'Things just change really fast': Caitlin Clark talks about the WNBA, golf, advice for kids with Kelce brothers

‘Things just change really fast’: Caitlin Clark talks about the WNBA, golf, advice for kids with Kelce brothers

Posted by Admin January 3, 2025 Golf

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How was your 2024? Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark‘s was “life-changing,” she told Jason and Travis Kelce on an episode of the “New Heights” podcast released Thursday.

That comes with becoming a college record breaker, WNBA No. 1 overall draft pick, Rookie of the Year and Time magazine athlete of the year.

“Life-changing. All in a good way. Things just change really fast,” Clark said, noting the influence social media has. “But that’s why it’s fun.”

Clark said the quick change from her senior college season at Iowa to the WNBA prevented her from enjoying some “lasts” in Iowa City, but that “you don’t have time to overthink things.”

She wasn’t named to the U.S. Olympic team that won a gold medal in Paris, but that she “really needed” the break in the WNBA season.

Clark said part of the fast adjustment was finding her voice in a locker room with established veterans and younger players trying to remain in the league.

“You come in as a rookie and you’re in a new environment. You have new teammates. You don’t want to say too much. You don’t want to say too little. It’s just so hard. In my situation, people are already turning to you to be something. That’s what I struggled with early on,” she said. “I had a lot of good vets around me. We had a really young team, too. … You’re there to learn but they’re looking at you to be what they drafted you to be.”

Clark said the Fever’s 2012 league championship trophy is near her locker, probably not by accident.

“The coaches probably placed it there on purpose, so I have to look at it every day,” she said.

Clark has help from the Fever legend who led that title run. Tamika Catchings, whose number is hanging in the Gainbridge Fieldhouse rafters, keeps in frequent contact with her.

“She’s what made the Indiana Fever really good,” Clark said. “She’s still really big in the Indianapolis community. She was one of the first people who texted me after I got picked. She’s still checks up on me.”

Order IndyStar’s commemorative book on Caitlin Clark’s rookie year

Caitlin Clark on basketball vs. golf

Clark played in a tournament sponsored by golf legend Annika Sorenstam in November, and it humbled her. She said standing on the first tee in front of a gallery makes her infinitely more nervous that standing at the free throw line in a clutch situation (“It’s not even close”).

“I’m not good enough to hit a par-3 from 200 yards, so I whip out my hybrid club and just top it right at the fan to the left,” she said. “I nailed somebody on a different part-3, right on the shoulder. I saw on a TikTok, she had a black welt on her arm.

“Golf makes me more mad because I’m not good at it. It’s like the average hack. … It’s also that it’s an individual sport, and that’s what pisses me off. It’s all on me and it’s all my fault.”

Caitlin Clark’s advice for basketball players

Clark covered a lot of ground in about an hour with the football and media stars: Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour, her “Welcome to the WNBA moment,” picking between Iowa and Notre Dame for college, when colleges started recruiting her, the NBA’s new All-Star Game format, and advice she has for aspiring basketball players.

“Enjoy every single moment because it goes so fast. Life changes so fast. You only get to do a lot of things once. Have fun. Enjoy it. Remember why you do it. Don’t take it too serious,” she said, fully aware that she has moments where her emotions get away from her.