Caitlin Clark says the Olympic break in the WNBA schedule was ‘necessary’ after a quick transition from college
From being a senior in college and star of The Iowa women’s basketball team who went to the national championship, only to be drafted right after and jump into the WNBA season, a lot has happened in her life Caitlin Clark in the past year.
The Indiana Fever star was left off the Olympic women’s basketball roster last summer, a decision that sparked much debate, but Clark said the break during the WNBA season was necessary because of the 2024 Paris Games.
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Caitlin Clark (AP Photo/Adam Hunger/File)
“We had an Olympic break, so I got a month off in the middle of the season because we had to pause the WNBA season because, you know, 12 girls go and play in the Olympics. And everybody else, you’re not doing much, so [I] I got about a month off, which I really needed, obviously, because I’ve only played basketball for a year straight,” Clark said during a recent appearance on “New heights.“
Fever they started 1-8 but rebounded to finish 20-20 for the playoffs. A big reason for the Fever’s late-season push was the improved play of Clark after the break.
Before the Olympic break, she averaged 17.1 points per game. After the break, she looked rejuvenated, averaging 23.1 points per game the rest of the way.
Jason Kelce asked how Clark would define his whirlwind year in just two words.
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Indiana Fever’s Caitlin Clark poses for a photo with Lin Dunn and Christie Sides during their introductory press conference on April 17, 2024 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. (Ron Hoskins/NBAE via Getty Images)
“I would say, like, I don’t know, maybe life-changing? All in a good way, like, I mean, things change really fast, as you know. It’s just the way the world works, and especially with social media, people see a lot of your life, but that’s what makes it fun and why I’ve had so many great opportunities, so it’s crazy, like looking back a year today or around this time, like, I was just starting my senior year in college,” he said is Clark.
“And obviously, you know, people knew who we were, and people came to our games, but it’s obviously not on the same level as it is now. So, like, life just changes quickly, but that’s what makes it fun and cool and, you know, I quickly started a new chapter in my life, like moving to Indianapolis, and I feel lucky to still be in the Midwest [Jason and Travis Kelce] like the midwest.”
Clark said she’s looking forward to getting more routine in her second season with the Fever after a quick transition from college basketball in the WNBA.
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Lisa Bluder and Caitlin Clark talk during practice for the NCAA women’s college basketball championship game between Iowa and South Carolina on April 6, 2024. (Zach Boyden-Holmes/USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)
“Yeah, sure, I mean it’s so different from any other professional sport, really, from the point of view, so I played in a national championship, and I actually went to the draft right after that, got drafted, and then you basically pack in like, you’re moving in April and you haven’t even finished your senior year of college,” Clark said.
“And I guess for you guys, whatever, you’re going to [NFL] harvester, how long do you need to prepare for the harvester, two months? And then they recruit you, and you still have some time to get used to the new city, you have a camp, whatever. It’s not like that, it’s like the camp is a week and a half for us.”
But Clark also said there is a benefit to having things move so quickly.
“And I think it was kind of good, like you don’t have time to think too much about things, like it’s like, boom, boom, boom, boom, like you’re on to the next one. But at the same time, you, like, I feel like I never finished the college chapter, it was like you up and go, but maybe you don’t have a lot of time to think about it I think that’s definitely the weirdest part of, you know, women’s professional basketball, and obviously college basketball, just that change,” Clark said.
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Indiana Fever’s Caitlin Clark speaks to the media during an introductory press conference on April 17, 2024 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. (Ron Hoskins/NBAE via Getty Images)
Despite the rapid transition to WNBAClark excelled though.
She won WNBA Rookie of the Year, was named an All-Star and led the WNBA in assists, while also setting the record for most assists in a season with 337.
Clark set the rookie record for most points scored in a season with 769, and she drained 122 3-pointers in her season, the second most points in a single season in WNBA history.
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