WNBA standout Caitlin Clark‘s return to the basketball court was spoiled Wednesday with the Golden State Valkyries beating the Indian Fever 80-61. Still reeling from a left groin injury, the Iowa-born star faced even more frustration as she played 25 minutes, finishing with 10 points, five rebounds, six assists and four turnovers on 4 of 12 from the field.

While it’s still going to take the #22 athlete “a second to get (her) wind back,” the Internet swung back into action cheering on her name – for very different reasons altogether.

Caitlin Clark’s LeBron James message goes viral again

In mid-May, Clark made a wholesome admission that she’s repeated well over time as a baller and a fan: “LeBron is the GOAT to me, he’s my favourite player of all time.” Sending the initial six-word message to the Los Angeles Lakers star-player, who has often voiced his support for the WNBA superstar since her yesteryear big league debut, Clark told reporters how crazy it was to meet her idol in the flesh.

ALSO READ

The video is going viral all over again all while a retirement news is expected from the LA Lakers legend. LeBron James has often found himself in the middle of the never-dying debate dissecting who the real ‘Greatest of All Time’ player is between him and Michael Jordan. Clark’s confession adds well-received weight to the discourse in LeBron’s favour.

Late last year, the NBA legend heaped praises on Caitlin Clark, admiring “The one thing that I love that she’s bringing to her sport — more people want to watch. More people want to tune in. I saw, for the first time, they had a chartered plane. For the first time in their league history, they flew private. That should be celebrated in its own right.”

The University of Iowa basketball superstar, who never missed a game during both her high school and college careers, was also challenged mentally as she had to sit out several games this year alone due to her two injury breaks.

“It’s definitely challenging, and I think it’s been so challenging because I’ve never been through it before, so just giving myself grace as I continue to come back and get my feet under me,” she said ahead of the Indiana Fever loss to the Valkyries.

Caitlin Clark’s shooting slump makes ‘worst’ WNBA history

Despite the current circumstances, the basketball world did not cut her any slacks after her and Fever’s Wednesday failure. News outlet Athlon Sports dragged her performance for sliding to an “unwanted history” in the WNBA.

ALSO READ

Prior to the Valkyries matchup, Clark’s last three games, dating back to the June 19 Golden State game, Caitlin shot just 1-of-23 from the 3-point range, resulting in a disappointingly low 4.3% delivery. While the Wednesday game’s result brings the numbers up to 3-of-28, noting a somewhat improvement of 10.7%, it reflects the worst percentage over a four-game span in WNBA history with a minimum of 25 attempts.

These numbers were plastered all over sports TV coverage, ultimately making it to social media as well.