Caitlin Clark Introductory Press Conference (April 17, 2024) | Indiana Fever

good morning everyone and welcome into what is truly a historic day here for the Indiana Fever for Pacers sports and entertainment for our city and for our states I'm Pat boand fever play-by-play announcer and on behalf of Pacer sports and entertainment I want to thank all of you here for joining us this morning and for everybody watching and following Along online we welcome you as well as we welcome in for the very first time the number one overall draft pick in 2024 Caitlyn Clark here to Indiana before we begin a few housekeeping items for a media member yeah let's hear it Caitlyn Clark to Indiana before we begin this morning a few housekeeping items for our media members in attendance will have a microphone going around we kindly ask that you state your name and media affiliation we'll begin here with an opening statement from Caitlyn but she will be joined on the podium by our general manager Lyn Dunn and our head coach Christy sides you may direct questions to any of the three of them and for our media members watching here on Zoom once we're done with the inperson portion we'll move over to the zoom questions we kindly ask that you utilize the raised hand function for that once our press conference is over today we invite anyone forward there will be a picture opportunity with Caitlyn with Lynn and with Christie and for anybody that needs access to this after the fact it will be available on NBA content share all right let's welcome this Hawkeye to Indianapolis it is my honor to welcome for the very first time the 2024 WNBA drafts number one overall pick here to Indianapolis please welcome Caitlyn Clark [Applause] Caitlyn floor is yours well I'm super excited to be here I've never had a given an opening statement before so this is a first for me and a large crowd but um like I said I'm I'm super happy to be here um thank you to the fever the Pacers um this is a dream come true like these are the moments you dream of uh obviously Tama Catchings is here like that's pretty incredible somebody I grew up idolizing yes yes but like I said after I got drafted like I can't think of a better place for myself to start my career a place that loves basketball supports women's basketball um and an organization that really does things the right way um has Championship pedigree so I'm just very thankful that they have a belief in me and obviously my parents are here today my two brothers aren't here my little brother had to go back to school he actually missed his flight out of New York City after the draft so I think he did it on purpose but um thankful for them and you know couldn't be happier to be here so thank all of you for coming and I can't wait to get started all right all right all right thank you everybody we will now go to questions in the room you can raise your hand and we will get a microphone to you Sam has it there we'll start first question on the right in a reminder to please direct your question and to please introduce yourself with your name and your affiliation hi Caitlyn wheat hotkis fever basketball.com first of all welcome to Indie uh you're uh the second consecutive number one pick for this franchise after Aaliyah Boston last year when you look at this roster with players like Aaliyah Kelsey Mitchell Nelissa Smith Erica wheeler and so much young Talent what are you most excited about joining this team yeah I think like you said like there's just so much talent on this roster and I'm very thankful obviously Aaliyah has been one of my teammates before with USA basketball and I know firsthand how great she is and obviously Erica wheeler somebody that's been having my back and we're not even really teammates yet so uh I can't you know I'm super excited about that some a bet somebody that's been in the league for a really long time and obviously as a point guard you need somebody to lean on and you know have your back and ask questions you know I don't have all the answers not everything's going to be perfect so going to need people like that uh to surround myself with and I think this you know organization and this team is you know the perfect example of that go first row on the right there for Greg hi Caitlyn uh Greg Doyle indie star real quick let me do this you like you like that I like that you're here here I like you're here I do that at my family after every game so okay well start doing it to me and we'll be get along just fine so question is you you didn't have to turn pro I kind of thought you would no matter what but how much did Indiana have the no wonder all pick because the things you said and the driving distance to Iowa just everything I'm just wondering what role that might have played yeah it definitely played a huge role and I actually played it the exact same time as the draft lottery on the it happened I'm not sure exactly who we were playing but um I was hoping that Indiana got the first pick it would have made my life a lot better so uh when I saw that I I was pretty excited and you know obviously that's not every single reason of you know why I wanted to leave and you know be done with college I think you know I was just ready for a new challenge and something new in my life you know felt like I kind of had done everything at Iowa that I possibly could and we did a lot of amazing things but um to be able to come here and stay in the Midwest and you know it's only 5 hours from Iowa