SAN FRANCISCO – Caitlin Clark could not wait to leave Indiana Fever practice on Wednesday afternoon.
After prepping for Thursday’s game against the Valkyries, the WNBA’s biggest star raced from USF to McCovey Cove, threw on a “SF” cap and took in some thrilling Giants baseball.
Sitting close to Warriors guard and Valkyries superfan Brandin Podziemski, not even 3-2 Giants loss could detract from her enjoyment of a beautiful day by the water.
“Well, Oracle was on my bucket list, and we got here a few days early, so I was like, ‘I gotta try to go,’” Clark said before Thursday night’s game at Chase Center. “I’m not going to complain about being in the second row, but it might be one of those ballparks where the nosebleeds might be better than behind home plate. Obviously, 65 and sunny right on the bay, and a baseball game in the middle of May, that’s not too bad.”
She did not expect such welcoming conditions from the Valkyries fans during her lone Bay Area appearance of the regular season. Clark is so beloved by visiting fans that the Fever printed out shirts that read “Every game is a home game” last season.
But the venue known as “Ballhalla” is an exception. The majority of the 18,064 who sell out the arena are there to cheer for their Valkyries, no matter how much star power the other side has.
“I was available for one of the two games we played here last year, and I know this crowd is great,” Clark said. “They’re into it, they’re into the game, positively supporting their team, and they’re loud from the tip.”
Indiana Fever’s Caitlin Clark (22) takes a shot during warmups before their game against the Golden State Valkyries at the Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on Thursday, May 28, 2026. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
The Valkyries crowd saw a different version of Clark compared to the one who shot just 3 of 14 from the field last June.
Clark is finally at full strength again after, hampered by a groin injury, played in only 13 games a year ago. Well, not quite, considering she has missed a game with a nagging back injury.
But even with the hobbled back, Clark is averaging a career-high 23.8 points and 9.0 assists on career-best 43.2/34.8/96.4 shooting splits, and has scored at least 20 points in all five games.
She credited some of her improvement to working with acclaimed skills trainer Brandon Payne, who also works with Warriors star Steph Curry.
“I knew he worked with Steph, and I love Steph’s game, and was just looking for some creative watts to make myself better and challenge myself, and I feel like we found a lot of ways to do that over the course of the offseason,” Clark said.
She went for 24 points and nine assists in last Friday’s game against the Valkyries in Indianapolis, getting into a jawing match with the similarly-talkative Tiffany Hayes.
At Valkyries shootaround, Hayes, who also previously posted about it on social media, made it clear that she has moved past the supposed feud.
“She just made a play and chirped. And it was a little chirping here and there, and that was that,” Hayes said. “That was the end of it and it should have been the end of it.”
Clark was also in no mood to create controversy.
“I don’t have any bad blood with any sort of players in this league, like it’s just a competitive fire, that’s competitive fire,” Clark said.
Monique Billings returns
Former Valkyries center Monique Billings made her return to the Bay Area. Now a member of the Indiana Fever, the veteran big still has love for the Golden State organization.
“It was like, ‘Aw I miss it,’” Billings said at shootaround. “I had such great times here. Being a part of the inaugural season with this team is really special. That’s something in a feeling that will never go away. Just a lot of gratitude.”
In her last game in violet, Billings put in 15 points off the bench in a close playoff loss to top seeded Minnesota. When Billings ran onto the floor for warmups on Thursday, she received a loud cheer from the crowd.
“I think just Mo and her energy is something that we love and obviously we miss,” Hayes said.