Caitlin Clark’s ‘welcome to the pros’ moment was not the infamous body check she received from Chicago’s Chennedy Carter.
Rather, the moment that sticks out in the mind of the Indiana Fever came against the New York Liberty back in May.
‘We were in New York and Jonquel Jones set a good screen on me and actually popped my eardrum, ruptured my eardrum, just on a screen,’ the WNBA Rookie of the Year revealed in Sunday’s interview with 60 Minutes. ‘It was a really good screen by JJ. She’s a tremendous player. But I think that just kind of speaks to the physicality of the league. She kind of got me in the right spot.’
Asked why that moment and not, say, her July 6 triple-double, Clark seemed to take pride in surviving the contact.
‘It’s a good story,’ Clark said. ‘I think it’s something I’ll always remember.’
Christie Sides and Caitlin Clark talk in Brooklyn after the rookie suffered a ruptured eardrum
Clark took a number of hard fouls this season, which some fans have blamed on jealous rivals allegedly targeting the first-overall draft pick.
However, Clark has refused to point the finger at anyone.
When asked about getting poked in the eye by Connecticut’s DiJonai Carrington during a recent playoff defeat, Clark told reporters she did not believe it was intentional.
And even when she was toppled by Carter’s aforementioned hip check, Carter told media that the Chicago Sky star didn’t owe her an apology.
But while Clark has been understanding about being fouled – she is, after all, a star player who dominates the ball – others have accused league players of targeting her.
‘Is she facing the rookie challenge, the rookie hardships that are inherent with being a rookie? Yes,’ UConn coach Geno Auriemma told reporters in June. ‘She’s also being targeted.’
‘I don’t remember when [Michael] Jordan came into the [NBA], guys looking to go out and beat him up,’ Auriemma continued. ‘I don’t remember when [Larry] Bird and Magic [Johnson] came in the league and elevated the NBA, them getting targeted and getting beat up just because of who they were and the attention they were getting.’
Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (22) possesses the ball in her first playoff series
The harassment allegations come days after Carter’s shoulder shot at Clark in Chicago’s loss to Indiana
One rival interviewed for the 60 Minutes piece expressed her joy at Clark’s arrival, which has ignited the league’s popularity.
Asked what the biggest change is this season, the Minnesota Lynx’s Napheesa Collier told 60 Minutes: ‘People, which is what we want. It makes the game so, so fun.’
WNBA games have averaged 9,807 fans in 2024, a hefty increase from last season’s 6,615 per night.
The WNBA said 2,353,735 fans attended WNBA games, the most in 22 years. Teams combined for 154 sellouts this season after having just 45 in 2023.
Three games drew more than 20,000 fans, including a record 20,711 when the Clark-led Fever visited the Washington Mystics on September 19. The other two also involved the Fever — 20,366 against the Las Vegas Aces on July 2 and 20,333 versus the Mystics on June 7.
Clark’s impact was a big reason for the increased interest in the league. The Fever set a single-season home attendance record of 340,715 fans.
