Theres a piece of paper Caitlin Clarks mother saved from when her daughter was in elementary school titled Future Dreams. Within each of the bubbles, Clark wrote down her goals. The page, accented by pops of colored pencil, looks typical of the artwork that kids bring home to
their parents. However, in Clarks case, outlined on that paper was an unencumbered vision into the current position she finds herself inone that is anything but ordinary. The very first cloud in the upper left-hand corner reads:
1. Be in the WNBA.
I was always somebody that was driven by goals and that has always remained the same throughout my life, the Des Moines native told ESPN in March of 2024. Just two months after that interview, a record-breaking 2.4 million broadcast viewers tuned in to watch as Clark was selected No. 1 overall in the WNBA draft by the Indiana Fever. Dressed in head-to-toe Prada, Clark sat at a table alongside her two brothers, Blake and Colin, and their parents, Brent and Anne, inside the Brooklyn Academy of Music. Right before Clark heard her name called on stage by Commissioner Cathy Engelbert, the 6-0 guard looked down. The moment shed envisioned for herself as a kid had arrived, except now the whole world was in on it.
Clark, the reigning WNBA Rookie of the Year, didnt just make it to the League. Shes lifted the game to completely new heights. In her first season, the now 23-year-old became the first rookie in League history to record a triple-double. She also set a new record for assists in a game (19), set a rookie record for threes made (122) and received the most All-Star votes in WNBA history (over 700,000). In 2024, Fever games in Washington, Atlanta and Vegas were moved to NBA and NHL venues to accommodate the unprecedented demand to see Clark in action. Ahead of this season, six teams have already announced venue upgrades, including the Dallas Wings, Chicago Sky and Connecticut Sun, that will allow for audience sizes two to three times larger than normal.
I think what people love the most is the emotion I play with. I think its easy to connect with. I think they can feel that Im real on the court, Clark said, when asked to describe the effect shes had on the game at an event celebrating her selection as TIMEs 2024 Athlete of the Year, an award that only one other basketball playerLeBron Jameshas ever received. Anyone who has watched Clark on the court can attest to the thrill of seeing her effortlessly launch her signature long-range logo threes. From distances where players typically heave desperate attempts to beat the buzzer, Clark regularly pulls up to shoot with intention and ease. In the milliseconds after her wrist flicks, Clark becomes one with the crowd, watching as the ball spins through the air toward its inevitable destination and erupting alongside them if the moment so calls.
In early May, Clark and the Fever traveled to Iowa to play a sold-out preseason game at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, where her transcendent rise began during her final two collegiate seasons. It was Clarks first time back since her jersey was retired in February. Permanently marked on the court by a sticker that reads 22 Clark is the spot where she infamously broke Kelsey Plums all-time NCAAW scoring record with a shot several feet behind the three-point line. I told my teammates, Its going to be louder than any arena youve played in. Thats just the type of energy [these fans] bring every single night, she told Holly Rowe, as they revisited some of the sites of her most memorable buckets before the game.
Perhaps one of the reasons the connection Clark has with her fans is so strong is because she remembers so clearly being in their shoes. When I step off the court, I try to be very authentic and genuine and make as much time for people as I can. I never want to big time anybody because I was just that young girl screaming for an autograph, Clark said. As the all-time NCAA scoring leader knows firsthand, and any fan can attest to, the smallest interactions have the ability to create long-lasting ripple effects.
On the prophetic page her mom saved from her childhood, another dream Clark wrote down was to meet Maya Moore, which came true the night she attended her first WNBA game as a kid. Clarks father drove her from their home in Des Moines to Minnesota and purchased tickets last minute. The box office rep asked if they would like to watch the players warm up before the game. Clark said she remembers sitting courtside and taking a picture with some of the players. After the game, she stayed to watch a post-game question-and-answer segment that featured her idol Maya Moore. Because she didnt have a sharpie or a phone, Clark simply ran up to Moore and gave her a hug. Theres no documentation of that moment, but in my brain, it was probably one of the most pivotal moments of my entire basketball career, she said in a pregame presser last season, on the night Moores jersey was retired by the Lynx. As a young girl loving sports, that meant the world to me.
During Clarks senior season at Iowa, Moore surprised the rising star on College GameDay. When the four-time WNBA champion and two-time Olympic Gold medalist emerged into view, Clarks calm and confident demeanor immediately dropped as she let out a squeal and covered her mouth with both her hands.
I feel like Im fangirling so hard, she said with a smile after embracing her idol. I still feel like when I was this tall and freaking out and I ran across the court and gave you a hug. When asked how it felt that the best player in the womens game was inspired by her, Moore said it was a full circle moment because she too remembers being a 10-year-old girl running up to Cynthia Cooper, one of the legends of the game.
According to Clark, her biggest skill is the ability to block out the noise, an imperative one for any athlete to perform at the highest level, let alone one who gets as much attention as she does. However, as much as shed like it to, the conversation around Clark and her place in the game hasnt always remained focused on basketball. As a white cis-heteronormative woman in a league of predominantly Black women, Clark has found her name in the center of hot button debates, such as the off-court privileges her identity affords her, and at times weaponized in racist and anti-LGBTQ narratives. When Clark was initially asked last season if she was bothered by this, she attempted to deflect by saying her focus was on basketball before revising her statement a few hours later. I think its disappointing, its not acceptableeveryone should be treated with the same amount of respect.
On stage at the TIME event, Clark said that the only opinions she really cares about are of the people she loves: her teammates, coaches, the people inside their locker room, the people she sees every single day. I feel like Im just scratching the surface of what I can accomplish, she said. In the current unstable and polarized climate of the country and world, maybe the greatest luxury Clark has is thisthe privilege of realizing her childhood dreams and continuing to pursue them.
Its clear that the WNBA and womens sports are having their long-awaited moment, at a time when the excitement of the game is needed more than ever. Heading into her second season, Clark has her sights set on championship glory and etching her name among the greats, as she inspires the next generation of hoopers alongside the more than 140 women who comprise the League.
Clark said that a lot of people have asked her where she thinks the growing popularity of womens sports is headed, a question that she doesnt have an answer for. If you wouldve told people this is where the WNBA is going to be five years ago, people probably wouldnt have believed you, she said. They never thought theyd buy tickets. They never thought wed play on ABC or ESPN. They never thought there would be sold-out arenas. The smartest thing, Clark advised, is to get in now because the price is only going up.
The biggest thing Clark said shes learned about herself throughout her journey thus far is that dreams can come true. While she admits that her dreams were not at the magnitude of success shes currently experiencing, Clark said. I was always somebody who dreamed and wanted to achieve things. Her parents encouraged her to go after the things she wanted, whether it was to keep up against her older brother and his friends or to follow her goal of making it to the WNBA. They probably knew at times I would fail and they let me fail, but I think that taught me a lot of lessons about myself and life in general.
While the increased value and attention the Indiana Fever superstar has brought to the sport has been clear, it may be that her greatest impact will be immeasurable by numbers. Perhaps her lasting legacy wont be apparent for another decade or two when the next face of basketball shares their encounter with Clark, whose rise will be discussed as one that accelerated the momentum that was already building and brewing long before she ever stepped into the League. Its hard to project where all this growth is headed but as the world has seen, in the hands of players like Clark, who possess a pure love, joy and competitive fire for the game, the only way for it to go is up.
Portraits by Alex Subers
