The 2025 season was one Caitlin Clark will probably want to erase from her memory. Three injuries to the quadriceps and groin turned what was supposed to be her big sophomore leap into a painful, shortened year with just 13 games played. And while the Fever still battled their way to the semifinals under new head coach Stephanie White, some fans couldn’t help but wonder if Clark’s full potential was being tapped into during those 13 games.

Now, don’t get it twisted! The Fever overachieved despite having a barrage of injuries. One win away from the WNBA Finals in just Clark’s second year? That’s huge. But moving forward, there might be even more room for growth if Coach White leans into something former player and analyst Rachel DeMita has talked about in the latest episode of Countryside Club.

On her podcast, Rachel DeMita brought up something interesting from the latest episode of Mind the Game, where Stephen Curry was the special guest. Curry opened up about his career and talked about a key part of what made him the player he is today: freedom. DeMita couldn’t help but connect that idea to Caitlin Clark and the Fever.

“What Steph Curry is basically saying here is that the Warriors catered the offense to his style of play. They saw it was working for Steph, and they also just instilled the confidence in him. Like, imagine the GM coming up to you and being like, you should shoot 15 threes a game. Like, why not? You’re only shooting 7, 8, 10, 12 at this point. Why not shoot 15? And Steph Curry talks about how he went from one season shooting a certain amount of threes to the next season when he shot over 200 more threes. And this is where Steph Curry starts to make leaps in his career.”

The season Steph was likely referring to was 2011-12 — the year he missed more than two-thirds of the season due to recurring ankle and foot injuries before undergoing surgery. In that shortened season, he attempted just 121 three-pointers. The real turning point came the following year, when he jumped all the way to 600 attempts.

Of course, a better comparison would be his 2010-11 season, where he attempted 342 threes. Even against that baseline, the jump to 600 shows just how much trust and freedom the Warriors gave him. They built the offense around their best player — and it paid off. Steph Curry went from averaging under 20 points per game to consistently scoring 20-plus, and just a few seasons later, he became the NBA’s first and only unanimous MVP.

The Fever should be thinking the same way. The parallels are right there. Steph Curry took a major leap after an injury-riddled season, and Caitlin Clark could be next if Coach Stephanie White decides to shift from a team-first system to one that’s built around her superstar’s strengths. That’s exactly what Rachel DeMita has been advocating for. In the same podcast, she continued:

“I just thought this story was so interesting because we didn’t know that that was happening behind the scenes, but you can just see how much the Warriors just put all of their trust into Steph. And I feel like with Caitlin Clark, we maybe haven’t seen the same thing. At least we haven’t seen those things publicly.”

One of the reasons we may not have seen Coach White fully shift to a Caitlin-centric system in those 13 games could be Clark’s efficiency. She shot just 27.9% from three this season, and that’s not great. But here’s the thing: for volume shooters like Steph Curry and Caitlin Clark, numbers don’t always tell the whole story early on. They need reps. They need rhythm. And most importantly, they need freedom.

We’ve seen Steph Curry shoot just 24.5% from three during his injury-plagued 2019-20 season. When your body isn’t right, your mechanics often aren’t either. Your balance shifts, your release changes, and sometimes the shots just don’t fall. There can be a dozen reasons behind a slump, and it doesn’t erase who you are as a player. It didn’t stop Steph from becoming the greatest shooter this game has ever seen.

Yes, 13 games aren’t nearly enough to judge what Stephanie White truly has planned for Caitlin Clark. We already saw Kelsey Mitchell play the best basketball of her career under White this year, so there’s no reason to believe Clark won’t do the same once she’s fully healthy. That’s why the Fever need to offer Caitlin Clark the same kind of trust. Let her shoot. Let her grow. Let her find her rhythm again. Because if there’s one thing we already know about Clark, it’s that she delivers when it matters.

That said, even in a season where Caitlin Clark barely got to touch the court, she still played a big role in the Fever’s success.

Caitlin Clark makes locker room admission

Caitlin Clark was in Chicago this week for Becker’s Healthcare’s CEO + CFO Roundtable, where she appeared as a keynote speaker. There, she opened up about how she played a crucial role in the Fever’s successful season…from the touchline and as a key member of the dressing room.

“Try to instill as much confidence in them and hopefully they can achieve more than they even thought they could…it always goes back to relationships and really getting to know them and what makes them tick,” was what Caitlin Clark said during the conference.

Even though she wasn’t able to suit up most nights, Caitlin Clark never checked out. While she rehabbed her injury from the sidelines, she was busy fostering chemistry, trust, and relationships among teammates. From the playful back-and-forths on social media with her “Tres Leches” crew, to the small pre-game rituals she shared with Aliyah Boston and others, Clark made sure her presence was felt. When she wasn’t sharing the court with her teammates, she was cheering her heart out from the touchline, staying locked in with her team every step of the way

And that’s exactly what makes Caitlin Clark so special. Even when she couldn’t play, she still found ways to make an impact. Now, with her focus fully locked on recovery, she’ll be hoping to step back onto the court and actually play alongside her teammates next season. But the big question remains: will the Fever give her the same kind of freedom the Warriors gave Steph? Will they build the offense around her and let her take the shots, make the reads, and grow through the mistakes?

What do you think? Let us know in the comments below!