not going to quietly and politely tolerate this bullshit. You’re not going to take this like a lady, you’re going to fight back.

And thus, it would appear the “getting acquainted” portion of her rookie season is over. And her transition to superstardom has begun. I shudder to think how good she’s going to be once she starts actually getting the calls like this obvious hack. But it’s going to be incredible to watch it start to happen.