City 7 hours from where I grew up um you really you can't script it any better so um it was really it was really a no-brainer for me go second row on the right Caitlyn Jeff Duo KCCI de Mo there were 6,000 people here on Monday for this draft watch party you talked about Indianapolis being a place that loves women's basketball when you hear that number just what goes through your mind and the passion they're going to have for this team and for for you yeah I think it just speaks to the excitement of what this summer is going to bring and like you said women's basketball in this state is pretty incredible Grace knows that better than anybody else like I hated playing at Indiana and they hated me so hopefully a lot of them turn into Indiana Fever fans but I mean they hated me for good reason it's a hard place to to win at and um yeah I mean 6,000 people just to to stare at a screen and see who gets picked in the draft is you know pretty incredible so I expect you know big numbers this this summer and um you know I think just people couldn't be more excited about where this organization is going the people that is on are on this roster and the potential but also just women's basketball in general like people know it's special people know this draft class was special the talent level across the board like um you know I think it's just going to continue to elevate the league and you know take it to Greater Heights first row on the right Chris Hagen Fox 59 loud talker uh my question is for Coach I mean GM dun uh you've had rosters throughout the years with a lot of elite players and what advice would you have for Christie about managing a roster like that so many great players and only one basketball well I think Christy understands that from her past experiences with the Chicago Sky uh with the Atlanta Dream and then with coaching the top players in the world subir Lauren Jackson Elena delodon in Europe so I'm I'm confident Christie and her staff are prepared for that but I'm going to segue over and I just want want to say thank you to all the coaching staff at the University of Iowa Lisa blutter Jan zensen uh and what a great job they've done with this young lady and it's a powerful moment for me because I was a longtime Christine Grant fan uh who was I call her the mother of Title Nine and so now we're seeing the fruits of what they did there and then she's also had a thankful parents support system and so it it's not surprising to me when you've got coaches like them a family like these people that she's turned out this well second row on the aisle James Boyd the athletic um guess two parts first one with Aaliyah being a number one pick last year how do you think she can help you just navigate that space that pressure of being the face of a franchise and then number two when you talk about pressure the weight that you carry in this sport how much do you think that is your responsibility cuz I hear so often about like you elevating the game and you be in the face of this but do you think it's fair to put so much on you if that makes sense yeah I think uh obviously Aaliyah having experience of being a number one draft pick and going to an organization where they're probably going to expect a lot of you will be just be somebody that I can lean on and ask questions but I think that goes for you know everybody in this organization top to bottom like I don't think it just has to be one person there's a lot of people that are here to support me um and I think that just goes right into the pressure thing like I certainly know there's pressure there that's been like my entire career but for me like I just have fun playing basketball I know this is a team sport like it's not all about me it's not everything I have to do and um when I've been able to understand that that's allowed me to play my best I think and um like I think it's just using your resources asking questions knowing that everything's not going to be perfect um and giving myself a little Grace I think that too is like I'm definitely a perfectionist but I'm at my best when I allow myself to have a little Grace and um not expect everything to go exactly how it should but at the same time that's what allowed me to be so great first row on the right hi K Dave cabro Channel 13 met you in Brooklyn welcome to Indianapolis thanks how do you keep all this in perspective off the court the focus the attention the non every time I turn on TV you're on how do you keep this in perspective as a a human being and a 22-year-old yeah it's definitely hard I think at times like it doesn't feel real is like the biggest thing I feel like I'm kind of stuck in a dream at times but I don't know I think the biggest thing like I try to remember is like how grateful I am to have this opportunity and you know there's so many people that would kill to be in my shoes when things seem like they're long and they're tired and I have to do this and I have to do that I just try to remind myself of how grateful I am and like I get these opportunities um you know I'm I'm lucky to have these moments and um you know it can all be taken away from you in a second so uh just enjoy every single second of it give it my best and uh I think that'll work pretty well for me first row on the right hi Caitlyn Rachel Wilkerson with TV here so many little girls were here at the watch party cheering for you specifically the lady blackouts what can you say to them and how do you hope to inspire other