Caitlin Clark Explains Why She Didn't Complain About Quick Iowa to WNBA Turnaround
Indiana Fever superstar Caitlin Clark essentially played two consecutive basketball seasons from October 2023 through to September 2024.
And she wasn't alone, as every member of the 2024 WNBA Draft class dealt with the same. In fact, every WNBA Draft class has to deal with this because of where the WNBA Draft and the ensuing season start compared to where the NCAA season ends.
It would be hard to fault Clark or any other player for complaining about this grueling stretch of games, especially because of how hard it can be on the body. But Clark conveyed why she didn't complain about what amounts to over 80 games played in a calendar year during her appearance on a January 2 episode of New Heights with Jason and Travis Kelce.
"My high school to college transition was so weird because it was COVID, so I didn't even know when I was going to go to college," Clark said when asked whether her transition from high school to college or college to the WNBA was more difficult.
She then discussed how her freshman year at Iowa was her, her teammates, and Iowa football and men's basketball players sharing a dorm building (which the Kelce brothers thought sounded fun) before adding, "Obviously, going from college to the pros, I think it's just the time span, that's just so weird about it. It's just so short and condensed, you don't have much time.
"At that point, it is what it is. Everybody has to deal with the same thing," Clark added. "So that's what I told myself. It's like 'There's no point in complaining. Everybody is dealing with it. It's not any different.'"
WNBA players only having a month between getting drafted and season tip-off is insane 🤯 pic.twitter.com/J2dr9DhkTb
— New Heights (@newheightshow) January 6, 2025
Luckily Clark now has an entire offseason to rest and recharge before her second campaign with the Indiana Fever begins.
Grant Young covers Women’s Basketball, the New York Yankees, and the New York Mets for Sports Illustrated’s ‘On SI’ sites. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco (USF), where he also graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing and played on USF’s Division I baseball team for five years. However, he now prefers Angel Reese to Angels in the Outfield.