Caitlin Clark's WNBA career continues troubling start for her and Fever alike

Caitlin Clark's first official foray into the WNBA has been met with palpable excitement and truly historic and unprecedented excitement from basketball fans. Unfortunately for the No. 1 pick in this year's draft and the Indiana Fever, though, the results on the hardwood haven't been what fans were hoping for, both from the team and the former Iowa superstar.

The Fever were thrashed by the Connecticut Sun in Tuesday night's season opener, falling 92-71. To make matters worse, there were some saying that Clark herself gave some credence to Diana Taurasi's comments about a wake-up call getting to the WNBA as the newcomer scored a team-high 20 points but also turned the ball over 10 times while shooting only 5-of-15 from the floor, though she was a decent enough 4-of-11 from 3-point range.

Thursday night was an opportunity to change that narrative quickly, however, as Clark returned to the hardwood for the Fever's home opener at Gainbridge Fieldhouse against the loaded New York Liberty. But unfortunately, you could argue the results were even worse.

Caitlin Clark showing major growing pains to start WNBA career

We could just start with the score as the Fever were run off of the floor in a 102-66 loss to the Liberty, who were led by a dominant 31-point effort from Breanna Stewart. But Clark's individual struggles continued.

Clark finished her second-ever WNBA contest with only nine points while adding seven rebounds and six assists but shooting only 2-of-8 from the floor and 1-of-7 from 3-point range. She also tied for the team-high in turnovers again, though she did improve in that capacity, limiting it to only three for the night.

But let's be real: There should be no meaningful conclusions drawn from two professional regular season games. As there is with any athlete making a jump from a lower-level of competition, there is an adjustment period that requires grace from fans to weather. This isn't the same as even playing against a UConn or South Carolina in the NCAA ranks. Every player on the floor in the WNBA was a college star to varying degrees and many now have seasoning as pros. Clark, obviously, does not.

If this were to be something that continued well into the season and we're sitting at around the All-Star break talking about a high turnover number and inefficient shooting, then we can start to ask some tough questions about Clark. But for a player who was truly the greatest college basketball player and scorer we've ever seen -- men or women -- it'd probably be a safer bet to say she'll figure it out as the year moves on with the Fever.