girls here in Indianapolis yeah I think the biggest thing is just continue to be yourself I think that was the biggest thing when I was growing up my parents allowed me to have a lot of confidence in myself they never told me I couldn't accomplish anything I grew up playing basketball with the boys um and to me like I never thought that was like different or weird it was just what I did I out there I competed hard um I feel like that's a lot of the reason I am who I am today is you know I had this constant confidence in myself and I feel like that's a thing a lot of young girls struggle with today is just having the confidence about them to achieve whatever they want um so I I would say that's the biggest thing but it it's really the support system around them that instills that confidence in them and that's what I'm so lucky for whether it was you know a coaches I had growing up whether it was High School coaches whether it was my parents whether it was my family you know they never told me I couldn't achieve something like it was always like if you want it you can go get it you just have to earn it and I think that's like the biggest thing I would tell the younger generation great go ahead uh chrisy Greg Doyle Andy star hi um you just were given the keys to that what are you going to do with it what am I going to do with them hopefully we're g to uh win a lot of games to start she's going to help us out um with that you know the process um is really really awkward this is actually the first time I've sat in the room uh with with our new player and so just to have this moment just the few minutes that we had to talk to her for a few minutes uh speak to her family um it's it's incredible for us to have uh the opportunity to have someone like her um join our team um we established a great culture last year and uh laid a great foundation and add someone like her and and her awesome support staff um her family um to our fever family is just um in in all aspects it's just it just puts us in a whole different ball game go third row on the right Caitlyn Anthony Calhoun Wish TV welcome to Indianapolis as well and um I spent some time with the Pacer players yesterday and they had a lot of praise for you so happy that you're part of this city part of this organization how much are you looking forward to spending some time with the Rival Well the for arrival and Tyrese halberton and and of course the Pacer players as well yeah honestly I've watched the Pacers very closely my boyfriend works for the Pacers so I've become quite a fan um but I mean Tyrese is is incredible and I just want to congratulate him obviously being named to the USA national team today um is pretty special it's really hard accomplishment and um obviously he played for a very terrible team in college but um it's nice to to be in in the same city now and um you know the way I think the thing I love about him is the way he passes the ball like I watch watch his game and it's just incredible what he can do so um but all of them across the board um I think coach Carlile has been tremendous for them and it's been a lot of fun to watch and you know I hope they beat the Bucks we'll go on the back right standing on the side there kayin Mickey shuy with the ibj uh you enter the league at an interesting time for it as it gets ready to take on media rights and there's more sponsorship opportunities let's fast forward whether it's 5 10 15 20 years down the line where do you hope the league is when you leave it at that point well that's a it's a really good question honestly like I feel like it's hard to really imagine what the league can be because I feel like it's a place where a lot of people can't even wrap their head around like I feel like that's where it can go um obviously the new medor rights deal that can be negotiated can be life-changing for a lot of players in this league it's going to be a huge deal um but also like expansion I think expansion is really important um this is one of the most this is the most competitive league in the world there's 144 spots but really there's not 144 spots it's less than that and um you know I think the biggest thing is just continue to give it an opportunity um continue to attract fans from the college game I think that's the biggest thing we've seen in college is you know when people gave it an opportunity and actually watched it they continue to come back for more and it's the same thing with the WNBA when you go and buy a ticket or turn on the TV it's you see how good it is um so I think continue to track fans in um and they're going to see how amazing it is and how skilled these players are and how fun it is to support and watch um so I think that's the biggest thing and you know that'll take it to a place that a lot of people probably can't even imagine we'll stay back right standing there uh Caitlyn Reggie Edwards Indie Sports Daily I've got to ask with yourself being from Iowa how much pride did you take in what you guys were able to accomplish at the University of Iowa being the number one pick how much did that mean to you and then also seeing the fans from Iowa follow you here and being as excited as they are yeah I mean obviously what we were able to accomplish there was super special and to be a kid from De Mo Iowa and go two hours away to college and go to a place that hadn't been to the final four since 1993 with c and Stringer and obviously she had a lot of amazing teams and um you