UNCASVILLE — A young couple was walking into Mohegan Sun, both with Indiana Fever shirts, No. 22.
“You folks from Indiana? I asked them, as we got into an elevator.
“No, Massachusetts,” they responded.
“She has fans everywhere, huh?” I asked.
“Everywhere,” they said, as they got in back of the long line that had already formed to get through security, two hours before the Fever and CT Sun started their first-round playoff game on Sunday.
Where Caitlin Clark goes, fans follow in droves. Scrutiny follows, controversy, usually not of her own making, is never far from the front of the line. It’s a life she apparently chose, life in a fishbowl ever illuminated by Klieg lights, micro- and telescopes trained 24/7. Just as apparently, she has learned to handle all that goes with it, including the occasional failures. When the season began, Clark resolved to “give herself some grace,” and it proved to be grace under fire she would need. She’s had plenty.
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“A lot of people in life want instant satisfaction,” Clark said, in the midst of yet another press conference. “And as a competitor, you want that, too. … It’s a good lesson, not only for basketball, but for life: you’re not going to get everything you want right away. You’ve got to work for it, go through some hard moments, and there are going to be hard moments even within this game. Every little thing is a battle, and that’s what I’m most proud of, for myself individually but for this team, is our approach every single day.”
This was more prescient than Clark would have wanted. This she said before the CT Sun, devising a fresh defensive plan featuring DeWanna Bonner, harried Clark for 40 minutes. She went 4-for-17 for 11 points, missed 11 of 13 on 3-point attempts, had eight assists as the Fever dropped Game 1 of the best-of-three WNBA quarterfinal series 93-69. So the playoffs began like the regular season for Caitlin Clark, in Connecticut and without instant satisfaction for her, nor her legions of fans.
There were hard moments. In the first half she took an accidental poke in the eye from Connecticut’s Dijonai Carrington and may have been thrown off for a bit. In third quarter, Clark went to the bench and slammed a chair, then gathered herself an made a couple. During the game, the Sun reprised its “bandwagon cam,” teasing the many Fever fans in the arena.
There was plenty to unpack, but when a game in which Caitlin Clark is involved is unpacked, she is going to be the first topic to pop up. That may be annoying to some who feel overlooked, and it may be exhausting for her, but it figures to be that way for years to come.
“I felt like I got good shots, they just didn’t go down,” Clark said afterward. “Obviously a tough time for that to happen. I had two, three pretty wide open threes in the first half that you usually make. That’s tough. My shot felt right there, that’s when it’s so frustrating as a shooter, when it feels so good but it won’t go down for you. That’s what sucks about it.
“We can win,” Clark concluded. “It’s not anything about the building, not about the gym, not about the hoops. I have all the confidence in the world in this team, everybody in the locker room does, and I know we’ll be a lot better on Wednesday.
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What Clark has shown in 2024, a calendar year on which she will likely look back decades from now as critical in her life, is that she is a survivor. In her last two games at Iowa in April, she eliminated UConn and then came up short against the national championship game against South Carolina. She was picked first in the WNBA Draft and made the whirlwind media tour, shrugged off some cringey press conference buffoonery when she got to Indianapolis.
When she got to Mohegan Sun to begin her pro career, she noted it would take time to adjust to the pro game. Clark was knocked down, literally and figuratively, and she got back up to post an historic rookie season, 19.8 points, 8.4 assists, 5.7 rebounds. The Fever were bad enough to get the No.1 pick to begin with, for the second year in a row. With Clark, they began this season 1-8.
Here’s the timeline of her games against The Sun. On May 14, she had 20 points, but shot 5-for-15 and had 10 turnovers. On May 20, she had 17 points, more efficient at 5-for-11, with five assists and five TOs. On June 10, she had 10 points, two assists in a third consecutive loss. At that point, the Fever were 3-10. Then the grace period was over. In the final regular season matchup, Clark had 17 points, five assists and five rebounds as the Fever won.
From 1-8 and 3-10, the Fever finished 20-20, clinching the No.6 playoff seed to draw The Sun in the first round.
Clark didn’t just put up gaudy stats, she helped turn her team around. Along the way, there were more awkward presser moments and, of course, the decision not to include her on the U.S. Olympic Team. She somehow gets mixed up with election year politics, quite beyond her control. It was quite a year, and the main takeaway is that Clark has brought new fans to The W, filled arenas and generated TV ratings that justify more coverage, something the league has been desiring for 20 years.
Maybe Caitlin Clark has lost more than she has in the past, but she won far more than she has lost in 2024. Through the flagrant fouls and whatever else has thrown her way, she is still standing, a win in and of itself. If the more experienced, deeper and well-coached CT Sun go on to eliminate her Wednesday night, this chapter will be closed and she may wonder “what just happened?” or “how did I get through all that?” And she’ll be back to write another.
So she won’t win ’em all, and won’t win everyone over, but when you back get to the casino Wednesday it’ll be worth asking: What are the odds Caitlin Clark will have two bad games in a row?
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