Q&A: Why Caitlin Clark would fear the 2025 Fever if she had to face them
Q&A: Why Caitlin Clark would fear the 2025 Fever if she had to face them
Locating Indiana Fever superstar Caitlin Clark on a court is never really hard to do. She's usually dishing out sweet assists or draining a shot in a place not many others can ― from the logo.
Clark's long-distance 3-pointer has become a signature staple in her game as she heads into her sophomore season in the WNBA and first under head coach Stephanie White. The former Iowa product turned heads in Indianapolis and across the country during much of the 2024 season as she ripped out pages of history books on her way to All-WNBA First Team and Rookie of the Year honors. Clark hopes to build on that moment during 2025, and she's doing it with long-time partner State Farm.
Together, the brand and Clark are unveiling a new platform, With the Assist, which focuses on assistance on and off the court, plus an accompanying campaign, fittingly titled "From The Logo." The Fever guard couldn't help but gush about the perfect play on words and what her partnership means to her when she spoke with For The Win.
"I think it's a brand that's really authentic for myself, "Clark said. "I think the thing I love about them the most is how they support women's sports, specifically women's basketball ... They don't just talk about it. They truly invest in it."
Ahead of the 2025 WNBA season, For The Win, sat down with Clark to discuss her evolution from her rookie season to year two in the league, what element of the Fever's game would intimidate her if she was on another team, and what she really thinks about all the conversations surrounding her muscles.
This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.
What's the most important assist you've ever had off the basketball court?
I think it's just the little things. I think, especially as a professional athlete, there's a lot of little things in life that people don't always see and things that you need to get done and get accomplished. And those are the people you lean on, whether it's your family, whether it's your friends ― whoever it is ― people that are there to pick you up. People that are there to build you up when it's great, when it's not as great.
FTW: What little things do you value?
Ooo. That's a good question. I think what I value the most is certainly my friends and family. Like, those are my people. They're like my why. They're [why] I do what I do. Like, obviously, I love basketball, too, but at the end of the day, those are the people that matter the most to me, and I've always had good perspective on basketball not being everything. But also, basketball has allowed me a lot of really cool opportunities. Whether that's inspiring young girls, inspiring young boys, getting to meet new people ― getting to travel new places ― I think it's opened a lot of really cool doors for me.
What other WNBA players would you put on the list of all-time great passers?
I think for myself, growing up, like that was Sue Bird for me. Sue was the player that I loved getting to watch. (When I went to my first WNBA game, don't tell Sue this, but I was more so there for the Lynx. But they were playing the Storm at the time.) So, I got to see her play, and the way she passed the ball.
And even on the men's side, you know, I think Chris Paul and Steve Nash, and you look at players like that. I loved the men's game growing up, too. And then I think, Ticha Penicheiro, not a player a lot of people always talk about, but somebody that ― you watch her highlights, and you pull up some of the plays she had in the league, and it's like she was making crazy passes behind her head and stuff.
What did you learn about yourself after your rookie season, and how did you implement it for year 2 in the WNBA?
I think being a rookie in the WNBA is so unique because there's no league like it, really. Ending your college career, and you're becoming a professional immediately. So, I think just getting a year under my belt was the best thing for me. You understand how the week works. You know what to expect. Everything like that. But at the same time, you know, year two is still gonna be a little different for me from the standpoint of I got a lot of new teammates. I have a new coach, new coaching staff.
And so, being able to figure them out ― how they operate, how they do things ― I think will be really important for our whole group. So, it's gonna take a little time to put together. But, you know, I think having an offseason of things that I could really just work on and get better at, I haven't really had that in a couple of years now, because my last year going into Iowa, we took our foreign trip. So, I haven't really had an offseason in a while. So, it was really nice to kind of just have that reset and get back to things I wanna get working on. Add some muscle to my frame.
What do you think of all that chatter about "Caitlin Clark's muscles"?
I think it's funny.
I think people see one photo, and they kind of just run with it. But, I mean, I appreciate it, I guess. I worked really hard. So, at least they noticed, I guess.
If you were on a different team, what element of the Indiana Fever's game would intimidate you?
I think the Fever of this year, probably our depth. I even think, looking across the league, as you prepare for other teams that have the type of depth that we do, you know, that just makes it really difficult. It makes it difficult from a defensive standpoint.
You know, the amount of different things that teams can do. It puts you in a difficult position to pick and choose ... If somebody doesn't have it one night, you're just going to the next person on the bench, and the next person. You know, we're gonna have to be able to find a way to use that to the best of our ability.
Chris Paul famously has State Farm "twin brother," Cliff Paul. What would your twin's name be?
Chris and Cliff. Maybe Caitlin and like, Catherine, or something like that. I don't know. Maybe we just created something. I don't know. You'll have to be on the lookout. We'll give you credit.
