Caitlin Clark Is Handling All The Pressure Fabulously Ahead of First WNBA Preseason Game With The Dallas Wings

To say Caitlin Clark isn’t under any pressure would be the understatement of the year. Clark, who will play her first WNBA preseason game on Friday against the Dallas Wings, recently inked a $28 Million endorsement deal with Nike and has the eyes of the world watching her every step.

From her first three-pointer during her first practice as a member of the Indiana Fever to being asked to sign a women's ultrasound picture at a recent Indiana Pacers playoff game, you can’t make up some of the things she is being asked to do.

Fans found the ultrasound signing both interesting and funny. 

"I think the story is the baby was conceived the night she passed Pistol Pete," one user joked.

"This is the most Indiana thing I have ever seen," wrote another.

Considering Clark has been in the media spotlight for over two years now, she appears to be in complete control of the crazy attention she is receiving, and in fact, I’d say she’s happily embracing it.

She is clearly handling everything, even the criticism, like a champ.

“No matter what happens there’s going to be expectations and pressure on my shoulders and pressure on this team to be really good,” Clark told reporters during Sunday’s press conference. “That’s how you want it.”
“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,” Clark added. “I don’t think it’s anything that’s ever been different for me.”

Every day, it seems like five new stories surface about Clark. For example, today, a story hit the wire about how someone paid $10k for the first Caitlin Clark basketball card. Then there was the story about Clark's favorite player, New York Liberty star guard Sabrina Ionescu, sending her a message. 

“I mean, she’s just starting her career and how she’s been able to push the game forward is amazing,” Ionescu told WNBA reporter Khristina Williams on Monday. “And doing that in college and breaking so many records and knowing that she’s just scratching the surface of what she’s gonna accomplish in the league.”

“And, you know, she knows I’m always rooting for her,” Ionescu added. “I’ve reached out. We’re pretty close, and I just wanna kind of be that person that she could always lean on.”
“And obviously there’s competition, but she, I think, … knows that I’m always in her corner,” Ionescu continued. “The league’s tough. The league’s hard.”

“She has a target on her back, but you know, … she’s gonna be able to take care of her business,” Ionescu said. “And there’s obviously gonna be kinds of struggles, and she’s gonna have to figure out what it takes to be a pro, but there’s no one, you know, more equipped than she is to do that.”

Unlike Ionescu, not all WNBA players think Clark will take off immediately. Take Phoenix Mercury star Diana Taurasi, who believes it will take time for Clark to adjust.

“Not saying [Clark’s skills] are not gonna translate, because when you’re great at what you do, you’re just gonna get better,” Taurasi told ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt on April 6. “But there is gonna be a transition period where you’re gonna have to give yourself some grace as a rookie.”

THE UNDERRATED OPINION
Caitlin Clark is handling everything like she has been through it before. She is embracing all of the fandom it appears to the fullest and has successfully handled the criticism from current and former WNBA players with class to this point.

Ultimately, there will be peaks and valleys in her rookie season, but she appears to be tough enough to handle anything that comes her way, and let’s face it, playing in the WNBA is a dog fight night in and night out.