Her name is Natasha Cloud. But through three games, the newest member of the New York Liberty has been the sun. (And fortunately for her, not a Connecticut Sun.)
She is the bright, shining source of energy for the defending champions, injecting them with an urgency and intensity that staves off the shadows of staleness that typically cloud a post-title season.
On Saturday afternoon, as the Liberty escaped Indiana with a two-point win over the Fever, Cloud was, more specifically, the “Angry Sun” from World 2 of Super Mario Brothers 3 for original Nintendo. (Enjoy that washed millennial reference!) Once activated, the sun constantly looms, pestering Mario, the game’s protagonist, as he attempts to speed run through the desert. In Gainbridge Fieldhouse, Caitlin Clark, imagined by many to be the WNBA’s singular protagonist, played the part of Mario, unable to evade ever-present persistence of Cloud.
Cloud, who finished with five of the Liberty’s seven steals, was credited with four steals against Clark, deflecting passes, disrupting her dribble and, on the game’s final play, failing to be fooled by Clark’s foul baiting. Cloud immediately crowded Clark as the sophomore star caught the ball at the top of the key with less than three seconds remaining, keeping…