What did you think of Flau'jae Johnson recently mentioning you in a song, and would you hop on a track with her?
No. I would never. I would leave that to her. She's incredible, but it was awesome. Her music is really great. She's so talented, and I've honestly been a really big fan of hers since we played them at LSU. I think her game is really good. It will be fun to watch her this last season in college.She told me a while back, actually, that she was putting me in a song. So, I've kind of been waiting for it. I know it takes a while to make music and get everything in a production and everything, but she wasn't lying. She really was actually putting me in a song. Yeah, she's incredible. That was fun to see.
FTW: Did you let your friends and family know?
Oh, they all saw it themselves. Yeah. People were texting me, like, " Wow, that's really good." I'm like, "I know. Her music is really good."
Will Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift be coming to an Indiana Fever game this season?
Oh, gosh. I don't know. I mean, I hope so. They're on a nice "in-vacation mode" right now. So, I hope they enjoy a nice little break out of the spotlight. But, I'm sure they'll be cheering for the Fever either way.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
USA Today
2 hours ago
- USA Today
Player grades: Jalen Williams, SGA lead Thunder to 120-109 Game 5 win over Pacers
Player grades: Jalen Williams, SGA lead Thunder to 120-109 Game 5 win over Pacers OKLAHOMA CITY — Taking in the final seconds, the OKC crowd entered Paycom Center a bundle of nerves and left it riding an all-time high to the streets. As the buzzer sounded, the title favorite officially took one step closer to accomplishing its ultimate goal. The Oklahoma City Thunder crossed the finish line to a 120-109 Game 5 win over the Indiana Pacers. They're now up for the first time in the 2025 NBA Finals with a 3-2 series lead and only need one more victory to capture a championship. Backed by a home crowd that understood what was at stake, the Thunder started quickly. It didn't take long for them to rack up points. The only problem was that the Pacers did too. After the first quarter, the Thunder held a 32-22 lead. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams showed early signs of their eventual headline performance. The double-digit lead was not bad, but could've been more. OKC's All-Star duo ensured that as Williams steamrolled his way to the basket. Sprinkle in some good outside shooting variance by role players, and the Thunder had a 59-45 halftime lead. Very similar feelings to Game 1 among Thunder fans. Sure, it was a decent cushion. But the Pacers have shown all playoffs that these types of deficits are nothing to them. That showed up in the second half. Pascal Siakam scored on a transition layup to make it a 67-55 contest less than four minutes into the third quarter. Uh oh. It was happening again. The Thunder couldn't take care of the ball. And when it did, too many misses around the rim hurt them. TJ McConnell took over late in the third quarter to make it a single-digit deficit. He sliced through OKC's defense. Indiana scored 34 points in the third frame. The Thunder only had an 87-79 lead with a quarter left. It didn't take long for the Pacers to make things super interesting for the average NBA fan and super stressful for the average OKC viewer. Siakam's second-chance 3-pointer cut the Thunder's lead to 95-93 with over eight minutes left in the game. Surely that meant another tight finish. It was the Pacers' turn to return the favor. The Thunder hung around in Game 4 before they stole a road win with a superhero fourth quarter by Gilgeous-Alexander. Except Indiana quickly realized it didn't have that guy. Tyrese Haliburton was a no-show. Only up by two points, the Thunder immediately responded with a 17-4 run. Gilgeous-Alexander and Williams took over in that stretch. Gilgeous-Alexander finally snapped out of it and hit on difficult jumpers. Meanwhile, Williams turned in one of the best stretches of his career by dominating the Pacers. That run suddenly put the Thunder up 112-97. Before you could even realize what happened, the Thunder blitzed the Pacers on the scoreboard to go back up by a comfortable double-digit margin. Indiana had no idea what just happened as it looked lost in the final moments. The Thunder shot 43% from the field and went 14-of-32 (43.8%) from 3. They shot 26-of-32 on free throws. They had 24 assists on 40 baskets. Four Thunder players scored double-digit points. Williams led the way with an efficient 40 points. Gilgeous-Alexander had 31 points and 10 assists that went under the radar because of his fellow All-NBA teammate. Aaron Wiggins had 14 points and Cason Wallace had 11 points off the bench. Meanwhile, the Pacers shot 45% from the field and went 11-of-30 (36.7%) from 3. They shot 24-of-30 on free throws. They had 23 assists on 37 baskets. Five Pacers players scored double-digit points. Siakam finished with 28 points, six rebounds and five assists. Haliburton was quiet with four points, seven rebounds and six assists. McConnell surprised with 18 points off the bench. Aaron Nesmith had 14 points. Myles Turner had 13 points and six rebounds. Obi Toppin tallied 12 points. Another legacy performance by Gilgeous-Alexander and Williams. The Thunder's best two players stepped up while the Pacers' best player faded into the background. They teased another comeback, but constantly chipping away from double-digit deficits isn't the best long-term formula for wins. The Thunder are on the cusp of their first NBA championship. They're a win away and have taken full control of this NBA Finals series. Let's look at Thunder player grades: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander: A-plus Reading Andrew Nembhard's next move, Gilgeous-Alexander easily read his pass for an interception. Drawing contact from Haliburton in transition, the MVP winner completed the steal-and-score sequence to put OKC back up by double-digit points for the rest of the way. Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 31 points on 9-of-21 shooting, 10 assists and two rebounds. He shot 0-of-3 from 3 and went 13-of-14 on free throws. He also had four blocks and two steals. While the Pacers did a better job at limiting Gilgeous-Alexander's looks, the MVP winner always finds a way. This time, he drew contact on his drives to the basket. The free-throw line was his friend as it helped him rack up another 30-point performance. Gilgeous-Alexander also leveraged the defensive attention he received. When he has the ball, 10 sets of eyes from Indiana are on him. That helped him take advantage of his gravity and dish out assists. The 10 assists matched the same amount the Thunder had as a whole in Game 4. With things looking dire, Gilgeous-Alexander went back to being a no-nonsense scorer. He scored nine points in the final frame to put the Pacers away. Each time he went to the free-throw line, he was met with the loudest MVP chants he's probably heard in his entire career. Just like that, Gilgeous-Alexander is a win away from one of the greatest individual seasons ever. His regular-season scoring dominance has translated to the NBA's biggest stage. If the Thunder can get one more win, he'll cap off one of the greatest NBA Finals debuts ever. Jalen Williams: A-plus Dancing with Nesmith, Williams went to his bag for his final bucket. A little bump and turnaround fadeaway looked as easy as riding a bike. He swished in the mid-range jumper. On the biggest stage of his basketball life, the 24-year-old delivered a performance that'll forever be remembered. Williams finished with 40 points on 14-of-25 shooting, six rebounds and four assists. He shot 3-of-5 from 3 and went 9-of-12 on free throws. He also had a steal. Holy crap. Talk about having a game that could change your career trajectory. Usually viewed as Robin, Williams stepped up as Batman with everything on the line. He made any pre-playoff concerns about him being a viable enough second option look silly. Williams was unstoppable from the start. He destroyed Indiana's interior defense. The mid-range jumper found a groove. The footwork was impeccable. He bumped multiple defenders off him to create space. On top of all that, he got to the free-throw line at will. That was always the 24-year-old's biggest gripe all year. To get over that hump at the freaking NBA Finals is surreal to see. As the Pacers cut it to as little as two points, Williams dragged the Thunder to a win. He scored 24 points in the second half alone. Each time Indiana looked on the verge of retaking the lead, he knocked down a big-time bucket to soothe any worries. If the Thunder win the championship, "Game 5 Williams" will be talked about the same way as some of the all-time great NBA Finals performances. Perhaps those NBA folks who told Brian Windhorst he has some Scottie Pippen in him weren't that far off. Chet Holmgren: B This will come off as a backhanded compliment, but for as bad as Holmgren was on the offensive end, he was equally as good on the defensive end. One of the most polarizing NBA players left his mark on one of the most important Thunder wins. Holmgren finished with nine points on 4-of-15 shooting, 11 rebounds and three blocks. He shot 1-of-3 from 3. He also had a steal. The box score stats aren't pretty. Holmgren is still pretty far away from being a dependable scorer. This game showed that. Rushed drives to the basket, which resulted in nasty misses. Clumsy turnovers that were created by a loose handle. But man, the defense is one-of-a-kind. The Pacers failed to create rim pressure. Holmgren can be thanked for that. The seven-footer forced Indiana to second-guess itself on drives to the basket. A red-hot McConnell tried to score deep in the paint against him and failed to do so. To evaluate Holmgren requires nuance. The scoring numbers might dampen the public's opinion, but there's a reason why the Thunder dominated in his minutes and played him down the stretch. What he brings as a rim protector justifies the ugly offensive possessions. Cason Wallace: B-plus Backpedaling to the right corner, Wallace finally had a heavy toll lifted off his shoulders. He swished in his first outside bucket of the NBA Finals. He previously missed his first eight attempts. And once you see one go in, more soon follow. Wallace finished with 11 points on 4-of-5 shooting and two rebounds. He shot 3-of-4 from 3. He also had four steals and one block. This was easily his best NBA Finals performance after his playing time dwindled. The Thunder needed this type of production from Wallace. The 21-year-old struggled with confidence problems early on. He finally snapped out of it in Game 5. Perfect timing, too, as the Thunder's depth outplayed the Pacers'. And then there's the steals. Wallace was a defensive monster. Usually reliable on that end, the Pacers put him through the blender at the start of the NBA Finals with constant switches. That didn't work out this time. He was a step ahead of their passes and racked up plenty of steals. Since Game 1, the Thunder and