There are sacrifices, and then there are LeBron James-level sacrifices. But when Caitlin Clark saw what he gave up this time, she knew that kind of discipline wasn’t for the faint of heart.

On the latest episode of Mind the Game, James casually dropped a detail that made even elite athletes wince. While rehabbing his body and preparing for another season with the Los Angeles Lakers, he cut out his two personal favorite items for nearly two months, and if you couldn’t guess it, they were chocolate chip cookies and wine.

No cheat days. No, just one bite or sip. Nothing. But why? In the first 14 games of 2025, James had to sit out as he was dealing with sciatica, so he decided to give up eating his beloved chocolate chip cookies.

“I wasn’t playing obviously as the season started,” he revealed on the show. “So I needed to give up something. I gotta sacrifice something. And I actually did two things that I very love. And that is drinking wine and my chocolate chip cookies for dessert. I completely took it out.”

But that’s when Clark entered the chat.

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After ESPN shared the clip of what James said on their Instagram, Caitlin Clark took one look at that level of discipline and immediately tapped out.

“I’d rather retire than do this. This is why he’s him,” she wrote in the comments.

To understand why she said what she said, you need to understand what chocolate chip cookies mean to LeBron James. During his time with the Miami Heat, cookies became part of his routine, so much so that his former teammate Dwyane Wade once joked about how serious he was about them.

As per Wade, when team president Pat Riley decided to tighten nutrition rules, it resulted in a ban on James from eating cookies during flights. This may have played a part in his decision to leave the team.

“One thing you don’t do is **** with LeBron’s cookies… No, no, no, this is serious. He loves chocolate chip cookies. Chocolate chip cookies and ice cream, he loves. LeBron walks on the plane with a bag of food. One bag is all cookies, and the other bags are what his chef has prepared for him to eat,” Wade said back in 2025 on Lou Williams’s The Underground Lounge podcast.

So for him to voluntarily eliminate them for nearly two months isn’t a minor tweak. But notably, chocolate chip cookies carry their own meaning in Clark’s world, too.

Why Caitlin Clark Won’t Quit Cookies

For Clark, they aren’t just a dessert that fulfills a craving. They’re a comfort and a reminder of home.

During her Iowa days, her mother, Anne Nizzi-Clark, was known for bringing homemade batches for the team after games, which became a small ritual of Clark’s routine. So when she joked about retiring before cutting them out, it wasn’t just sugar talk. It’s a personal connection to them.

But while the Indiana Fever star may draw the line at dessert, she’s proven she’ll sacrifice far bigger things when it actually matters.

Much like James battling sciatica, Clark’s 2025 WNBA season was derailed by a lingering groin injury and a bone bruise that ended her campaign after just 13 games. However, instead of forcing her way back into the spotlight, she shut it down.

And as a part of a bigger decision, she passed on playing in the new 3×3 league Unrivaled, a move that reportedly cost her millions in potential earnings.

Instead of chasing the spotlight or the paycheck, Caitlin Clark chose rest and rehab, betting on her long-term health.

So while she’s not giving up cookies, when her body demanded sacrifice, she stepped away from games, attention, and millions without hesitation.