Caitlin Clark returns to basketball court, fills WNBA arena for preseason debut
Caitlin Clark returns to basketball court, fills WNBA arena for preseason debut
Less than a month removed from the NCAA national title game, Caitlin Clark put on a uniform again and made her WNBA debut with the Fever on Friday. She made her first shot and finished with 21 points.
No matter where she goes this season, fans will follow.
For the past four years, Caitlin Clark remained at home in Iowa. Two hours east of her hometown of Des Moines, Iowa, Clark captivated the country — everyone from longtime basketball fans to young girls — with the way she played the sport at the University of Iowa. She helped the Hawkeyes to back-to-back national championship games.
So before she put on her Indiana Fever jersey for the first time at her visitor’s locker in Arlington, Texas, home of the Dallas Wings, she carried a little part of Iowa with her. Clark wore a necklace with the outline of the state of Iowa as she arrived for her preseason debut, the first of two tune-up games for the Fever.
Clark hasn’t forgotten where she came from, the thousands of hours spent in the gym and sacrifices made to get to this point. And now, she cannot even live a normal life outside the gym. She has team security by her side for any public moment.
Like when she and the team arrived at a Dallas airport and smartphones were recording her walking through baggage claim. (She was on chartered flights for road games with Iowa the past four years.)
“Shout-out to Steve!” Clark said earlier this week with a big grin, referencing her head of security.
Clark’s parents weren’t at the game, nor was her boyfriend. But she wouldn’t have to do this alone; she had new teammates and a coaching staff, along with millions of fans watching the unofficial start of the Caitlin Clark Era with the Indiana Fever.
So much so that the WNBA streamed the game and made it available for free, along with having the NBA tweeting a link and all of Clark’s highlights despite the NBA playoffs going on at the same time.
That says all you need to know about Clark’s fans and the thirst to see her play.
Clark started, made her first shot (a 3-pointer from 28 feet, of course), scored 11 of their first 19 points and finished with a game-high 21 points in 28 minutes.
“We ran a good basketball out-of-bounds play and they got a little confused on it,” Clark said postgame. “I was able to get a pretty clean look for my first shot, so that’s always nice to see your first shot go in as a shooter.
“When you’re running up and down and you’re in the game, you don’t hear the roar of the crowd. But the crowd was great all night and that’s what you would expect as a sellout. Those are going to be the crowds all year long so whether they’re cheering for you or against you, you better get used to it.”
It was a successful debut in front of a sellout crowd of 6,251 at College Park Center. The Wings only have one preseason game — they didn’t previously charge for preseason home games — and this crowd will be their best, at least until the Fever return on July 17 and again on Sept. 1.