"I'm not saying this is a good thing to brag about, but that's just how I play" - Caitlin Clark explains why she's not worried about high turnover rate

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"I'm not saying this is a good thing to brag about, but that's just how I play" - Caitlin Clark explains why she's not worried about high turnover rate originally appeared on Basketball Network.
One of the main criticisms of Caitlin Clark's game is her tendency to commit turnovers. As a point guard, she has the ball in her hands a lot of the time. And while it cannot be denied that she is a prolific passer, she is also error-prone and coughs up the ball more times than many elite point guards do.
Right off the bat, Clark tied a league record with 10 losses of possession during her WNBA debut, and she finished her rookie season as the league leader in turnovers.
During her recent appearance on Sue Bird's podcast, the Indiana Fever All-Star guard talked about the most criticized part of her game.
"I've had those games before, and I'm going to have another eight-turnover game in my career. Like that's just how I played, and people always try to make a big deal about that. If you look up my turnovers in college, I bet I led the NCAA all-time in turnovers in my career. I'm not saying this is a good thing to brag about, but that's just how I play,"Clark said.
Caitlin has always been turnover-prone
While Clark's college career is best remembered for her passing Pistol Pete Maravich as the NCAA's all-time leading scorer, she also finished her career as Iowa's all-time turnovers leader with 639 giveaways.
Although that number did not put her atop the all-time turnovers list, CC ranks third overall in the most career turnovers in the NCAA since 2002-03, behind only Jamierra Faulkner (681) and Dequesha McClanahan (654).
Then, in her first year in the pros, Caitlin set the WNBA record for most turnovers in a season with 223, shattering the previous record by a whopping 78, while leading the league with an average of 5.6 lost possessions per game.
However, since she also led the league in assists last season, Clark ranked 68th out of 150 qualified players in assist-to-turnover ratio — not bad at all, especially for someone who also topped the league in turnovers. In the limited time she's appeared this season, she's moved up to 53 in this statistical category, and her number has improved from 1.51 to 1.74.A lot of room for improvement
Clark admitted to Bird that there is a lot of room for improvement, and she understands that. However, becoming a better player this season is very difficult because she has been in and out of the lineup due to injuries, and when she is healthy, she is on a minutes restriction.
Clark acknowledged to Bird that she has plenty of room to improve and is well aware of it. The challenge, however, is that making strides this season has been tough. She's been in and out of the lineup with injuries, and even when healthy, Caitlin was on a minutes restriction.
"I feel like I've managed games much better than maybe I did during my rookie year. And that's something that isn't probably always talked about, but like I can find confidence in that. But I think the risk assessment thing, maybe it's a toxic part of me, but I always think it's going to go well, and I throw it and it doesn't go well…" added the prolific guard.
In her four July games played, Clark averaged 8.75 assists per game and only 3.25 turnovers per contest. In that span, the Fever posted a 3-1 record, but her injury sidelined her once again. Still, that brief run was enough to show she's capable of more.This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Aug 10, 2025, where it first appeared.