Caitlin Clark describes rookie WNBA season as ‘life-changing’ and talks about love of Taylor Swift to Kelce brothers

By Ben Morse, CNN

(CNN) — It’s been a busy 12 months for Caitlin Clark.

This time last year, she was still in her final season at the University of Iowa. Since then, she has lost in the NCAA women’s basketball national championship game, been drafted first overall into the WNBA, been to multiple shows on Taylor Swift’s ‘Eras Tour’ and been named the Rookie of the Year and All-WNBA first team.

And as 2025 kicked off, Clark recapped her momentous year – where she shot to fame and was named Time magazine’s “Athlete of the Year” – with NFL star brothers, Jason and Travis Kelce.

Speaking on the Kelce brothers’ “New Heights” podcast, Clark described her debut season in the WNBA as “life-changing” when asked to describe it in two words.

“All in a good way. Things just change really fast,” Clark said on the episode released on Thursday. “That’s just how the world works, especially with social media, people see a lot of your life but that’s what makes it fun and why I’ve had so many cool opportunities too.”

Clark enjoyed a historic rookie season with the Indiana Fever, coinciding with an unprecedented increase in coverage of the league, with viewership records consistently being broken. The league’s overall attendance increased by 48% year-on-year to its highest level in over 20 years; this phenomenon has been coined “The Caitlin Clark effect.”

Clark’s success has also brought an increase in commercial deals. Notably, Clark reportedly agreed to an eight-year deal with Nike worth $28 million that includes a signature shoe. This has prompted some criticism that her race has partly contributed to her commercial success, given many Black stars have not received deals on the same level.

But going into her second season, the 22-year-old says she is looking forward to having more time to prepare for her sophomore campaign in the WNBA after a whirlwind 2024.

“I played in the national championship game and basically went straight to the draft and got picked and then you basically pack up and move,” Clark explained. “You’re moving in April, you don’t even finish senior year in college.”

The Kelce brothers explained that their rookie preseason camps were months in length to allow them to prepare, while Clark’s was “a week and a half.”

“But I think it was good a little bit too. You don’t have time to overthink things. It’s just like boom, boom, boom, boom. You’re just onto the next. But at the same time, I felt like I never really ended the chapter of college, I just up and left.”

Clark also highlighted how important the mid-season break for the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics was for her to recalibrate and take some time to acclimatize to Indianapolis and form a bond with her Fever teammates.

She also highlighted the help some of her veteran teammates provided her during those first few months in the WNBA, while also talking about the challenges of being a highly drafted player.

“You’re trying to figure out a new environment, new teammates, you don’t want to say too much, you don’t want to say too little. But in my scenario – and you guys’ too – you’re already highly thought of, like people are turning to you like: ‘Be something, be someone.’ So it’s hard, you’re trying to get your feet wet but also not do too much and I think that’s what I struggled with early on is: ‘I don’t know what to say, I don’t know how to say it, I don’t know how they’re going to react.’”

Bandwagon fan?

One thing Clark and the Kelce brothers have in common is that they are all from the Midwest; Clark is from Iowa while the Kelces are from Ohio.

Not only did they bond over their love of the lakes and that region in general, but also their shared love of football.

And one thing which was addressed early on was Clark’s fandom of the Kansas City Chiefs; the team Travis Kelce has played his entire NFL career for.

Although the Chiefs have become the popular bandwagon NFL team to support – they have won the last two Super Bowls and are on course so far for a historic three-peat – Clark clarified that is not the case for her.

“I had family in Kansas City and I grew up in Des Moines, Iowa, which is only three hours from Kansas City, so that’s just the closest NFL team,” Clark said after referencing a picture of her in full Chiefs uniform from when she was young.

“My dad was a big Chiefs fan growing up. People think I’m like a bandwagon Chiefs fan, I’m like: ‘No, I was there before Patrick (Mahomes) and Travis.’ We were ride or dies, so we’ve been big fans.”

Clark admitted that her favorite Chiefs player was Travis Kelce, eliciting a big celebration from the tight end, along with Mahomes.

‘Full Swiftie’

Another thing Clark has in common with the hosts of the ‘New Heights’ podcast is her passion for Taylor Swift’s music.

Clark explained how she went to multiple shows on Swift’s – who is currently dating Travis – Eras Tour in Indianapolis and says she’s also converted her mom to the Swiftie life.

“My mom was, like, begging me to take her. She was like: ‘I gotta go. Everybody’s talking about it,’” Clark said. “I’m like: ‘OK, OK.’”

“I turned my mom into a full Swiftie now. Two of my cousins were there too. Good time, good time.”

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