Caitlin Clark Ready for Year 2
After a whirlwind rookie year, Caitlin Clark returns to the Indiana Fever stronger, more confident, and surrounded by the most talent she’s ever played with.
One year ago, Caitlin Clark began her WNBA career in Uncasville, Connecticut — making her professional debut against the Sun. The game was nationally televised, and the Fever went on to average more than one million viewers per game.
She is The Needle, which afforded her a rare luxury: the option to not play overseas (or anywhere) in the offseason. For the first time since middle school, Clark had true downtime.
She didn’t treat it that way.
Instead, she worked away from the spotlight — frequent workouts at Gainbridge Fieldhouse and Hinkle, a specific strength program, and extensive film study of her rookie season.
Now, three weeks into training camp, Clark and the Indiana Fever are set to tip off a new season Saturday when the Chicago Sky visit Indianapolis. As expected, it’ll air nationally on ABC.
“I've just been waiting to play basketball for a really long time now,” she said after practice on Friday. “You go through the preseason games, you go through a lot of training camp and it's been a few weeks now. I think you're just itching to get out there and really play like a real game that's going to count towards your record.
“I feel like I have a better understanding of how everything works, better understanding of what to expect when you get in the game, when you get in these environments. I've played in this arena for a year now so just relying on the experience of playing here for a year, but also like this is going to be this team's first time playing together, too, so there's going to be a learning curve there and a challenge that's presented. And not everything's going to be perfect. Just got to play through it, play through the mistakes. That's what Coach Steph talks about all the time. So just learn and go out there and compete and get the win.”
As for that debut, Clark says she doesn’t remember much — it was a whirlwind. A new team. Massive expectations. Thousands of fans cheering for her on the road. Plus, the physicality and challenge of adjusting to her new teammates on the fly.
Now, the Fever are better positioned to start strong — and they aren’t opening the season with 11 games in the first 20 days, like last year.