INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark slapped the court with both hands and started gesturing in her side’s direction after forcing a 5-second call near the end of Tuesday’s practice.
It was only Day 2 of training camp, yet this is what Clark has yearned for these past seven months — going back to work with a new coach, a revamped roster and even higher expectations in her second WNBA season.
After leading the Fever to their first playoff berth in eight years, winning the league’s Rookie of the Year Award, being named Associated Press 2024 Female Athlete of the Year and Time magazine’s 2024 Athlete of the Year, Clark returned to Indianapolis a stronger, wiser player, more determined to win the championship that eluded her in college.
“It was an adjustment sure, because I was so used to playing minutes for, well, basically a year of my life. That’s all I did,” Clark said. “So the rest was good. I thought it was going to feel long and it really didn’t. We were in here all the time. But that rest aspect, just getting my body where it needed to be and really on things I needed to work on was super important. But I’m ready to compete again.”
It was a well-deserved vacation for perhaps the busiest player in women’s basketball.
She capped her final college season by playing a 39-game schedule while leading Iowa to a second straight national championship game. One week after losing to South Carolina, the Fever drafted her No. 1 overall and 13 days after that, training camp opened.
Following a brief preseason, Clark made her regular-season debut May 10. That started a grueling 42-game grind during which the Fever overcame a 1-8 start to finish 20-20. Then they were swept out of the playoffs.
The only real stoppage for Clark during that 81-game, 10 1/2-month span was the monthlong Olympic break.
Clark’s impact
Clark turned sellouts at college and WNBA games into the norm as she found her every move scrutinized on social media. Fans complained she was being treated poorly by the league’s older players and some even argued the physical play was racially motivated. Her friendships and relationships became all the rage, and nothing seemed to be off limits.
But Clark never complained, never bowed to the pressure and used this seven-month break to focus on being herself. She completed one bucket list item — attending the final round of The Masters earlier this month — and had her college jersey retired. She attended a Taylor Swift concert, an NFL game with Swift and, of course, Pacers games.
Now, though, she sounds refreshed as she sings the praises of a veteran team full of title dreams and championship resumes from coach Stephanie White to teammates Natasha Howard and 37-year-old DeWanna Bonner.
And the early returns seem to show the personalities are a perfect match.
“Everything is just absolutely good,” All-Star guard Kelsey Mitchell said. “It feels fresh. It feels kind of like when you take your clothes out of the dryer. It just feels different and it feels good because we have new leadership.”
New look
It’s not just the overhauled roster, either.
Mitchell, one of the few holdovers left from last season, also sees a different version of Clark, one showcased in a photo posted on social media last month.
“From a physical standpoint, her strength and her ability to make plays that people don’t think about — that skip pass from here to here,” Mitchell said. “A person of her caliber, it seems small but it’s going to help her go from having 10 assists to 12. And then after that the professional learning, watching film, knowing what you need.”
Just the thought of an improved Clark this season could make opponents jittery.
Clark led the Fever in minutes (35.4 per game) and steals (1.3), shared team scoring honors with Mitchell (19.2 points), and broke the WNBA’s single season mark for assists with 337.
Not bad for a rookie trying to fit in and find her way.
But the intensity and passion Clark plays with, even in practice, seem to have her more comfortable playing the leading role from the start of this season, too.
“She doesn’t waste reps and she literally embodies the value that how you do anything is how you do everything — whether it’s a ball-handling drill or a shooting drill or setting screens,” White said. “She approaches it with such a discipline that she doesn’t waste time, and I appreciate that.”
Big goals
Clark, meanwhile, is just focused on winning games.
The Fever will play at her alma mater and Notre Dame in the preseason, with the real tests set to begin with Indiana’s season opener May 17 at Chicago and her old rival, Angel Reese. And you can bet, Clark will be just as eager to celebrate then as she was in practice.
“Don’t get me wrong, I love basketball, like that’s one of the most fun things in the world,” she said. “We had a great year and eventually getting away from that, I came to a point where I was itching to get back in here after like a month. So I’m happy to be back.”
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