While Caitlin Clark may play loads of golf rounds, she may not play basketball overseas after her WNBA rookie season ended on Sept. 25.
“I was focused on beating the Connecticut Sun. I hadn’t thought too far down the line,” Clark told reporters after an 87–71 loss to the Suns. “I don’t know what I’m going to do tomorrow. I don’t know what I’m going to do the next day. Maybe play some golf. I think that’s what I’m gonna do until it becomes too cold in Indiana. I’ll become a professional golfer.”
Fever forward Aliyah Boston then humorously interjected “no too much, babe” and “keep it to basketball” after Clark’s comments. Many WNBA players go play overseas, but not many of them have the endorsements of Clark’s caliber.
Clark has an eight-year, $28 million deal with Nike as first reported by The Athletic and The Wall Street Journal via unnamed sources in April. She also has a $28 million contract with Gatorade. That’s all in addition to her four-year, $338,056 rookie deal with the Fever.
The NCAA’s all-time leading scorer burst on the WNBA scene this year in April as the number-one pick in the draft, less than a month after her Final Four appearance with the Iowa Hawkeyes. Clark set rookie records galore as she led the Fever to .500 record and playoff appearance for the first time since 2016, and fans packed WNBA arenas to the gills to watch her all summer.
“The fun part is I feel like I’m just scratching the surface, and I’m one that’s nitpicking every single thing I do,” Clark said. “I know I want to help this franchise get even better, help my teammates get even better, and I know there’s a lot of room for me to continue to improve.”
“So that’s what excites me the most. I feel like I could continue to get a lot better, and before we know it, I’m sure we'll all be back here and ready for the next year,” she added.
Indiana has two guards up for new contract: Kelsey Mitchell and Erica Wheeler. Mitchell had a salary-cap hit of $212,000 this year, and Wheeler had a cap hit of $202,154.
Other teams could pursue Mitchell in free agency after a stellar season, when she averaged 19.2 points, 2.5 rebounds, and 1.8 assists per game. Wheeler put up smaller numbers at 3.6 points, 1.4 rebounds, and 1.8 assists per game, but she played an intangible role in mentoring Clark.
Fever head coach Christie Sides could be back on the bench next season, but fans have called for her departure throughout the season and since the 0-2 playoff exit on Wednesday. Sides has a 33-47 record with the Fever in two seasons as back-to-back number-one picks came along in 2023 with Aliyah Boston and 2024 with Clark.
“The adversity that these guys went through—just the expectations that were insane for us to start this season, and what people thought we should be doing, and ... the outside noise that these guys … had to endure from game one till now, so hurtful,” Sides told reporters. “They handled it and kept showing up and kept coming in our locker room and kept finding ways to get better, and we freaking landed in the playoffs.”
Indiana has at least three more seasons with Clark under contract and could build through the draft and free agency before next May. Whether or not Sides remains the coach, she sees the potential.
“We have the pieces to have some great years ahead of us,” Sides said.
