Sabrina Ionescu shrugging at Caitlin Clark after faking her out on a deep 3-pointer was so cold

The start of Caitlin Clark’s pro career has pretty much been what you’d expect for a highly-touted rookie trying to help turnaround a young and struggling Indiana Fever franchise.

There’s been some highlights, some lowlights and some unsurprising growing pains. But if anyone expected the WNBA’s best to give Clark time to acclimate before going after her on the court, that was a huge mistake.

Given all the hype around Clark this year, it’s not a shock that more established players would want to put her skills to the test right away, and on Saturday at Barclays Center, Liberty star Sabrina Ionescu gave Clark a moment to remember in her first game in New York City.

Ionescu completely fooled Clark in the first half before knocking down a deep 3-pointer, then hit the rookie with a shrug as she got back on defense.

Sabrina Ionescu faked out Caitlin Clark for the three pic.twitter.com/VQ6HlklIlz

— ESPN (@espn) May 18, 2024

It was as cold a move as you’d expect from someone who used to train with Kobe Bryant, but all this early attention will likely just force Clark to adapt even quicker.

The former Iowa star was already looking a bit more comfortable and hitting some deep threes of her own on Saturday.

FROM DEEP

Caitlin Clark leads all scorers with 18 PTS on ABC! pic.twitter.com/dBKSncd9TG

— WNBA (@WNBA) May 18, 2024

Still, Round 1 goes to Ionescu.