Caitlin Clark’s ready for her WNBA regular-season debut as Fever take on Connecticut
By DOUG FEINBERG
AP Basketball Writer
UNCASVILLE, Conn. (AP) — Caitlin Clark admitted she was eager for her WNBA debut to begin as her Indiana Fever faced the Connecticut Sun.
It was one of four games on the league’s opening night to tip-off the WNBA’s 28th season. New York, which was runner-up in the WNBA Finals, visited Washington to start the evening.
The No. 1 pick in the WNBA draft sat around most of the day at the hotel and had to wait to get on the court when her team arrived nearly 2:30 hours before tipoff.
“I just want to get out there and play,” she said. “I got plenty of time to sit and think about it. Still this is exciting. This is fun. … There’s just a different buzz in the air.”
Clark said that she wasn’t focused on how she scored her first basket, whether it’s one of her signature logo 3-pointers or something else. Although she wouldn’t mind if it was a layup.
“That would be a high-percentage shot,” she said laughing.
Even before playing a WNBA game, Clark has left her mark in the pros. The league’s draft had record viewership, and her No. 22 Indiana Fever jerseys have been flying off the shelves.
Three WNBA teams have already moved their games to bigger arenas to keep up with the demand for tickets to watch her play. Her debut in Connecticut is sold out — the first sellout for the Sun in a season opener since they played their inaugural game at Mohegan Sun Arena in 2003 after moving from Orlando. There’s also a huge media turnout with nearly four-times the number of credentials issued for this game than a normal Sun contest.
Clark and her teammates took the court in a morning shootaround at the empty arena. She said afterward that she planned to watch more film during the day in her hotel room.
“I don’t feel nervous or really anxious,” she said. “I think I’m just excited more than anything and just embracing it.”
Clark said she’s not going to get too caught up on her play in her first game.
“If something isn’t perfect, my life’s not going to end,” she said. “If, you know, we lose the game tonight, my life’s not going to end. I’m just going to learn from it and come back on Thursday and try to help us win.”
This will be the second sold-out crowd Clark will play in front of in her extremely young WNBA career. Her preseason game in Dallas was sold out, too. More than 13,000 fans also turned up for her only home preseason game.
Clark’s home debut will be Thursday, when the Fever host the New York Liberty.
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