Caitlin Clark’s WNBA rookie season was one for the record books, but she also remembers the moment when she knew she was in pro ball.
Her “welcome to the WNBA” moment.
Clark appeared on the latest “New Heights” podcast with Travis and Jason Kelce and was asked about the moment when she was welcomed by fellow WNBA players.
She knew the answer right away.
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Caitlin Clark (22) of the Indiana Fever argues a call with a referee during the second half of a game against the Washington Mystics at Gainbridge Fieldhouse June 19, 2024, in Indianapolis. (Emilee Chinn/Getty Images)
“Somebody set a screen on me, and I hit my ear just perfect on the girl where my eardrum popped. And it ruptured,” Clark said of her Fever game against the New York Liberty June 2. “I knew it right away because I’ve done it before [while tubing in a lake]. It hurts so bad. … That was my welcome to the W moment.”
Clark said while her ear didn’t bleed, her hearing wasn’t the same for a few weeks.
“It takes months to heal,” Clark added. “So, after the season, the doctor had to go back and forth and see if it closed. And if it doesn’t close, you have to have a minor procedure. But, lucky enough, it did close. So, I was fine.”
The 104-68 beatdown by the Liberty against the Fever was Clark’s 11th game of her rookie season.
The injury occurred in the fourth quarter of the blowout, and Clark got attention from trainers on the bench before needing to walk back to the locker room at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
Former Iowa Hawkeye and current Indiana Fever WNBA star Caitlin Clark is honored during a game between the Iowa Hawkeyes and the Northwestern Wildcats at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City, Iowa, Oct. 26, 2024. (Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images)
Clark missed the rest of the game.
“I don’t wanna explain it. It’d probably be pretty gross. But, no, I feel fine,” Clark told reporters at the time of the injury. “I can’t hear great out of one of my ears.”
The injury didn’t prevent Clark from breaking a number of records, including most assists in a season.
Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark rushes up the court July 12, 2024, during a game at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. (Grace Hollars/IndyStar/USA Today Network via Imagn Images)
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Clark was named Time’s Athlete of the Year and the 2024 WNBA Rookie of the Year. She was also named a WNBA All-Star for the first time.
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