All night long, bricks.
And then, boom.
All night long, awful.
Then, the dagger.
Caitlin Clark spent most of her first visit to Los Angeles on Friday stuck in awful traffic, stalling, swerving and slamming on the brakes as her Indiana Fever team hurtled toward disgrace.
Next is FasTrak.
She’s really unreal. She’s really magical.
With 2 minutes, 27 seconds left in the game and the Fever holding a three-point lead against the Sparks at Crypto.com Arena, Clark drained a deep, looping 3-pointer for his first 3-pointer of the night.
She spread her arms. She stuck out her tongue. The packed building shook.
Then, with 40 seconds left in the game and the Fever holding a two-point lead, she hit another deep three for the Rainbows, sealing a 78-73 victory and her first WNBA victory, creating a priceless memory for those lucky enough to witness it.
As Clark walked across the court after the final buzzer, the crowd roared her like she was a rock star, and as she walked to the postgame press conference, she had the ebullient smile of a professional baseball player on her face.
In her sixth WNBA game, the collegiate icon perhaps rediscovered herself after five losses, countless struggles and a ton of criticism.
“Nights like tonight remind me why I love playing basketball and why I started playing basketball in the first place,” Clark said. “Because when you walk off the court with a win, you have a bunch of young kids screaming your name and they love watching you play.”
If you’re wondering how a 22-year-old kid from Iowa became America’s most admired athlete, this is why. This is how it happened. This is the whole story.
This is why we cheered. This is why 19,103 people showed up. This is why we breathed new life into the WNBA, a sport that regularly breaks attendance and ratings records. This is why we changed women’s basketball around the world.
The two shots came after nine consecutive misses and were made by a woman determined to honor Kobe Bryant’s memory by wearing his shoes.
read more: Sparks plan to attract new WNBA fans as Caitlin Clark makes LA debut
“Kobe was the best,” she said. “You have to have that mentality… you want those moments and you cherish those moments.”
For long stretches on Friday, it looked like she would miss that moment again. With the Sparks leading by 11 points at halftime and gaining momentum early in the fourth quarter, Clark was pushed all over the court by players like Sparks guard Layshia Clarendon and frequently faced Sparks double-teams.
You have to see the 6-foot-tall Clark in person to understand the odds against her. She’s small and delicate. It’s shocking to watch this college giant get so easily overpowered by bigger, more aggressive WNBA veterans.
She made 2 of her first 12 shots, she showed off great court vision, dished out some beautiful assists and grabbed a ton of rebounds, but the best parts of her game were absent.
And just at the right time, the greatest scorer in college basketball history found himself.
“I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing, but I really think every shot is going to go in,” Clark said. “I want to make shots at the end of the game. That’s just the mindset and confidence you have to have in yourself.”
What does that confidence look like? Listen to what she said after her first three-point shot.
“After the game, I went back to the bench and I was like, ‘It’s my time. They had to go. I made too many mistakes and it was time to go,'” she said.
She finished with 11 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists, and received some cool praise from the receiver of the pass.
“Catlyn’s vision is second to none,” said Temi Fagbenle, who had 17 points. “I absolutely love playing with her. I know I’m open, but I don’t know if she knows it, but if she does, I’m like, ‘Wow, she knew!'”
“She’s handling it incredibly well. … She’s handling it so calmly. … She shows a maturity that you wouldn’t expect from a 22-year-old. … She’s special and different.”
Fever coach Christy Sides talks about Caitlin Clark
All of this might convince critics to take a break from the constant criticism that began with Clark’s 10-turnover debut.
The verdict that she was a failure after just five games became so widespread that she and teammate Aaliyah Boston were banned from social media, and many fans seem to forget that she is still a rookie, playing for a team with a huge gap in ability that just had the No. 1 draft pick for the second year in a row.
“People aren’t going to give us much leniency,” Clark said. “They expect us to be world champions from day one. That’s not realistic. There’s a learning curve here.”
Though her curves have nearly crushed her on multiple occasions, she has continued to move gracefully under the spotlight of America’s hottest sport, answering every question and delivering refreshingly honest interviews without criticizing anyone but herself.
To hear her coach tell it, those two shots Friday night will be remembered as some of her inspiration.
“She’s handling it incredibly well. … She’s handling it so calmly. … She has a maturity that you wouldn’t expect from a 22-year-old. … She’s special, she’s different,” Fever coach Christy Sides said of Clark. “Every day, bullets are flying. We’re under scrutiny on every front.”
read more: Like Caitlin Clark, LeBron James started his pro career 0-4. The Lakers star expects to “make a big splash” in the WNBA.
Clark acknowledged the lack of attention.
“To be honest with you, I feel like I talk to the media more than I talk to my family, and in a way, it’s really sad,” she said. “It’s hard for me as a 22-year-old. It’s hard at times.”
And, as another memorable Friday night in Hollywood proved, it can be great.
“We were excited to come here and play here,” Caitlin Clark said. “Obviously, there’s a lot of history in this building.”
And it goes on and on.
This article originally appeared in the Los Angeles Times.
