Caitlin Clark Her rookie season in the WNBA was one of the best for the record books, but she also remembers the moment she knew she was turning pro.
“Welcome to the WNBA” moment.
Clarke appeared on the latest 'New Heights' podcast with Travis and Jason Kelsey and was asked about the moment her co-star greeted her WNBA players.
She knew the answer immediately.
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Caitlin Clark, 22, of the Indiana Fever argues with the referee during the second half of the game against the Washington Mystics at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on June 19, 2024, in Indianapolis. (Emily Chen/Getty Images)
“Someone put a barricade on me, and I hit my ear right on the girl where my eardrum exploded. It ruptured,” Clark said of the Fever's game against the New York Liberty on June 2. “I've done it before (while tubing in the lake). It was so painful…this was my welcome W moment.”
Although her ear didn't bleed, her hearing wasn't the same for a few weeks, Clark said.
“Healing takes months,” Clark added. “So, after the season, the doctor had to go back and forth to see if it was closed. And if it wasn't closed, you had to have a minor procedure. But, fortunately, it was closed. So, I was fine.”
Liberty's 104-68 defeat against the Fever was Clark's 11th game of her rookie season.
The injury occurred in the fourth quarter of the blowout, and Clark caught the attention of coaches on the bench before needing to return 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 Northwestern Wildcats at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City, Iowa, October 26, 2024. (Photos by Jeffrey Baker-Imagine)
Clark missed the rest of the game.
“I don't want to explain it. It would probably be pretty terrible. But no, I feel fine,” Clark told reporters at the time of the injury. “I can't hear well out of one ear.”
The injury did not prevent Clarke from breaking a number of records, including most assists in a season.
Indiana Heat guard Caitlin Clark rushes onto the field on July 12, 2024, during a game at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. (Grace Hollers/IndyStar/USA Today Network via Imagen Images)
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Clark was named Time Magazine'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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