Caitlin Clark’s record basketball year ends with a playoff sweep

UNCASVILLE, Conn. – As the clock ran out on her rookie season, Caitlin Clark had one final 3-pointer left in her to try to pull off an improbable comeback.

She pulled high from 27 feet with the Indiana Fever trailing the Connecticut Sun by six points with 15 seconds left. The shot bounced off the back of the ring, bounced high in the air, hit the back iron and went out of bounds.

This was to be the last chance of their season, which ended on Wednesday night with an 87-81 loss to the Sun in the second game of the first round of the playoffs. While the Sun celebrated their victory, the Fever huddled briefly on the court. Clark was the first to go into the tunnel, her long year of basketball over.

What a year it was: Clark was beginning her senior year at Iowa at this time in 2023, filling loud arenas from coast to coast, leaving her mark on the school and national record books, and setting television ratings records almost weekly.

With little time to think, she was selected No. 1 in the WNBA Draft and then led a team that had won a combined 30 games over the previous four years to its first playoff berth since 2016. While Wednesday night certainly ended on a disappointing note—especially considering the Fever led with 2:05 left—Clark showed in her dazzling debut season that this team is just beginning its ascent.

“This is a little taste of what’s possible for this organization and this franchise,” Clark said. “There’s a lot to be proud of. This team won five games two years ago. We’re a young group, a pretty inexperienced group, but we’ve come together and had a lot of fun playing together. Sometimes the worst part is you feel like you’re really playing your best basketball and then it has to stop.”

When the Fever signed Clark, her presence alone raised expectations. But after a 1-8 start, a playoff berth seemed impossible. It took a while for the Fever to find their rhythm, but they did it, with Clark, Aliyah Boston, Kelsey Mitchell and a fast-paced offense that quickly became harder to stop.

Clark ended up setting WNBA records for most assists in a season (337), most points scored or assisted in a season (1,520), most points by a rookie (769) and most 3-pointers made by a rookie (122). Her ability to not only shoot but also find her open teammates was on full display in the first two playoff games. On Wednesday night, she scored or assisted on 45 points, the most by a rookie in a playoff game in WNBA history.

That she accomplished this after playing a full college season that ended with a loss in the national championship game to South Carolina on April 7 speaks to her natural talent.

But as Clark said after the game, “The funny thing is I feel like I’m just scratching the surface, and I’m one to nitpick about everything I do. I know I want to help this franchise get even better, help my teammates get even better, and I know I have a lot of room to continue to improve. That’s what excites me the most. I feel like I could get a lot better, and before we know it, I’m sure we’ll all be back here and ready for next year.”

Fever coach Christie Sides sees that potential in her own locker room, too. The team has some decisions to make — general manager Lin Dunn said the team has already begun contract negotiations with Mitchell. Meanwhile, NaLyssa Smith’s future also seems uncertain; Temi Fagbenle replaced her in the starting lineup in Game 2.

But with Boston and Clark — two consecutive No. 1 picks — forming the team’s young core, there is a solid foundation for the future. Dunn spoke of a three-year plan to get the Fever back to the playoffs when she returned to the franchise in February 2022.

The new plan?

“The next schedule is to play for championships,” Dunn said. “That’s why I loved working for Pacer Sports and Entertainment and the Fever. We were all about winning. We wanted to bring great people to this franchise who were committed to doing whatever it took to be competitive, night in and night out. We expect this franchise to compete for championships.”

And maybe they have history on their side. The three previous WNBA franchises to win the No. 1 pick in a row won a WNBA championship within four years. But nobody counts that.

As Sides put it, “We definitely have what it takes to have some great years ahead of us.”

What made Sides even more proud of her team was that it overcame more than just a rough start this season. Clark has been in the spotlight for years, but her joining the WNBA has led to more personal attacks in various forms, from social media to in-person harassment.

In fact, Clark got into an altercation with a fan in the first quarter and complained to officials. Although it was unclear what the fan said, security removed him from the floor and spoke with him before allowing him to return to his seat.

Earlier in the week, social media was abuzz with speculation about whether DiJonai Carrington had intentionally poked Clark in the eye, leaving a bruise. Both players denied it was intentional, but that didn’t stop it from becoming a topic of conversation. In fact, the Sun posted a fingernail emoji on social media after their win. This isn’t the first time this has happened, of course. Any interaction between Clark and other players that turns physical is analyzed ad nauseam.

Clark did not address the scrutiny she has been under in recent years, but Sides defended her players after the game.

“There’s a lot of hurtful, hateful language out there, and that’s unacceptable,” Sides said. “This is basketball, and that’s their job, and they’re doing the best they can. And if it gets personal to me, there’s no reason for it. These guys have to listen and watch — social media is their life. That’s just what they do. And they have to read and see these things all the time, and all the stories that are made up of what people see or think they see. It’s just not acceptable for it to get personal.”

Maybe now that the season is over, there will be some time to reflect. As Clark said, “I feel like basketball really dominated my life for a year, so I think it will be good for me to look back on everything that happened.”

She doesn’t plan on playing basketball for the next few weeks, but until the weather gets cold, you might find her on a golf course somewhere in Indiana.

“I’m going to be a professional golfer,” Clark said, laughing.

“Not too much,” Boston said. “Stick to basketball.”