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Fever guard Caitlin Clark drove to the basket during her third- (22) drives to the basket during the third quarter at TD Garden.Danielle Parhizkaran\/Globe Staff<\/p>\nAs sophomore seasons go, this one has been pretty rough.<\/p>\n
Fever guard Caitlin Clark drove to the basket during her third- (22) drives to the basket during the third quarter at TD Garden.Danielle Parhizkaran\/Globe Staff<\/p>\n
While it\u2019s great to be Caitlin Clark, it\u2019s also exhausting. And physically taxing. As the Fever headed to New York for a second game in two nights Wednesday against the defending champion Liberty, while the All Star weekend looms this weekend in Clark\u2019s home city of Indianapolis, her status remains uncertain. All coach Stephanie White could say was that Clark was \u201cbeing evaluated.\u201d But even as she reminded the post-game audience that her first-year charges had managed pretty well this season without Clark, she lamented the relentless ferocity opposing defenders continue to be allowed to foist upon her star point guard.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not exactly sure why, but it just is what it is, and we\u2019ve got to help her learn to adjust and use it against them in certain ways,\u201d White said. \u201cYou know, we\u2019ve got to find some ways to make it a little bit easier for her. But the level of physicality overall in our league has been at a different level than it\u2019s been for a long time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Though Clark\u2019s setback Tuesday was not the result of direct contact with a defender, she wears the toll of this second professional season just as clearly as she wears her familiar No. 22 jersey. <\/p>\n
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The Connecticut Sun kept Caitlin Clark contained, until she erupted for 9 fourth-quarter points to lead the Fever to an 85-77 victory.Danielle Parhizkaran\/Globe Staff<\/p>\n
She remains the center of the WNBA\u2019s surging world, and for so much of that reality, it\u2019s great to be her.<\/p>\n
From the moment she walked up the tunnel and onto the court Tuesday, the crowd roared, waving their arms and their hand-painted signs, clinging to any slim hope of capturing her attention. The second-year Iowa native continues to fuel the renaissance of a decades-old league as it continues to capture new and wider audiences, like the sold out one that turned a mid-July Boston night into such a basketball party.<\/p>\n
Who wouldn\u2019t want to be in Clark\u2019s rubber-soled shoes? She\u2019s turned her passion into a career, playing her beloved game for a living, earning a lucrative, popular outlet to show off her talents in both passing and shooting the ball. One look around proved yet again what a draw she is \u2014 Clark jerseys and Fever T-shirts easily outnumbered those of the official home team Sun, and it was Clark who set the applause meter to 100 during any time she did something positive.<\/p>\n
But simply watching a day in her life, even part of it, is an inescapable reminder of the burden and weight she carries every day. Not that she\u2019s looking for sympathy; in fact, she never seems to tire of expressing gratitude and maintaining perspective for the life she is living. But the demands are real, and seemingly constant. <\/p>\n
Clark admitted this was her first real trip to Boston, but her hopes of sightseeing were reduced to a TikTok video of best places to see in the city, with the quick visit allowing only for a dinner at a restaurant near the team hotel. She promised to return, maybe make it out to Fenway Park, but for now, was content to take in the glorious history in her reach, marveling at the ceiling full of Celtics banners. <\/p>\n
She spent her morning at the team shootaround, and then prepared for the 8 p.m. tipoff, preceded first by a brief media session for which Clark was the only Fever player to sit in the interview room. Then it was onto the court for her pregame three-point shooting routine, the last of her teammates to make it through those paces.<\/p>\n
Then it was a lap of the arena, signing autographs and high-fiving the fans, so many of them young girls wearing her No. 22 or sporting her signature swinging ponytail. Then, of course, the business at hand, the game, to be immediately followed by the trip to New York. Then, a flight back to Indianapolis to land sometime around midnight, followed by the beginning of All Star weekend festivities Thursday afternoon on her home court, in which she was slated to compete in her first career 3-point shooting contest.<\/p>\n
If she can even participate.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur schedule is pretty intense here right before all-star break,\u201d she had said before the game, when her most pressing concern was a question about finding balance in life and work. \u201cI just take as much time as I can, whether that\u2019s, you know, in the morning,having my coffee, or just taking a deep breath and having a second to yourself. Obviously, I don\u2019t get a lot of that, or whether it\u2019s going for a walk or being outside, even if it\u2019s like 15 to 30 minutes, I think that\u2019s really important to have that mental reset in my life \u2026 just little things like that that you can find that are enjoyable.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s no wonder she needs them, with a sophomore WNBA year that is proving to be plenty tough.<\/p>\n
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Fever star guard Caitlin Clark sits on the bench with a towel over her head after she appeared to aggravate a groin injury during the fourth quarter.Danielle Parhizkaran\/Globe Staff<\/p>\n
Tara Sullivan is a Globe columnist. She can be reached at tara.sullivan@globe.com<\/a>. Follow her @Globe_Tara<\/a>.<\/p>\n