Molly Qerim believes Bueckers would have taken Clark’s spotlight.

With the NCAA women’s Tournament reaching the Final Four stage, all eyes are on Caitlin Clark. In her final season, she’s on a mission to win a championship before heading to the WNBA.

Stephen A. Smith and Molly Qerim question Caitlin Clark’s abilitiesTwitter

Standing in her way is UConn, with star guard Paige Bueckers ready to steal Clark’s spotlight. Bueckers has been incredible in the tournament, and her stellar performances have led to a shocking hot take from ESPN’s Molly Qerim.

Could Paige Bueckers have been bigger than Caitlin Clark?

While discussing the game with Stephen A. Smith on First Take, Qerim went so far as to say that Clark is “lucky this UConn team isn’t healthy”. Then she dropped a bold claim.

If Paige Bueckers didn’t basically miss two seasons, I don’t know if we’d be talking about Caitlin Clark the way we are right now, and that’s fact.

Smith actually seemed to agree with her, claiming he “said that the other day”.

Bueckers missed time during her sophomore year with a knee injury, but came back in time to play a key role in UConn reaching the National Championship. She missed the whole following season because of a torn ACL.

It’s true that the injuries slowed her down, but Clark is her own entity. Bueckers is an efficient three-point shooter and passer, but Clark has essentially been a one-woman offensive army for Iowa for the past four seasons.