Caitlin Clark on Thursday walked into her new home arena with No. 22 shirts and jerseys peppered from floor to ceiling.
She left as a first-time WNBA winner.
A late-arriving, but louder-than-usual crowd roared during her official introduction to Fever fans and again when Clark made her first basket, a layup with 7 minutes left in the first quarter. The cheers grew when she completed a three-point play a few minutes later and hit a crescendo when she finally made a long three-pointer from the edge of the fieldhouse logo late in the third quarter.
Photo: Kevin Jairaj-USA Today
Clark successfully navigated the city’s most anticipated rookie debut since Peyton Manning played for the NFL’s Indianapolis Colts in 1998, even though it was not quite the start most expected.
In an 83-80 pre-season victory over the Atlanta Dream, Clark had 12 points, eight rebounds, six assists and six turnovers, going four-of-12 from the field and two-of-nine on threes in 31 minutes.
“It was a lot of fun, I thought they were loud, I thought they were into it. It was fun to see,” Clark said following her home debut. “This is a pre-season game on a Thursday night and there’s 13,000 people here. I think that just shows you what it’s going to be like for us all season. It’s going to help us.”
Officially, the attendance came in at 13,028 — nearly three times larger than the slightly more than 4,000 per game Indiana averaged for their 20 regular-season home games last year.
Afterward, Clark found close friend and former college teammate Gabbie Marshall and the two took a photograph together.
For Clark, the WNBA’s overall No. 1 draft pick, it has been a quick transition from playing college ball a month ago to the pro style.
Clark went through her pregame warmups quietly and focused as music blared and the stands started filling up, but once the game started, it was all business.
“I don’t think I was that effective, honestly,” Clark said. “I thought more than anything I did a really good job of passing the ball, finding my teammates. Obviously, I would have liked to have made a couple more threes, but sometimes that’s how you shoot it.”
The fault did not fall entirely on Clark’s shoulders.
Opponents are naturally game-planning to slow down the top scorer in NCAA Division I history.
Atlanta’s ploy was to challenge Clark with hard closeouts, multiple defenders forcing the ball out of her hands and physical play intended to get Clark off her spot.
The result was that she struggled early as the Fever fell behind and her teammates struggled to convert her crisp passes into points.
However, they also got a glimpse into what this season could be.
“She pushes the pace for us, she gets the ball where it needs to be, if you run the floor you’ve got to look up because the ball is coming,” said Nalyssa Smith, who had a game-high 21 points. “She can spread the floor, everybody can score and she’s looking to pass the ball.”
The curiosity surrounding Clark has some opponents moving games to larger venues to accommodate ticket sales and a team who have not been to the playoffs since 2016 are to have 36 of their 40 regular-season games on national television.
For Clark, full arenas have become the norm. For her teammates and coaches, this could be the start of something bigger than they could have imagined.
“For me, this is the best part of it,” Clark said. “You’ve got to go out and compete every single night and if one night is not good for us, you have an opportunity to come back a couple days later and respond. I think this group will be ready [for the regular season] and everybody’s excited.”
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