By the looks of it, no one will be pushing around Caitlin Clark next season.
The WNBA’s biggest star’s arms appeared to be considerably bigger as she cheered on her former Iowa Hawkeyes team at last weekend’s Big Ten women’s basketball tournament.
Photographer Bri Lewerke took a photo and commented on X, saying “Well someone’s been in the weight room.”
Clark, who plays for the Indiana Fever, was excellent in her rookie season, but at times was pushed around by some of the WNBA’s more veteran players.
One example, which grabbed headlines, took place against the Chicago Sky last June. After Clark scored a basket, the Sky’s Chennedy Carter shoulder-checked the Fever star, sending her sprawling to the ground. Carter received a flagrant 1 foul for the dirty play.
Clark said after the game that it was “not a basketball play.”
Sky coach Teresea Weatherspoon said that Carter “got caught up in the heat of the moment in an effort to win the game” and that she understands there are better ways to handle situations on the court.
During the Paris Olympics break last summer — a team she was not selected to play for and a decision that caused at lot controversy at the time, Clark told The New York Post, “I’m small but I try to holy my own the best I can. …I don’t know, I think I’m discreetly strong. I’m never gonna be the strongest person. I know that. I try to put on some weight, and I’ve been working hard in the weight room.”
In her first WNBA season, Clark was named the 2024 Rookie of the Year after averaging 19.2 points, 8.4 assists and 5.7 rebounds per game.
Clarke’s new WNBA season begins on May 17 against the Chicago Sky.