know like uh coach Dunn said I think the biggest thing is like uh dror Grant was the on the Forefront of Title 9 the University of Iowa was on the Forefront of Title 9 and to me I think it's one of the only places in the country that you know supports women's sports for 50 years like consistently across the board not just women's basketball like you go to the University of Iowa and every single sport is supported in the exact same way um and I think that's exactly what women's sports can be in our country it's just giving them the opportunity giving them the resources investing in them the exact same way um but you know that was a huge reason I went there but obviously to accomplish what we accomplished it comes with a a little more sense of sense of Pride um to wear iow across your chest and know that you're representing the people of your state that have supported you for so long and um I know there's thousands of new fever fans so um you know I couldn't be more excited they're passionate about women's basketball they've been passionate about women's basketball um and those those fans don't just say it like they'll constantly show up and support and they know what's happening like they're Rowdy like they get fired up they love it um so they're good fans to have and I expect a lot of them to to be in the building uh this next season James go ahead James boy the athletic right here um you talked about earlier about giving yourself Grace I had the same conversation with Ayah last year about giving yourself Grace when you're trying to be great what have you learned about that process throughout your career and and what ways do you try to seek to find ways to give yourself Grace yeah well I think I was a little bit of a headcase starting my college career like I just expected so much of myself constantly and also I wanted Iowa to be so good all the time um and I you know when I committed to Iowa like I said we're going to go to the final four so I felt like there was a lot of pressure for me to to accomplish that but um once I really like relied on the people around me and realized not everything's going to be perfect I feel like that's when I really played my best basketball and really thrived and kind of matured in that way um but yeah I think Grace is a thing for everybody that everybody can use in their life not everybody's perfect people make mistakes um and yeah I think that's just the biggest thing is like this there's going to be learning curves for me I'm not going to come out here and score 40 points a game like that's not what I'm going to do I think it's just you know learning from the amazing people people that I have around me and having a lot of fun but also like don't lose who I am like that's what's got me to this point continue to be myself and I think a lot of good will come from that we'll go back second row in the middle Caitlyn George Bremer with the cnh hii Sports Indiana uh my wife played division three college basketball but it was a different era she didn't have the WNBA and she said she imagined playing against like Michael Jordan Larry Bird when she was hitting game-winning shots in her driveway she wanted to know who you imagined playing against when you were growing up uh but also just the importance of this league and and the representation for young girls yeah I grew up loving the Minnesota links I probably shouldn't say that anymore and tamaa Catchings of course so um but no that was obviously the closest WM team from where I grew up uh Minneapolis was 4 hours from U my house and you know obviously they had a dynasty there that was obviously really easy to cheer for but I think you know this league is very important I think having young girls young boys you know see women accomplishing really great things at the highest level and showing them that you know sport teaches you a lot of life lessons having young girls involved in sport I think that's like the best thing that has happened to me is you know it's taught me so much more about life than it has basketball you know it's brought me a lot of life liong friendships it's done some really amazing things for my family um it's taken me to places I really have never you know would have imagined so I think the more eyeballs you can get on this league you know the better off this world's going to be so um you know I'm just excited to to join the League and be a part of that go back to Bob second row on the right Caitlyn Bob Kravitz with Indianapolis monthly magazine what was that Saturday Night Live uh experience like pton wants said it was the most nerve-wracking thing he's ever been through when he hosted and when will you host I don't think I'm ready for all that that would be terrifying I was terrified for a three minute skit so um but it was incredible I I actually flew from LA to New York and I went right to the set and I woke up at 7:00 a.m. in La went right to the set and obviously the show doesn't start till 11:30 so I was like just chugging Coke all night like trying to stay awake coffee soda um but it it was fun you know they kind of just throw you right into the fire I know I said I wrote the jokes obviously I didn't write the jokes I'm not that funny um but I don't know it was good like it was a good platform for women's sports everybody loved it um and that was like a a great show Emily Blunt Ryan Gosling Chris Stapleton like Kate McKinnon like so many amazing people like came back and um it was fun to be a