INDIANAPOLIS — Caitlin Clark is in Indianapolis, and she is already becoming an Indiana Pacers fan. The Indiana Fever rookie guard, who was drafted into the WNBA with the No. 1 overall pick earlier this month, has been watching the blue and gold on multiple occasions.
The Fever star met Pacers point guard Tyrese Haliburton and gushed about his playing abilities. They play the same position and are both excellent passers, so they quickly bonded — at least once they got over the fact that they attended rival colleges. Haliburton went to Iowa State University while Clark went to the University of Iowa.
"The thing I love about him is the way he passes the ball. I watch his game and it's just incredible what he can do," Clark said of Haliburton last week.
This week, Clark and her Fever teammates were in attendance for the Pacers third playoff battle with the Milwaukee Bucks in Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Clark "revved it up", a tradition at Pacers games in which an often-famous guest gets the crowd excited by simulating revving the engine of a race car.
Later in the game, Clark and her teammates went out to center court of Gainbridge Fieldhouse to throw t-shirts to the crowd. Her teammate, Erica Wheeler, messaged the fans and encouraged them to come watch the Fever this season.
Clark spoke about that experience on Sunday after the Fever practiced in an official capacity for the first time with her on the roster. "It was pretty awesome. What is it, their first home [playoff] game in five years or so? So, pretty awesome," Clark said of watching the Pacers. "It was a tough one, [Milwaukee] making two threes. We had a pretty good angle of Tyrese's floater there at the end because we were directly behind the other basket," she added. Bucks forward Khris Middleton hit two improbable threes to tie the game up late in regulation and overtime, but Haliburton hit a floater to seal a win for Indiana.
"It was pretty fun. Good little team bonding experience. Happy for them and hopefully they get another win tonight," Clark said of the game and the Pacers.
The rookie Fever guard has already become popular in Indianapolis, and she's now gone through two official days of practice in the WNBA. Her pro debut will come during preseason play on Friday when the Fever take on the Dallas Wings.
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