Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark reflects on rookie season, sees bright future
Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark reflects on her rookie season.
INDIANAPOLIS — No offense to the media from around the world who have been hounding her with questions. And no offense to the basketball analysts who have been scrutinizing her every play. And no hard feelings to the fans who have stopped her at the sandwich shop for a quick selfie or for an autograph on a napkin.
But Caitlin Clark is ready for a break from the blaring spotlight she’s been in since she became the No. 1 draft pick in the WNBA, selling out arenas and tearing through every rookie record there was to break in her first season with the Indiana Fever.
“It’s like everybody’s always watching your every move, no matter what you’re doing,” Clark said Sept. 27 as the team talked to the media for its season-ending interviews. “The best thing that I’ve tried to live by is to just be the same person, whether I’m leaving my apartment every single day or whether I’m here sitting in front of all of you. I’ve tried to approach it in the same exact manner that I can and treat everybody with the same amount of respect.”
The morning after the Fever lost in the first round of the playoffs to the Connecticut Sun, Clark said she woke up to a surreal feeling.
“I was like, ‘I don’t know what I’m going to really do,'” she said, pausing for a moment, then smiling. “It’s going to be nice though, I think, getting out of the spotlight and just getting to live my life and do things that I want to do. It will definitely be a little bit of an adjustment period.”
Throughout her rookie season, which brought with it controversy and a hyper focus on Clark and the WNBA’s inner workings, there were tough days. And there were amazing days, Clark said. “That’s just life.”
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Clark gave her parents credit for helping her navigate her new role. As she became an outright phenom of pro women’s basketball, she always remembered her beginnings.
“I was raised (that) you want to treat every single person with respect. And I feel like I have a very good feel on, you know, basketball isn’t my everything and that’s the way I was raised,” she said. “Basketball was something I absolutely loved to do, but there were a lot of other things I had to have done in my life.”
School work was always No. 1, and she had plenty of chores, like emptying the dishwasher and taking out the trash.
“There were just things that my parents really invested in making sure that I was a good person before basketball or sports,” she said. “And I’ve just tried to live in that same exact manner.”
That has often meant giving a little bit of herself to just about anyone who approaches her.
“What I’ve tried to show everybody, as well, is I try to be the best human I can every day. I try to give people time if I have it,” she said. “And it can be hard because there are moments where you don’t always want to pose for a picture. You just want to go and get your sandwich and eat your lunch. But I feel very thankful.”
Fever senior advisor Lin Dunn said it’s important to remember the WNBA isn’t Clark’s first rodeo in the limelight.
“I think the experiences that she had in Iowa (were) very similar to this throughout her career, throughout the Big Ten season, sold out arenas, media, trolls, the whole works,” Dunn said. “She already dealt with a lot of the things that she is dealing with now.”
Fever teammate Aliyah Boston saw what Clark went through firsthand.
“Everyone had a comment about how she should be playing or what she’s doing, her stats. … I mean, she has a lot of attention on her, so there’s always going to come scrutiny with that,” Boston said. “But I also think that she does a great job of just letting it go off her shoulder, in through one ear, out through the next, because she knows. We trust her, she trusts us, and that’s the most important thing at the end of the day.”
From the day Clark stepped onto the court at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, Fever coach Christie Sides saw not only her basketball prowess but her maturity in handling the whirlwind swirling around her off the court.
“She’s human and she has endured a lot this season and has handled it in the most professional way,” said Sides. “She’s grown not just a basketball player but as a young professional.”
There were times, Sides would check in with Clark to make sure she was OK, especially when she got quiet.
“She’s not really quiet a lot of the times but when she does get that way, you can think, ‘Maybe I need to just look in on her for a bit,'” Sides said. “Because she is our point guard and going to lead our team. But she never tips her hat. She stays the course and stays consistent. And (I have) a lot of respect for her and how she does that and what she’s done all season dealing with that.”
While being in the spotlight has been intense, Clark said, “I feel very thankful for the relationships I’ve built, the opportunities that I’ve had. Whether it was at Iowa or whether it’s now at the WNBA, people have really supported me.
“I wouldn’t change anything for the world.”
Follow IndyStar sports reporter Dana Benbow on X: @DanaBenbow. Reach her via email: dbenbow@indystar.com.
