Clark still happy to head into break and not Olympics
Rookie star looking forward to time off after playing nonstop for almost a year.
ARLINGTON, Texas — As much as she wanted to play in the Olympics, Caitlin Clark savors the thought of some time off during the WNBA’s monthlong hiatus during the Paris Games.
Never mind that Indiana’s rookie sensation didn’t look as if she needed any while setting a WNBA record with 19 assists in the Fever’s final game before the break.
“I feel like I’ve been nonstop go since, like, probably September of last year,” Clark said before her milestone moment Wednesday night in a 101-93 loss to the Dallas Wings.
And that’s because she has. Two weeks after her second consecutive trip to the NCAA national championship game with Iowa, Clark was the No. 1 pick in the WNBA draft. About another three weeks later, her preseason debut came in a sold-out arena on the University of Texas at Arlington campus, the same place she set the assists record in front of another sold-out crowd.
Soon, Clark will take about a week off.
“It’ll be really good for myself and my body,” Clark said. “You’re getting close to a full year of just playing basketball nonstop.”
Clark’s break isn’t quite here because she will play for the WNBA All-Stars against the U.S. Olympic team in Phoenix on Saturday night.
She declined an invitation to participate in the Three-Point Contest, and most of the other stars won’t take part in the other AllStar events either. The Skills Challenge will feature Brittney Griner and Sophie Cunningham of Phoenix, Atlanta’s
Allisha Gray, Connecticut’s Marina Mabrey and Indiana’s Erica Wheeler. The Three-Point Contest features New York’s Jonquel Jones, Gray, Mabrey, Washington’s Stefanie Dolson and Minnesota’s Kayla McBride.
Clark scored 24 points Wednesday despite going two for nine from deep. She leads all rookies at 17.1 points per game and leads everybody at 8.2 assists. Over the last nine games, Clark is averaging 11.9 assists.
Since Iowa’s opener last Nov. 6, Clark has played 65 games that counted and two that didn’t — Indiana’s brief exhibition season.
Along the way, Clark was an involuntary participant in discussions of race amid the meteoric rise of a young, white star, and hard fouls on her brought more attention than usual.
The off-the-court drama coincided with the Fever’s rough start against a difficult schedule. They rebounded from 1-8 by going 10-7 the rest of the way before the break and are in the playoff picture.
If Indiana advances to the postseason, that’ll be more than a year since Clark started ramping up for her final season with Iowa.
“Honestly, I feel pretty good,” Clark said. “I think the beginning of the season was probably the most difficult for me. Just the adjustment of, first of all, playing in this league. And then second of all, the schedule that we had, playing a game, having a day off, playing a game. I think once we really kind of got into a flow and got a few wins under our belt and had a little more practice time, things have settled down and flowed a little better. I feel like my feet are definitely getting under me more and starting to build more and more confidence.”