Pacers were about even the next three games in the turnover department. That was great news for Indiana. It's superb ball security took away OKC's defensive superpower. Until Game 5. Things went back the Thunder's way. Aaron Wiggins: A Left open because of Gilgeous-Alexander's attention, Wiggins made the Pacers regret leaving him open from deep. The 26-year-old made more outside buckets by himself in Game 5 than the Thunder did as an entire team in Game 4. They enjoyed some positive regression. Wiggins finished with 14 points on 4-of-10 shooting and five rebounds. He shot 4-of-7 from 3 and went 2-of-2 on free throws. He also had a block. Role players play better at home. Wiggins exemplified that principle. When he gets going, the Thunder are difficult to beat. He adds another shot-creator who could create a rhythm and dominate the bench lineups. This was another all-around performance by the Thunder. Everybody played a role. Heading into Game 5, they were due for some steals and outside buckets. They received both from their starters and bench players. Highlights:
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
NBA Finals Game 6 creates historic moment for small-market teams, zealous fans
NBA historians, fill up the inkwell and prepare your quill pens. History is arriving as fast as Oklahoma City's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander fills up a box score. A couple of teams from small markets are about to do something gigantic. Well, one of them anyway, as the NBA Finals shift back to Indianapolis. Advertisement Game 6 is Thursday, June 19, with the Oklahoma City Thunder leading the Indiana Pacers 3-2 in the best-of-seven series. And here's what you need to know: OKC is one victory from its first title since the franchise moved from Seattle in 2008. The Pacers are two victories from winning their first championship in franchise history. And before we disclose any championship parade route information, there are some questions to ponder. OPINION: NBA Finals TV ratings don't reflect complete picture of fan reach MORE: Pacers coach Rick Carlisle defends NBA Finals referee Scott Foster after fan criticism Can Tyrese Haliburton and his injured right leg bounce back after a poor showing in Oklahoma City's 120-109 victory over Indiana in Game 5 on Monday, June 16, in Oklahoma City? Advertisement If not, any chance Indiana Fever star Caitin Clark can suit up for the Pacers? (After all, the Fever and Pacers are owned by the same people, play in the same arena and, boy, the Pacers could use a few of those logo 3s if Haliburton is misfiring again.) If not, she'll have to continue to serve as a good-luck charm. Regardless of which team wins, city planners should have a dusty map of the parade route ready. After all, the Thunder made it to the NBA Finals in 2012 before losing to the Miami Heat, and the Pacers reached the Finals in 2000 before losing to the Los Angeles Lakers. Thunder fans celebrate before Game 5 at Paycom Center. But enough about the teams. What about the fans? Advertisement The Thunder faithful were color coordinated in their white-and-blue T-shirts during Game 5 and belting out those spirited chants of 'OKC!' Everybody, on three, 'Awwwww.' How long are we going to be able to tolerate the chants of 'OKC!'' All joking aside, suck it up, sports fans, because they've earned the right to chant as long as they want if they win Game 6 or Game 7. 'Unreal,'' coach Mark Daigneault said about the Thunder's home crowd after his team won Game 5. 'They've been unreal forever, but they just put the wind at our back and we have to give the reason to.'' Small-market teams do not lack zealous fans. The Pacers faithful at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis on Thursday night are at risk of vocal cord damage if that's what it takes to propel their team to victory and force a deciding Game 7. Advertisement It'll all be worth writing about, fellow historians, especially if you're equipped with a quill pen. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NBA Finals history hinges on Haliburton's injury, zealous fans
Indianapolis Star
4 hours ago
- Indianapolis Star
What Tyrese Haliburton, Rick Carlisle said about Pacers star's leg injury after Game 5 loss
Tyrese Haliburton went down in the first quarter of Game 5 of the NBA Finals on Monday with a lower leg injury in the Indiana Pacers' 120-109 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder. He left the game and was seen with a wrap on his leg on the bench, but came back in and managed to play 34 minutes. However, it was obvious the Pacers' All-NBA point guard was hobbled and he finished the game without making a basket (0-for-6 from the field), scoring only on four free throws. "He's not 100%. It's pretty clear... But a lot of guys in the series aren't," Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said after the loss. "But he's not going to miss the next game, he's not going to be out.' After the game, Haliburton said the injury is the "same area" as the knock he took in Game 2. Carlisle said Haliburton "insisted" on playing despite the injury. 'It's the Finals. I've worked my whole life to be here," Haliburton said postgame. "I want to be out there to compete… I wasn't great tonight but any means… if I can walk, I want to play.' He dished out six assists and had six rebounds but also committed three turnovers and was -13 for the game. He'll have two days to rest up before the Pacers try to stave off elimination Thursday in Game 6 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
