Caitlin Clark’s exit interview on Thursday featured, unsurprisingly, as much off-court talk as on-court.
INDIANAPOLIS — The offseason may be less than a week old for Caitlin Clark, but it’s already been a busy one, as is life of a superstar.
Days after the season ended, she traveled to Iowa City to be part of College Gameday with her Iowa Hawkeyes. And after taking the summer off so as not to risk aggravating her back injury during the season, she’s also back on the links golfing…or relearning how to golf.
“I’ll be completely honest, like this is embarrassing to admit,” Clark said. “I stepped up to the first tee and swung and whiffed…So that was very humbling. But I have since figured it out.”
Life rarely slows down for Clark, even in the offseason. But this won’t be a normal offseason for her or the Fever, though. Indiana saw its season end at the hands of the Aces for the second year in a row. Even if Clark was on the court for this playoff series after missing last year’s due to injury, the result was the same.
It ended a long, exhausting season with as many, if not more, storylines off the floor for the Fever as on it. Fittingly, Clark’s exit interview on Thursday also included both on-court and off-court discussions.
Pushing back against racism and hate
It’s become a recurring trend for Clark to have to speak out on this. Unfortunately, the insistence of many — including public figures — to use her as a pawn in a game Clark has never shown any interest in playing places an unwanted target on her.
Clark has publicly denounced using her name in hate or racist rhetoric multiple times in her career. She did it her rookie year on multiple occasions. She did it this season.
No other player has had to navigate those waters as often as Clark, if ever.
On Thursday, it was perhaps a bit different. During her own exit interview last week, Kelsey Mitchell spoke about the hate she’s received “specifically being an Indiana Fever basketball player.” Even if she didn’t say it, it was implied that this is a result of the extra eyes brought on the team by Caitlin Clark.
There was nothing malicious toward Clark in Mitchell’s quote, but rather a statement of fact about how tough it is to play for the Fever.
“Obviously I saw Kelsey’s comments and I think as her teammate, it makes you upset because you care about your teammates so much and you don’t want any of them to go through something like that,” Clark said. “I think, as far as people that have used me to demonstrate racist rhetoric or hate or discrimination, that’s not something I stand for.
“That’s never been something I’ve stood for. For those of you that know me, you know that’s not what I’m about. It’s not how I was raised, so that’s really disappointing when people do that…Anytime I see something like that, it makes me upset, makes me sad, makes me really disappointed because that’s not who I am. It’s not what I’m about.”
Clark said she reached out to Kelsey after her exit interview to tell her how much she appreciates her. She thanked her for speaking kindly of her, both as a person and as a basketball player, during their time together and credited her as someone who “has really lifted me up.”
She also acknowledged that all of this can be overwhelming. Mitchell was the Fever’s star for years before Clark changed so much about the franchise.
“I think at times, you have to realize it maybe was a little bit hard with her, with me coming in here,” Clark said. “This was Kelsey’s team for seven years and then a lot of eyeballs come to this team and that can be new and that’s a lot of change.”
Bringing back Kelsey
On the court, the Fever have one big goal this season, which was again reiterated by Clark.
Bring Kelsey Mitchell back.
A likely second straight All-WNBA season from Mitchell precedes her entering unrestricted free agency. This time around, Indiana doesn’t have the ability to core her, meaning the possibility of her leaving is as real as ever.
Clark is ready to be at the forefront of the recruiting efforts to keep Mitchell in a Fever jersey.
“I know this organization, we’re going to work our butt off to get her back,” Clark said. “We’re going to recruit her as hard as we can. Every player that is signed to a contract is going to recruit her as hard as we can. We need her. We love her.”
A lot of the Fever’s plans this offseason will be dictated by Mitchell’s decision. She will almost certainly command a max deal, which the Fever will have room to offer. Together, her and Clark had arguably the greatest season any backcourt has had in league history.
Both will likely earn First Team All-WNBA honors and both will also almost certainly finish in the top five in MVP voting. Mitchell will turn 31 this offseason, but has never looked better on the basketball court, averaging a career-high 24.7 points per game last season, doing so on by far the best efficiency of her career as well.
The backcourt pairing isn’t perfect, particularly defensively, but they form an offensive juggernaut like no other in the league. Clark hopes this is just the beginning of what they can do.
“I hope she comes back here and the arena is chanting ‘M-V-P’ for her again because that’s what she deserves,” she said. “She’s been with this organization…10 [years] if we’re able to sign her back. That’s certainly our goal.
“That’s our number one priority. And for myself, my number one priority. I hope for the rest of my career, I get to play alongside her.”
An EPIC extension
The league’s new CBA introduced the new Exceptional Performance on Initial Contract (EPIC) extension. It allows players to renegotiate the fourth year of their rookie deal into a three-year extension with a big pay raise so long as they’ve been named to an All-WNBA team.
Aliyah Boston signed her EPIC extension with the Fever last offseason. Caitlin Clark is eligible this season, as is Angel Reese. Paige Bueckers will follow next season.
But for Indiana, part of the tricky cap gymnastics many projected this offseason has centered around the assumption that Clark would sign her extension. However, she sounded a lot like someone who wasn’t set on that.
“I think there’s a lot of things to think about,” Clark said. “Obviously it’s great that I have that opportunity. I think for myself, we obviously haven’t got into roster construction yet. We have to think about things with the cap and what we’re going to need and who we’re going to need to sign and what value they bring to the team.
“Not saying I am going to sign it. Not saying I’m going to sign it or not sign it. I think it’s just kind of figuring out the way we need to construct our roster. I mean, no matter what, I’m going to be here. I just want to do what’s best for the team and make sure we have the opportunity to be able to win championships.”
Variations of that phrase, “win championships,” were mentioned multiple times in the pair of questions Caitlin fielded on her extension, painting a pretty clear picture of her main goal. If Clark is willing to hold off on that extension, then the Fever suddenly gain more wiggle room.
There’s also the possibility that, like Boston last offseason, the first year of Clark’s deal comes at a discount to give the team more spending power. Between her current rookie deal, restricted free agency and the potential to core a player, Clark is locked in with the Fever for many years moving forward.
But she has also made it clear she loves being in Indiana and wants to compete for rings with the Fever. Even if she was adamant she hadn’t made a decision on whether to sign her extension or not, reading between the lines, it seems clear she’s willing to help the franchise where needed to build a contender.
“I think for myself, I think my focus is on winning,” Clark said. “I certainly know what I deserve and what I’m worth, but at the same time, sometimes you have to make sacrifices…I think it’s something great that was done in the CBA and people having that opportunity is a really big deal. I think if you are a player that has this opportunity, it should mean a lot to you and you should be proud of it.
“But I think just for myself, I want to look at how I can help this team win.”