Indiana Fever Coach on Caitlin Clark’s Competitiveness: ‘She’s Gonna Hit ‘Em’

To close out the Indiana Fever‘s May 12 practice, Caitlin Clark took a one-legged 3-point fadeaway as though it were a shot at the buzzer.

The shot missed.

Clark smacked a padded side wall out of frustration, per ClutchPoints, before laughing off the miss and returning to her teammates.

Clark and her teammates are “all really competitive, and that’s what is gonna drive us,” Fever head coach Christie Sides told reporters after practice.

“I mean, we wanna make sure that we’re the hardest working, most competitive team in the gym,” she said. “They want to win everything … and we were working on some late-game stuff. And, I mean, [Clark] didn’t get the shot.

“She’s gonna get those shots and she’s gonna hit ’em,” she said. “We’re gonna give her that opportunity.”

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Where Caitlin Clark’s Competitive Nature Comes From

Clark is one of three players featured in the ESPN+ “Full Court Press” mini-series released on May 11.

During the series’ first episode, the Fever superstar’s parents revealed how she was treated by her two brothers and four male cousins.

“They would put her in a snowsuit and throw water balloons at her,” Clark’s mother said. “I mean, they were just awful to her.”

Clark’s brother Blake Clark reminisced about their childhood, saying, “When we have nothing to do, and it’s hot here, humid, and [Caitlin] has all of her snow gear on, so that she doesn’t feel getting hit. But she just wanted to play with us.”

Caitlin Clark herself said she “just wanted to do everything that they did. On the day my older brother learned to ride how bike with no training wheels, I did too. Because I was so mad that he could do it but I couldn’t.”

Their father added that Caitlin Clark’s attitude was, “‘If my brother can do this without training wheels, I can do this without training wheels.'”

“Everything had to be a competition all the time,” Blake Clark added of his sister’s mindset. He detailed a story of Caitlin Clark and their youngest brother, Colin Clark, playing a game of basketball in the family basement.

After she missed a shot, Caitlin Clark “chucked” her brother into a wall. He ended up needing five staples in the back of his head as a result.

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Caitlin Clark Missed Her First WNBA Buzzer Beater

On May 3, during the Fever’s 2024 WNBA preseason opener against the Dallas Wings, Clark got a similar buzzer beater opportunity at the end of the game. She missed the shot, and Indiana lost the game 79-76.

Clark has been known to sink game-winning shots in the past. On January 2, Clark drained a game-winning buzzer beater against the Michigan State Spartans to give her Iowa squad a 76-73 win at home.

Clark was asked about the shot by the Peacock broadcast postgame.

“You know, we practice those plays every single day in practice,” she said.

Clark’s future teammate Aliyah Boston then asked her how she stays so poised in these situations.

“You just come back, you’ve gotta let it go, and you’ve gotta respond,” Clark answered.

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