part of I was so nervous when I was like right behind the screen before they like rolled me into the set and we went live like my heart was about to explode out of my chest um but it was it was a good little skit it was fun to be a part of and hopefully I can you know go back and do it again sometime go back to Dave first row on the ring one one more 100 days to the Olympics how important is for you to make that team how does that stack with all the other things you have going on right now yeah obviously I would you know love to be on the Olympic team and be in Paris in 2024 but you know that's not up to me I think just going about my business and doing exactly what I have done my entire career is the most important thing and obviously my focus is completely here now too and um I actually still need to earn my degree too so I need to graduate college first um or else my mom might kill me um but no I think like that's a dream like you grow up watching the Summer Olympics to me it's better than the winter Winter Olympics um you know I want to be on that team I want to be an Olympic gold Med medalist one day and um it would it really just be a dream come true but you know everybody knows how competitive you know women's basketball is in our country so um you know it'll be hard for you know really anybody to make that team Chris got one on the right do you remember that 2012 finals when the fever beat the links did a young Caitlyn Clark cry about that well I was 10 years old so it's a bit fuzzy but yeah I think we'll go to zoom here now we've got Sean Schultz Sean do you want to start for us sure Sean Schultz WNBA swish uh hi Caitlyn I was just wondering what about the city of Indianapolis are you looking forward to the most is it the people exploring uh shops and cafes what looking forward to the most in Indianapolis honestly like this might sound very like small city of me but like it seems like a bigger De Moine in a way obviously a little bit bigger than De Moine um so that's what I'm most excited about I'm not like a huge big city girl so um I feel like this is a perfect spot for myself a place that loves basketball um but more than anything like this is in the midwest um people might think I'm crazy for wanting to stay in the midwest but like that's just who I am that's where my roots are um I love the people here um so I think that's what I'm most excited about of you know having an opportunity to come to an organization like this and be in a place where there can be a lot of support for it and I have a lot of people around me that I really love then we go to Brad Lake next Brad go ahead hi Caitlyn Brad Lake wbb Nation NW NBA swish can you please speak to what it means to have such a awesome coach in Christie and her coaching staff coaching you this year and how you feel that they can help you transition your game from the college to the proos yeah I think you know when coming out like that was a big bonus for me and a big plus um in a pro that I went down a coach that really loves women's basketball and wants to make it great but also is going to push her players and um you know that's exactly what I want I think being coached is the biggest thing that has allowed me to be where I am today like coach BL never stopped coaching me no matter how many wins we had no matter how many points I scored like she just coached me and always knew there was more and um I think coach would say the exact same thing I think she probably sees there's a lot more that she can get out of me she probably yell at me for my defense at some point um um but I'll probably learn to love it I'm sure uh or make up with it with my offense I don't know but um I'm just I'm just I'm I'm just excited I mean you know to it's a new chapter it's new faces um you know I think that's the biggest thing is like being able to listen and learn and be surrounded by so many amazing people not only the coaching staff and the front office and the entire organization but obviously the players too like those are the you know people to my right and to my left that I can lean on with for anything um so I'm just you know really grateful and lucky go to Willie Ramirez Willie go ahead thank you hi Kaitlin uh we've heard a lot of the draft picks ask who which players they're looking forward to playing against I'm curious if you have thought about or you're excited about City or cities that you're uh looking forward to playing in and teams again the the team as a whole yeah I got to ask this a lot after the draft and honestly like I said like I'm excited to play everybody like that's how talented this league is like there's not a single night where you show up to a game and it's like ah like can relax a little bit like no like this league is so competitive like you better bring it every single night um and every single team has somebody on it that's like I grew up idolizing or I looked at them with like big eyes like oh my gosh like you're the coolest thing in the world so for me like that'll just be super cool traveling around to all these cities to all these new Arenas and venues and getting to play against the best in the world like that's exactly what I signed up and signed up for and dreamed of so um I don't think it's any like one player specifically or one team specifically I think it's just you know the league in general got two more on Zoom uh Nathan Addison then will be followed by Blake Silverman Nathan go ahead hey Kaitlyn Nathan Addison