As the newest member of the team, Clark is learning how she’ll fit into a new offensive system, building chemistry with her new teammates and learning the nuances of what it means to be the league’ highest-profile rookie.
Sure, Clark anticipates some bumps this season; she wouldn’t expect anything less. But giving the sport she loves her full attention is really all Clark ever wanted.
‘I think that’s what I was most excited for, getting all that stuff out of the way,’ the former Iowa star said on Day 1 of Indiana’s training camp on Sunday.
‘The draft was amazing, New York City was amazing, Los Angeles was amazing, but I was excited to get here and get back to playing basketball, you know, doing my job.’
Over the last two seasons, these WNBA rookies have created the kind of buzz around women’s basketball most fans only dreamed about, and Clark is undisputedly at the head of the class.
Perhaps even more fittingly, the transition from the established stars to newcomers such as Clark officially started the same day another trailblazing performer, Candace Parker, announced her retirement.
But, like Parker, Clark enters this season with one primary goal: Winning games.
‘I think no matter what happens there’s going to be expectations and pressure on my shoulders and pressure on this team to be really good.
That’s how you want it,’ Clark said. ‘We wouldn’t want anything else.
We want people showing up to our games, people expecting us to win a lot of basketball games this year and I’m expecting myself to play really well.
I don’t think it’s anything that’s ever been different for me.’
That kind of talk certainly is new to the Fever.
Indiana hasn’t reached the playoffs since 2016, hasn’t posted a winning season since 2015 and has been mostly irrelevant nationally since Hall of Famer Tamika Catchings’ retirement.
Over the past five seasons, the Fever won 28 games.
Iowa, meanwhile, went 65-12 and with two national runner-up finishes in Clark’s final two college seasons.
