CC on liking Taylor Swift’s post endorsing Kamala Harris:
“I have this amazing platform, so I think the biggest thing to be would to encourage people to register to vote.”
Full answer:
Caitlin Clark on Angel Reese’s season-ending wrist injury:
“It’s definitely sad whenever you see anyone go down with an injury, especially people that you came into this league with … she’s had a historic year, and she’s done some incredible things.”
After Caitlin Clark fielded most of the postgame questions, she declared the last question of the press conference would be for Kelsey Mitchell.
Mitchell’s answer on playing in front of the crowds they’ve had this season:
Caitlin Clark is grateful to be the first woman to with the ESPY for best record-breaking moment, but thinks it’s long overdue:
“How does Serena Williams never win that award? That’s crazy.”
Maya Moore doesn’t specifically remember when she hugged Caitlin Clark all those years ago — she made time for a lot of young fans during her career.
In hindsight, she said, “it’s really, really cool to think about how one of those kids turned out to be Caitlin Clark.”
When CC is asked what the single-game assists record means to her, Aliyah Boston jumps in:
“She’s going to say it means nothing, but I think it’s pretty cool. It’s pretty cool.”
Answering a question about being the first Fever player to get a triple-double, Caitlin Clark gives credits to her teammates finished her passes.
Aliyah Boston interjects: “She’s so humble, isn’t she? That’s very cool, good job sister”
In other Fever-Sky news, Chicago rookie Angel Reese has been fined $1,000 for failing to make herself available for interviews yesterday.
The Chicago Sky have also been fined $5,000 for not upholding media policies.
CC on her ankle injury : “I saw the replay, and I look really soft. It wasn’t that bad of a turn, but it hurt.”
Adds you’re not a true basketball player if you don’t have ankle injuries
Caitlin Clark on being in MVP conversations this year:
“It’s definitely cool … entering game 40, it’s night and day from where I started, and I’m proud of myself in that regard.”
CC on Aliyah Boston turning her away from the refs:
“My teammates do a really good job of that, they think it’s funny … now it’s basically over, I don’t have to worry about that anymore.
Adds: “I don’t want to get technicals at all, my mom doesn’t want that for me either.”
CC on college teammate Kate Martin, now on the Aces, coming to Indianapolis for two games:
“It’s definitely fun for us, it’s fun for a lot of fans in the Midwest that cheered us on while we were in college. It’s cool to see one of your best friends live out her dream.”
Aliyah Boston on not making Team USA: “I’m excited for the women that did ... I think the Olympic committee did a great job, the women that they picked are exceptional players. It’s obviously still one of my goals, so hopefully one day I’m able to accomplish that.”
Caitlin Clark when asked how fun it is to be part of the competition of the rookie of the year race:
“I think me and Angel would both give you the same answer, we don’t wake up and think about individual awards.”
Avid 14-year-old Hawkeye fan Bailey Lux, who had a rare form of cancer, sadly passed away on Wednesday.
Make A Wish, with help from Kate Martin and Caitlin Clark, flew Bailey and her family out to Las Vegas last month for a Fever-Aces game:
Aliyah Boston and Caitlin Clark on how they’ve dealt with social media this season.
Boston specifically said she deleted social media to stop seeing the opinions of “couch coaches.”
Caitlin Clark on the interaction:
"I wasn't expecting that, but it's just, 'Respond, calm down and let your play do the talking.' It is what it is.”
She added that she doesn’t want to retaliate, and usually the responding player gets penalized.
Chants of “We want Caitlin” are starting to ring out here at Mohegan Sun Arena.
Clark hasn’t played since the middle of the third, when she picked up her fourth foul.
When Caitlin Clark hit her third 3-pointer in four minutes in the third quarter, the crowd of over 20,000 immediately erupted in celebration.
With the noise, you would’ve thought it was a home game. But it wasn’t — it’s just what Clark draws.
From D.C.:
Christie Sides on Caitlin Clark continuously getting fouled hard and not getting those calls:
Says the Fever have been submitting plays to the league throughout the season for review.
Caitlin Clark on seeing her face on the giant Gatorade ad on the JW Marriott in downtown Indianapolis:
“I can see it from my apartment balcony, so if I walk out there in the morning, it’s just like my face.”
Caitlin Clark is the Eastern Conference Player of the Week for the third straight week.
She averaged 25 points, 7.7 rebounds, and 10 assists per game this past week.
Caitlin Clark on the Fever’s turnovers in the first half:
“A lot of them definitely were unforced, like dribbling off the leg or a backcourt violation, which was not a backcourt violation, you all saw it.”
Caitlin Clark on fellow rookie Cameron Brink, who tore her ACL last night:
“I know she’s the type of person that will be able to get through it and come through it stronger.”
A group of people in Navy sailor’s uniforms with Clark jerseys over them were cheering for every shot she took during shootaround.
She went over to sign their hats, and you can see the excitement after!