the pr announcement uh I was wondering you know with the nation you know salivating over your ability to shoot the three ball and make plays is there any underrated part of your game um that most people don't know about uh that you're waiting to uh display display and also um you know when it comes to the first team dinner would you be the first person willing to pay for everybody whenever y'all go out to a restaurant willing to pay for everybody's dinner sure of course why not come on now let's all go out um but I think the part of my game that is underlooked the most I think it's just my passing I think um you know everybody wants to fall in love with the scoring and the long threes I think it's my passing like I just I love setting my teammates up for success I feel like I can kind of see the game develop a little bit um faster and you know before a play even occurs and I think um my teammates can see that as well um so I I would probably say that part of it and obviously I get to play with the best of the best of the world now so why wouldn't I want to feed them the ball um especially with Leia I'm just like layup layup layup layup come on give me an assist let's go got time for one more on Zoom uh Blake go ahead Blake Silverman winsider Kaitlin congratul ations uh you mentioned Erica as a vet that you can lean on what were some of your initial conversations like with her and what was it like seeing Erica and your other teammates have the 22 Clark jerseys ready right after you were officially a member of fever I mean I think it's just her energy like she has like just such an amazing personality about her but also like she wants the best for every single person on that team and I think that's just so obvious the way she goes about her business the way she talks about people the way she carries herself uh the way she was jumping up and down after I got picked and put on the Jersey immediately like uh I don't think she could be more excited and know how lucky am I to come into an organization with somebody that's been in the league and understands it but also wants me to do so well like you can't ask for anything better so I'm just very thankful and I'm excited um you know I'm just I'm just very lucky we'll go back in the room uh wheat Yeah kayln you mentioned when you committed to Iowa you set a goal of trying to get to the final four have you set any goals for your rookie season honestly like I haven't really thought about it at a ton I think the biggest thing is you know we want to get back to the playoffs like um like I think that's the biggest thing when when a lot of basketball games um I think for myself like continue to be me have a lot of fun give myself Grace um yeah I think everything else has kind of take carees takes care of itself when you just go about your business like that but you know I I really hope to help this organization win a lot um I feel like that's been something I've been able to do at you know every single level I've played at so um I think that's the biggest goal for every single person in this room there we got time for one more in the first row on the right okay so Rachel with WRTV again um I know you just talked about giving yourself Grace but how do you hope to continue your legacy here and since this is the last one what else else can you say to our fans yeah I think uh obviously like I don't I think my legacy is just something that has come with the way I've carried myself every single day and um you know the person you see on the court like I'm super competitive I'm super fiery but at the end of the day like for me like basketball isn't the end all Beall and I feel like that's why I've been able to have so much success is like I don't like find that much like gratification and everything that I've been able to do like obviously the final fours have been great like WS whatever it is what it is like to me like all that stuff is in a storage closet like it it doesn't matter like I've had so much fun like the worst part about leaving College to me was like leaving my best friends it wasn't like the basketball side of it it wasn't how easy it was to score points like it was never that for me like um it was my best friends but obviously I think coming here is like continue to go about the go about everything my same the same way um I hope to you know make an impact on this community make an impact on women's basketball um far beyond what I'm able to to do on the court I think that's super important and I think it's just something that was instilled in me from a young age like it can't just be basketball all the time like you need to be a very well-rounded person and everything that you do and um it'll be nice not to have to do school anymore I don't have to worry about that um can I already spend a lot of time not doing school and playing a lot of basketball so I think just you know you know making an impact on this community having a lot of fun um enjoying it interacting with our fans um you know I think our fans will you know come to find you know whether they're new or whether they've been fever fans how amazing this organization is and how how much they care and support women's basketball and they want to take it to to Greater Heights so that thank you Caitlyn let's hear it one more time for Caitlyn Clark [Applause]

Channel: Indiana Fever

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Length: 32min 24sec (1944 seconds)

Published: Wed Apr 17 2024