Tag: Indiana Fever

Caitlin Clark delivers ‘Rookie Move’ in hilarious new State Farm ad

Caitlin Clark delivers a “Rookie Move” in her hilarious new State Farm commercial.

Former Iowa women’s basketball legend and current Indiana Fever point guard Caitlin Clark premiered in State Farm’s newest TV spot on Wednesday, Nov. 20, in what is titled “Rookie Move.”

State Farm, known for its unique cameos of musicians, athletes, coaches and celebrities, places Clark as their most recent star following her WNBA Rookie of the Year award-winning season.

The commercial starts with a cameo of sports commentator Cassidy Hubbarth, displeased with her son’s decision to back a car out of a closed garage door.

Once Hubbarth refers to the mistake as a “rookie move,” Clark appears in her Indiana Fever uniform practicing her golf swing next to the damaged garage door.

The commercial continues with Clark propping open a lawn chair in a swift one-handed motion while talking about her share of rookie mistakes.

This minor motion from Clark is a unique reference to actor Jason Momoa’s 2012 scene from the TV show “The Game,” which has become popularized within social media culture over the years.

The advertisement ends when Clark summons Jake from State Farm, who reminds everyone that they’ll be covered by the company no matter how long they’ve been “in the game.”

The reference of “game” makes Clark disappear after being reminded that she is supposed to be playing for the Fever at that moment, which is itself a rookie move.

The inclusion of Clark is the latest collaboration between her and State Farm, who has been a proud supporter of Clark from her time with the Hawkeyes to her rookie season in the WNBA and beyond.

Clark, who averaged 19.2 points, 5.7 rebounds, 8.4 assists, and 1.3 steals per game on 41.7% from the field and 34.4% from three-point territory in the regular season last year, will look to improve on those impressive numbers when the WNBA season starts up again in May 2025.

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Caitlin Clark reportedly won’t join Unrivaled after all for its first season

Welp.

After all the speculation and a pretty strong hint on Tuesday that it was happening, Indiana Fever rookie guard Caitlin Clark reportedly won’t be playing in the Unrivaled basketball league after all.

The women’s 3-on-3 basketball league will reportedly have to go forward without Clark, as ESPN’s Michael Voepel shared on Wednesday that she won’t be joining Unrivaled this time around.

While the league still has two spots open, Clark will reportedly not fill one of those vacancies. It’s not for a lack of trying, as Unrivaled reportedly made Clark a substantial offer to join and added some of her teammates and friends as participants.

Unrivaled will now kick off on Jan. 17 in Miami without Clark in tow.

Our Meghan L. Hall wrote last month about why Clark was probably not joining the league for its first season if you’re curious for possible reasoning as to why this reportedly didn’t happen. Oh well.

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Caitlin Clark makes a very funny rookie move in her latest State Farm commercial

Rookie move!

Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark’s partnership with State Farm has brought us a brand-new commercial featuring the WNBA superstar.

Clark and Jake from State Farm appeared in this new advertisement, one with the former in her Fever jersey trying to help a couple with a garage crisis.

However, “rookie moves” don’t just qualify for the poor guy who rammed his car into the garage door. You’ll see what we mean once you watch the ad.

Clark’s State Farm commercial from her Iowa days was very funny, and this one is about as good. We bet we’ll get more of these in the years to come.

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Unrivaled sent a pretty strong hint Caitlin Clark is joining the 3-on-3 basketball league

Well, it sure sounds like Caitlin Clark is joining Unrivaled to us.

The Unrivaled 3-on-3 basketball league is set to announce its club selections on Wednesday, and it sure seems like another big piece of news will come out around then, too.

After months of speculation, an announcement about the women’s 3-on-3 basketball league’s team rosters being made official came with a pretty big wink that Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark will be part of the competition.

The Unrivaled Basketball Club Selection will take place from 11 a.m. to 11:22 a.m. ET, which … c’mon. There is no world where the specific time 11:22 isn’t referring to Clark’s 22 number with Indiana.

Clark was reported last month to be considering a substantial offer from Unrivaled, and this sure makes it sound like she took them up on it.

We’ll know more soon enough. If this isn’t the league’s subtle way of announcing Clark’s involvement, we’re going to be really confused.

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Caitlin Clark nearly hit fans with a terrible tee shot at The Annika LPGA Pro-Am

FORE!

Caitlin Clark is good at golf, but on the first day at the LPGA Pro-Am known as The Annika — the legendary Annika Sorenstam is host — she nearly nailed the patrons watching her tee off while hitting her shot into the water.

What’s wild about that is that Clark had one stated goal before the tournament, per Golfweek: to avoid hitting anyone in the gallery.

But she calmly took a ball out of her pocket after that shot and hit another one that looked much, much better.

Hey, it could have been worse — there could have been cats around, and those are her biggest fear.

Here’s a look at that shot:

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Caitlin Clark earns high praise from Hall of Fame basketball voice

Mike Breen has taken notice.

