Caitlin Clark held up her end of the bargain but her Indiana Fever suffered a WNBA play-off defeat.
Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark put up a valiant fight but couldn’t steer her team to victory in a nail-biting 87-81 loss to the Connecticut Sun on Wednesday, drawing the curtain on her 2024 WNBA season.
ESPN’s Ryan Ruocco hinted that the rookie might be due for some well-deserved downtime from basketball after a gruelling season.
In her second play-off outing, Clark shone with a 25-point haul on an efficient 10/23 shooting, playing the full 40 minutes and contributing eight assists and six rebounds to her team’s efforts.
As the match against the Sun wound down, Ruocco disclosed that Clark has ruled out playing offseason basketball, meaning she won’t join Angel Reese in the new Unrivaled League starting in January or participate in any other leagues.
Selected first overall by the Fever on April 16, just nine days after propelling the University of Iowa to the NCAA title game with a standout tournament run, Clark was reticent about her offseason intentions post-game on Wednesday. However, she hinted at a shift away from the court.
Standout rookie Reese has committed to the innovative Unrivaled league, a women’s 3v3 basketball competition set to launch this January in Miami, founded by athletes Breanna Stewart and Napheesa Collier. The new league is offering six-figure salaries and attracting top talent with just two spots remaining.
Current UConn sensation Paige Bueckers is amongst those who’ve signed, as eyes now turn to Clark for a potential commitment.
Caitlin Clark’s Fever bowed out of the WNBA Playoffs
Reese enthused about joining the league: “Who wouldn’t want to play with two great players like that? ” and expressed her excitement at not having to play overseas: “And I knew they were gonna bring on a couple more dogs. Nobody wants to go overseas. A lot of us never want to have to go overseas.”
Commenting on the lucrative aspect and quality of the league, she added: “Being able to make – what? – six figures. Being able to make six figures here within three months…just being able to get better…three-on-three exposes everything. So, I’m excited for it.”
Clark recently discussed the whirlwind pace of her year’s major events, suggesting a need for reflection: “I feel like I didn’t even have time to really reflect on my college career because it ended so fast, then I came here and was trying to give everything I could to this team and kind of move on to put all that behind me and help this team get back to the play-offs.
“I feel like taking some time to myself and really enjoying that, reflecting back. You know, it was special. There were a lot of things that this group accomplished that a lot of people probably didn’t think was possible. It’ll definitely be a little weird for me over the course of the first couple of weeks, then I’m sure I’ll get bored and pick up a basketball again.”
She reflected on her contribution to a sensational season saying she played a key role in breaking the Fever’s eight-year postseason drought by leading the WNBA in assists.