Kate Martin was supposed to come to a joint pregame, but Caitlin Clark said “she bailed, that’s your headline.”
Still, she talked about what Kate means to her:
A question about the origin of CC’s jokes turned into a discussion about how in Des Moines, you have to tell a joke at trick or treat, how she “dominated trick or treat,” the costumes she wore, and how she says “costume:”
Caitlin Clark didn’t come to postgame media because she wasn’t feeling well, and Christie Sides said she wasn’t feeling well the whole game.
Additionally, why Clark subbed out in the final minute:
The Aces drafted A’ja Wilson with their second-straight No. 1 pick in 2018, went 14-19 and missed the playoffs, then got a third consecutive No. 1 and picked Jackie Young.
Now? Back-to-back WNBA champions.
The WNBA confirms that it has upgraded Chennedy Carter’s foul on Caitlin Clark at the end of the third quarter from an away from ball foul to a flagrant 1 after league review.
Carter won’t be fined, but there is a points scale for flagrant fouls in the WNBA.
Postgame, CC bounds up the stairs to the podium and goes, “I’m on vacation!”
Tells everyone to get their questions in quick, but won’t say where she’s going on vacation
Caitlin Clark didn’t come to postgame media because she wasn’t feeling well, and Christie Sides said she wasn’t feeling well the whole game.
Additionally, why Clark subbed out in the final minute:
A signature win for the Fever, who take down the league-leading New York Liberty, 83-78.
Fever are now 9-13, and Caitlin Clark has the Fever’s first triple-double.
Lexie Hull says today’s game was especially special with her grandma here from Spokane and her sister here from Austin.
Caitlin Clark adds her X account will become a Lexie Hull fan account:
Caitlin Clark on if she got any texts after her triple-double, and, on a question from Katie Lou Samuelson, if she will be in more TikToks with Aliyah Boston:
“Remains to be seen…”
After working her way back into the rotation, Lexie Hull was due to have a game like this.
And with perfect timing: She set a new career high with her twin sister and grandma sitting courtside, coming from states away to watch her play.
The Indiana Fever-Chicago Sky game on Sunday pulled in 2.252 million viewers on CBS, the most-watched WNBA game in 23 years on any network.
The game peaked with nearly 3 million viewers.
Cheryl Reeve on CC pregame: “I know the sexier part is the logo 3, but pace and passing is what makes her exceptional.”
On CC and Maya Moore, whose jersey is being retired tonight, both being in the building: “I wish one was playing for us — either one.”
The Fever’s next game is at Minnesota, when the Lynx will be retiring 4x WNBA champion Maya Moore’s jersey.
Moore was one of Clark’s idols growing up, and being there for that ceremony will be a “full circle moment:”
CC on her sixth technical foul of the season, which she got for hitting the stanchion in the first quarter:
“That’s crazy … but it is a rule, they have to call it, I get it, but it’s just tough.”
Caitlin Clark officially gets her 10th rebound for a triple-double.
The first rookie triple-double in WNBA history, and the first triple-double in the Fever franchise.
Caitlin Clark has been nominated for three ESPYs:
-best athlete, women’s sports
-best college athlete, women’s sports
-best record-breaking performance
Caitlin Clark on her reaction to Iowa head coach Lisa Bluder retiring — “I probably took off a couple years off of her career” — and her endorsement of Jan Jensen:
Caitlin Clark got her 10th rebound on the final possession of the game, giving her the second triple-double of her career with 22 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists.
Fever win, 93-86
Caitlin Clark was a freshman in high school the last time the Fever went to the playoffs. Aliyah Boston was a sophomore. Kelsey Mitchell was a junior at Ohio State.
Now, with the most single-season wins since 2016, they’re closing in on a playoff berth.
Caitlin Clark took a call from Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb, who is currently in Brazil, after she was picked No. 1 in the draft.
For Clark, international call fees don’t matter
The No. 1 pick takes on the No. 2 pick tonight, and Caitlin Clark is looking forward to it.
My biggest takeaway: they now have cheez-it logos on the practice jerseys
It's official: not only is Caitlin Clark an All-Star, but Aliyah Boston and Kelsey Mitchell, too. It's the first time Indiana has had three All-Stars in one season since 2007.
A breakdown of how the votes got them there:
Caitlin Clark is the Eastern Conference Player of the Week for the second straight week, averaging 24.3 points, five rebounds, and nine assists per game.
Fever went 4-0 in that span.
Caitlin Clark took two shots in the final ~7 minutes of the game today, and in that timeframe, the Fever scored five points.
But she doesn’t regret passing the ball to her teammates. She trusts them every time.
Some fun tidbits at the end of Caitlin Clark’s media scrum this morning, including:
- her reaction to signing the ultrasound
- wearing NaLyssa Smith and Erica Wheeler’s chains on media day
- if any family, or “bae” is coming to the game tonight
Christie Sides on Aliyah Boston taking the potential game-tying 3:
“I had all the confidence in her to take that shot. Teams are going to scheme against Caitlin Clark and Kelsey Mitchell, they’re going to do everything they can to make sure someone else takes that 3.”
