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It was just moments before her debut game in New York City, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. Excited young girls eagerly approached her with No. 22 jerseys, posters, magazines, and various items, requesting her autograph.
Caitlin Clark, with a smile on her face and chewing gum, graciously signed each item, much to the chagrin of security guards, before heading to the visiting team’s locker room to prepare for the game against the Liberty.
On the court moments earlier, Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager of “Today With Hoda & Jenna” interviewed Clark and came away gushing about her.
Bush Hager expressed her excitement, stating, “Just being here is incredible. We were informed that this could be the most-watched WNBA game in history. Caitlin was delightful, as were all the players we met today.”
New York welcomed Caitlin Clark with open arms. Even as the enemy.
“You know what’s interesting about Caitlin,” Hoda began, “she’s focused, you feel it, but she has a sense of delight, of the fun of the game. It shows in everything that she’s doing. She said she got off to a rocky start but she’s remembering like, this is fun, and I think that’s was one of the most charming things about her.”
Added Jenna: “And by the way, that’s what we want our girls to know, right, like our kids to know. That sports should be about fun.”
The Caitlin Clark Effect: The Associated Press reported that the Liberty had over $2 million in ticket revenue for the game, a WNBA record.
Clark encountered rabid Liberty fans waving white towels. This was, after all, the sold-out Liberty home opener. But a roar nevertheless went up when she was introduced with her Indiana Fever teammates. And the roar accompanied her made 3s and layups.
“I thought the atmosphere was incredible,” Clark said after Liberty 91, Fever 80. “There were definitely a lot of young girls here today which was a lot of fun to see, but the Liberty definitely deserves this crowd, they’ve been incredible over the course of the last few seasons, and they’re gonna be incredible this year, so it was fun to play here in New York for the first time and play in front of this environment. I think that just brings out the best in a competitor, like, I love playing in front of these environments. … Happy for New York to have this type of environment. I hope those fans continue to show up and I know they will.”
On Celiberty Row, tennis legend Billie Jean King was greeted with a standing ovation when they showed her on the scoreboard midway through the first quarter. South Carolina national champion coach Dawn Staley, who defeated Clark and lowa in the final, received a rousing cheer in the second quarter. Same with Sue Bird and Megan Rapinoe in the third quarter.
Clark found herself stranded on Clark Island. No Kate Martin, no Gabbie Marshall, no Hannah Stuelke, no Sydney Affolter alongside her anymore. Only teammates who haven’t learned how to play with her yet. Only teammates she is learning on the fly. All the while learning how to cut harder and playing with better pace against more physical, experienced WNBA players who shadow her relentlessly the way Betnijah Laney-Hamilton often did Saturday.
“Everybody’s all over me, they’re hounding me 94 feet, I’m being trapped on every ball screen, getting blocked on every stagger screen,” said Clark, who scored 22 points on 9-for-17 shooting, 4-for-10 from 3, with eight assists and six rebounds.
She had 10 of her team’s first 19 points, 15 at halftime. She even sprinted back to deflect a pass out of bounds following her errant pass on the other end.
She was forced out of bounds on a double-team. She committed eight turnovers. Nobody’s perfect. It was nevertheless the best she has looked in her three-game professional career.
She makes the right play most of the time — her passing is forever elite — but she can only elevate her surrounding cast so much. A couple of times she forced an errant logo 3. A 29-foot 3 at the start of the second half wowed the crowd. Someone asked what a game like this might do for her confidence.
“Honestly, like, I never feel like I’m ever in a shooting slump, like, they either go in or they don’t. I don’t lose my confidence, like, I never thought that until you said that, but thanks for letting me know,” she said with a laugh.
She has handled everything beautifully and she will steel her body and mind for the transition ahead.
“I’m just trying to remind myself, like, I know this is my job now, but, like, I have fun playing this game and I think that needs to be my focus through the course of this year. It’s just like, have fun, that’s when I’m at my best, too, and that’s when I was at my best in college,” Clark said. “It’s the same situation for every rookie coming in, you can make whatever excuse you want, but there is no excuse, there’s players that are in this league were rookies once before, they dealt with the same thing, so everybody goes through it … It shouldn’t be hard for you to wake up and play a basketball game when you get to do that for a living.”
A 12-year-old named Valentina wore a No. 22 jersey. “I’m a Caitlin Clark fan because she does really good and she’s a really good role model to look up to,” she said.
This was Valentina’s first WNBA game. She plays basketball.
“When I see Caitlin Clark play, it makes me want to work harder and do better,” she said.
Aleina, 8, carried an “I (heart) Caitlin Clark” poster.
“She’s a really good basketball player, and I can maybe learn from her when I grow up,” she said.
Give them Liberty. And give them Caitlin.
