At some point after coming back from a significant damage scare, Caitlin Clark has bagged one other splashy endorsement deal.
The Indiana Fever rookie and No 1 overall WNBA draft pick signed a multi-year partnership with Wilson that may embrace a signature basketball assortment, the corporate introduced on Tuesday.
Clark, who broke Pete Maravich’s 54-year-old record to change into the all-time highest scorer in main school basketball historical past earlier this yr, is simply the second athlete after Michael Jordan to develop a signature line with the 111-year-old sporting items producer, according to Boardroom.
The deal is the most recent in a mounting sponsorship portfolio for the purpose guard. Her sponsors embrace Gatorade, State Farm and Nike, with whom she signed a record $28m deal last month that features a signature shoe.
Information of the Wilson deal got here lower than a day after Clark left the courtroom with what at first seemed to be a severe non-contact ankle damage. She returned later to get the Fever in place for his or her first win of the season. Clark fought via ache, foul hassle, even the frustration that led to an uncharacteristic late technical foul, just for the Fever to lose 88-84 to the Connecticut Solar and fall to 0-4 on the season.
“I believe you could possibly see the progress we’re making and that’s why this one hurts so much. We had been proper there and we had loads of alternatives to go win the sport and also you don’t,” Clark stated. “We’ve performed the highest groups within the league and we had been proper there with the Solar immediately.”
Indiana’s brutal schedule already has included two games against last season’s WNBA runner-up, the New York Liberty, and two extra in opposition to the Solar, who had the league’s third-best document final season.
The consequence has been a predictably troublesome studying curve – 4 straight losses, the primary three by double digits – for a younger staff led by the league’s latest star, who performed in entrance of one more introduced sellout Monday night time.
Caitlin Clark quickly went again to the Fever locker room after showing to sprain an ankle on this play.
She has since returned to the bench 🙏pic.twitter.com/rpp1hP3nQB
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) May 20, 2024“}}”>
Caitlin Clark quickly went again to the Fever locker room after showing to sprain an ankle on this play.
She has since returned to the bench 🙏pic.twitter.com/rpp1hP3nQB
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) May 20, 2024
Clark completed Monday’s sport with 17 factors and 5 assists, all within the last 10 minutes, whereas making 5-of-11 pictures and three three-pointers, together with a go-ahead three from the Gainbridge Fieldhouse brand that gave Indiana a 70-68 lead with 7:15 to go and introduced the gang to its ft.
“That was a giant shot,” she stated. “We obtained the gang going. I imply, that crowd was unbelievable.”
However Indiana’s miscues had been simply too pricey. With Indiana clinging to a 76-75 lead with 3:37 to play, Clark turned the ball over and drew her fifth foul when she tried to combat for the ball. She was known as for a technical, too, when she shouted on the refs in frustration and the Solar took full benefit.
“That is what you count on from a younger staff, lots of rising pains early on, lots of ups and downs,” Solar veteran Alyssa Thomas stated. “However they must be happy with how they responded with a tough schedule to begin the season. They did an excellent job immediately.”
Clark and the Fever can have one other probability to choose up their first win of the yr Wednesday at Seattle.