After a spectacular Rookie of the Year campaign with the WNBA’s Indiana Fever, Caitlin Clark continues to gain high praise from many throughout the basketball world as her influence on the growth and prosperity of the game increases.

During Sunday’s game between the New York Knicks and Indiana Pacers from Indianapolis’ Gainbridge Fieldhouse, MSG broadcaster Mike Breen spoke of Clark’s impact on the WNBA’s TV ratings by mentioning how the Fever’s local broadcasts this summer were higher than that of the Pacers.

“During the summer, when the Indiana Fever played here with Caitlin Clark, the building was packed. Every game,” Breen said on the broadcast. “The TV ratings of the Fever this summer, for the local telecast, were higher than a lot of the Pacers games because of Caitlin Clark.”

Breen continued raving about Clark and compared her impact on the WNBA to past NBA greats’ impact on the league.

“She’s doing, rating-wise for the WNBA, what Michael Jordan, LeBron James, Steph Curry have been doing for the NBA,” Breen said on the broadcast.

Grace Hollars/IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

As the No. 1 selection in the 2024 WNBA draft, Clark’s ability to translate her game displayed during her four years with the Hawkeyes has been spectacular.

In Clark’s first full professional season, she finished averaging 19.2 points, 8.4 assists, 5.3 rebounds and 1.3 steals in 35.4 minutes per game. She also shot 41.7% from the field, 34.4% from three-point range, and 90.6 from the free-throw line.

Clark set a new WNBA single-season record with 337 assists. Clark also established new rookie single-season records for points (769) and 3-pointers made (122).

Clark led the league in 3-pointers made and finished just six behind the single-season WNBA record that New York Liberty guard Sabrina Ionescu set during the 2023 season.

Clark helped direct the Fever to a 20-20 record and their first postseason berth since the 2016 WNBA season.

With Stephanie White taking over as the Fever’s new head coach next season, Clark will look to translate her off-court impact into another sensational WNBA season.

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Caitlin Clark stunned the Women’s Leadership Summit crowd when she admitted that cats are her biggest fear

Counterpoint: Cats are great.

Caitlin Clark is in Florida this week to play in the LPGA Tour’s The ANNIKA Driven pro-am. For as awesome as she is as a basketball player, she loves golf as well. And as a major star in women’s sports, Clark was asked to participate in the Women’s Leadership Summit as a panel speaker.

They got into some deep subjects. And when the topic of biggest fear came up, the Indiana Fever star had a surprisingly simple response. But give her some credit, she had zero hesitation with the answer.

Clark doesn’t like cats. The stunned laughter and gasps to the answer were too good.

Clark said:

“I really don’t like cats. There was this black cat on my street growing up, and it was so mean. So, now I’m just — I’m scarred. So, I’m really scared of cats. So, I’m sorry if any of you have a cat. I like dogs a lot. But no cats.”

There is really just one acceptable explanation for people who do not like cats: Allergies. Otherwise cat-hating people tend to use an isolated bad experience to hate all cats or just decide they hate cats without even meeting one. Clark said that she wasn’t allergic but had a negative experience with a neighborhood cat as a child.

I don’t know. It sounds like Clark should give cats another chance, if you ask me.

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Caitlin Clark set to join David Letterman’s Ball State lecture series

Caitlin Clark will join longtime “Late Show” host David Letterman for his Distinguished Professional Lecture and Workshop Series.

Caitlin Clark is currently enjoying a well-deserved offseason after a record-setting rookie season in the WNBA.

As one of the biggest stars in American sports today, Clark continues to be a social lightning rod even when she’s not breaking records on a basketball court.

USA TODAY Sports’ Lindsay Schnell reported on Monday that Clark will join longtime “Late Show” host David Letterman on Monday, Dec. 2 at Ball State University in Muncie, Ind., for the latest installment of Letterman’s Distinguished Professional Lecture and Workshop Series.

The series was established by Ball State in 2008 and has featured high profile guests like Oprah Winfrey, MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow, ESPN sideline reporter Holly Rowe and filmmaker Spike Jonze, among others.

As an Indianapolis native, Letterman is a huge Indianapolis sports fan.

Tickets to the event are free and will be available beginning on Saturday, Nov. 16 with a priority given first to Ball State students.

Students can pick up a maximum of two tickets, and each student must present a valid student ID at the time of entry. Ticket distribution to staff and faculty starts Sunday, and members of the public can get tickets in person starting Monday, Nov. 18, while supplies last. Each person is limited to two tickets.

The event will be held at Emens Auditorium on Ball State’s campus. Emens has a seating capacity of just over 3,300 seats.

Clark was named the 2024 Kia WNBA Rookie of the Year after setting a new WNBA single-season record with 337 assists. Clark also established new rookie single-season records for points (769) and 3-pointers made (122).

Clark led the league in 3-pointers made and finished just six behind the single-season WNBA record that New York Liberty guard Sabrina Ionescu set during the 2023 season.

