“I did not want to come out of the locker room after the game” – Caitlin Clark reveals what she feared the most after receiving techs in high school
Nobody else has set women’s basketball on fire over the last few years quite like Caitlin Clark. From her scintillating run in the NCAA, where she led the Iowa Hawkeyes to back-to-back appearances in the championship game, all the way to the WNBA, where she has established herself as one of the league’s best players, despite playing in only her second season. She has undoubtedly become a household name in the sports world.
However, as unstoppable and courageous as the Indiana Fever superstar is, she still has her fears. One person whom she was terrified to face whenever she got too emotional on the basketball court was her mother, Anne.
Caitlin could get too competitive at times
With more people paying attention to the WNBA, thanks in large part to Caitlin’s stellar play, they’re now seeing how intense women’s basketball is. From physical play to altercations, women hoopers are just as feisty as their male counterparts and none more so than Caitlin.
However, this isn’t groundbreaking news, especially to those who witnessed her rise from a high school phenom in Dowling, West Des Moines, Iowa, to a global megastar. According to an ESPN piece that detailed her high school stint — a time when media attention wasn’t as ridiculous as it is today — Caitlin’s fiery nature often got the best of her, resulting in technical fouls.
It was something that her mother often frowned on, and Caitlin knew this.
“When I used to get technical fouls in high school,” she recalled. “I did not want to come out of the locker room after the game because I know my mom would be mad.”
Her father understood
While Caitlin’s mother had her reasons for getting upset with her daughter incurring technical fouls, her father, Brent, was a bit more understanding, especially since he played basketball and baseball in college.
She recalled that during her AAU basketball games, if she ever received a technical foul, her dad would keep it a secret from her mom, choosing not to share that detail.
“If I got one during an AAU tournament, I don’t think my dad would tell my mom,” Caitlin said. “He knew my mom would not be happy, but he understood it from a competitive standpoint.”
In fact, Brent believed she inherited that trait from him.
“To her, everything is a competition. I was that way when I was her age. I was really emotional,” he revealed. “I get her. I can relate. I see a lot of that fire. She’s just much better at controlling it than I ever was.”
However, just because Caitlin has gotten better at tempering her competitive drive, it doesn’t mean she’s beyond a scolding. In a moment that went viral during the March Madness, Caitlin was seen having too many conversations with the game officials instead of focusing on the game. Cameras panned to Brent, who was caught screaming at her daughter just to stop and concentrate on playing.
Caitlin’s fierce competitive spirit is at the core of what makes her an exceptional athlete. While she strives to temper it for the sake of her team, it occasionally bursts through, fueling her performance when it matters most. That relentless drive propels her to dominate any defender in her path, all in pursuit of securing victory for her team.