The Fever have won four straight home games for the first time since 2015 — three years before Kelsey Mitchell joined the team.
Mitchell on what’s different about this team, while Caitlin Clark and Aliyah Boston think about how old they were in 2015:
INBOX: The Fever-Sky game on Friday was the most-watched ION game in network history, averaging 1.6 million viewers and peaking at 1.92 million.
Indiana is a part of all of the top-5 viewed games on the network this season, which have all been over 1 million.
CC on the Fever’s midseason numbers report, specifically about the 150% increase in Freddy Fever appearance requests:
“We might have to get more Freddy’s, I guess. There’s a mini Freddy that shows up randomly every 10 games, I like mini Freddy.”
“I don’t give two shits,” Minnesota head coach Cheryl Reeve jokes, with a laugh, of her thoughts on the likely pro-Indiana crowd in Minneapolis today.
When prompted, she adds, “I don’t give one shit.”
When Caitlin Clark was at Iowa, the Target Center turned into ‘Carver North’ during the Big Ten Tournament.
She returned for the first time as a professional on Sunday, and it became ‘Gainbridge West’ as the Fever recorded their fourth win in six games.
Caitlin Clark on becoming an All-Star, if she’s been an All-Star before (COVID took away her hs senior year high school all-star game), and if she’ll do the 3-point contest:
“Remains to be seen… I can’t tell you guys everything,” she says, smirking.
An orchard in Northern Indiana depicted Caitlin Clark in a corn maze for this fall season.
“I thought it was pretty cool … corn mazes are a lot more difficult than people think, it’s easy to get lost.”
Chicago’s Chennedy Carter is officially out for tonight’s Fever-Sky game at Wintrust Arena because of health and safety protocols.
She is the Sky’s leading scorer at 17.2 points per game.
FINAL: Fever pick up another big win against Minnesota on the road, 81-74.
Fever are now 11-14 with four wins over teams with .500 or better records. One game until the Olympic break.
CC says the ref told her it was “disrespectful to the game of basketball” after she got a tech for hitting the hoop base, mad at herself for missing a 3.
Compared it to when she got one for saying “damn it” in college.
Adds: “I think he fired me up to play a lot harder.”
Christie Sides on why Caitlin Clark was inbounding the ball with 0.2 seconds left instead of on the receiving end:
“I felt she gave us the best opportunity to find the open person and get the open shot.”
Caitlin Clark and Kate Martin first met Bailey Lux, a 14-year-old girl with a rare cancer, in 2022 while she was getting treatment in Iowa City.
Now, with help from Make-a-Wish, the two have given the family an unforgettable experience in Las Vegas.
Caitlin Clark says she hasn’t heard from Chennedy Carter since the flagrant foul last week, and she doesn’t expect to.
Basketball is a physical game, Clark said, and sometimes emotions run high.
It's official: The Indiana Fever are playoff-bound.
After losses by Chicago and Atlanta, a late-night clinch gives Indiana its first playoff berth since 2016, ending the longest active playoff drought in the WNBA.
The 2024 WNBA All-Star team will be announced tomorrow night at 9 ET on WNBA Countdown on ESPN.
The 30-minute special will run before into the Fever-Aces game in Las Vegas, which is at 9:30 ET.
Tyrese Haliburton and Connor McCaffery here again tonight, sitting in the same spots as Wednesday’s game (and standing in celebration at every opportunity)
Caitlin Clark’s favorite NFL player growing up, of all people, was Peyton Manning.
She had a pink Manning Colts jersey when she was a kid, and her coming to Indianapolis was somewhat of a full circle moment.
Caitlin Clark didn’t give any hints on if she’s going to join Unrivaled this offseason: “I’m just focused on this right now, one thing at a time.”
Co-founder Napheesa Collier said there will be (at least) four rookies in the new league, including Sky rookie Angel Reese.
The first WNBA game Caitlin Clark ever went to, as well as her final Big Ten game as a collegiate athlete, was at the Target Center.
What playing here as a professional athlete means:
Starters rise up to the stage, and Caitlin Clark is introduced first to huge cheers from the crowd.
Aliyah Boston and Kelsey Mitchell also get large cheers
With her fifth of the night, Caitlin Clark officially breaks the assist record on an inbound pass to Kelsey Mitchell.
She passes Alyssa Thomas’ 316, which was set in 2023.
Caitlin Clark, in 20 games, has broken the Fever's rookie franchise record for single-season assists with 129.
The overall single-season record is 201, which was set by Erica Wheeler.
Katie Lou Samuelson is in a blue jersey and working with the first team in shootaround.
Temi Fagbenle is also in a blue jersey, but standing off to the side with a brace on her right hand/wrist.