Selected with the No. 1 overall pick by the Indiana Fever after a storybook career with the Iowa Hawkeyes, Clark guided the Fever to a 20-20 record and the No. 6 seed.

It was the Fever’s first appearance in the WNBA Playoffs since the 2016 season.

Clark averaged 19.2 points, 8.4 assists, 5.7 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game while shooting 41.7% from the field, 34.4% from 3-point range and 90.6% from the free throw line.

Clark and the Fever recently introduced their new head coach Stephanie White on Nov. 1.

During her decorated career at Iowa, Clark broke the Division I all-time scoring record and guided the Hawkeyes to back-to-back Final Fours and national championship games in her final two seasons.

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Indiana Fever hire new head coach

Caitlin Clark has her next head coach.

Caitlin Clark has her next WNBA head coach.

The Indiana Fever announced on Friday that they have hired Stephanie White as the franchise’s next head coach. White succeeds Christie Sides who was fired on Sunday.

“As we enter this new era of Fever basketball, I am thrilled to welcome Stephanie back to the franchise,” Fever president of basketball operations Kelly Krauskopf said. “Stephanie is a part of the fabric of this franchise, both as a former player and as a member of our championship coaching staff, so I’m quite familiar with her elite basketball IQ and leadership style. I am confident there is no one who better understands our culture or is more equipped to lead our group of players to the next level.”

White takes over the Fever after two years as the head coach of the Connecticut Sun. Under White’s direction, the Sun compiled a 55-25 mark over the past two seasons, earned the No. 3 seed both years and advanced to the WNBA Semifinals.

During the 2023 season, White was named WNBA Coach of the Year and the Associated Press Coach of the Year, as well as being named a head coach in the 2023 WNBA All-Star Game.

White shared her excitement to take over the reins of the Fever franchise.

“I am incredibly proud and honored to return home to Indiana and lead the Fever during such a pivotal moment in this franchise’s history, as well as during such an important time throughout women’s athletics,” White said. “This franchise has and always will be committed to winning and I look forward to working every day to help deliver another WNBA title to the greatest basketball fans in the world.”

White’s appointment confirms the initial report from the Chicago Sun-Times’ Annie Costabile that the Fever would hire White as their next head coach.

That initial report gained traction when the Connecticut Sun announced earlier this week that they had parted ways with White.

White’s connections to the Fever franchise run deep.

White has close ties to Indiana senior advisor Lin Dunn and Fever president of basketball and business operations Kelly Krauskopf. After starting her WNBA coaching career as an assistant with the Chicago Sky from 2007-10, White became an assistant coach for Indiana from 2011-14 under Dunn.

Then, Krauskopf, who was the Fever’s president from 2000-18, gave White her first WNBA head coaching gig with the Fever in 2015 after Dunn retired from coaching. White led Indiana to the WNBA Finals in her first season and to another postseason appearance in 2016.

White also played five seasons in the WNBA, including from 2000-04 with the Fever. Her ties to the state of Indiana include her time at Purdue where she led the Boilermakers to the 1999 national championship and was named the Big Ten Player of the Year.

White also served as Vanderbilt’s head women’s basketball coach from 2016-21.

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3 things to know about Stephanie White, the new head coach of Caitlin Clark’s Indiana Fever

The Stephanie White hire is brilliant for Indiana

It was shocking to see Christie Sides being let go of by the Indiana Fever after having such a successful season.

You just knew that, if Sides was on the way out, the Fever had to have a plan to bring in someone who might be able to take the Fever to the next level.

That’s exactly what they’re getting with Stephanie White.

The former Connecticut Sun head coach is heading to Indiana to coach Caitlin Clark and the Fever, according to the latest from ESPN’s Alexa Philippou. White is heading back to Indiana after leading the Sun to the WNBA Semifinals for two straight seasons.

Here’s everything you need to know about the Fever’s new head coach.

She’s been here before

(Photo by David Berding/Getty Images)

Quite literally. White was on the Fever coaching staff from 2011 to 2016 and was actually the team’s head coach in 2015 and 2016. She coached the Fever to the WNBA Finals in 2015 before losing to the Minnesota Lynx in five games.

White’s first tenure as the Fever’s head coach ended with her record at 37-31 with a playoff appearance and a WNBA Finals berth. That’s not bad at all.

She’s an Indiana basketball legend

She was a member of the Indiana Fever’s inaugural roster in 2000 and played for the team for four seasons from 2000 to 2004.

She’s also an Indiana native and was a star at Purdue before moving to the WNBA and playing professionally. She was the National Player of the Year in 1995, the state’s all-time leading scorer when she graduated and she even won a national championship with Purdue in 1999.

Stephanie White is the best of Indiana basketball.

Caitlin Clark is excited about the hire

The Fever star liked the team’s post on Instagram announcing the hire and she also commented underneath the post.

She seems ready to get to work.