Caitlin Clark and the refs– a story that finds its traces beyond basketball and all the way down to high school games. It didn’t matter if the 23-year-old was preparing to shoot from the kickoff as a soccer player or blending into the Hawkeye culture at Iowa; the whistles and yelling have always followed her. The 6 technical fouls in her rookie year even had her mom holding her back. If the frequency of the outbursts had anyone criticizing her, Clark has a self-reflection to reveal.

In her most recent initiative, the Fever sensation teamed up with Eli Lilly and Company to support nutrition and better health. What followed was a short film titled ‘Caitlin Clark Goes Back To School,’ and the most endearing interview with kids. “What has been the hardest truth about yourself that you have had to face not only as a player, but as a person?” one of them asked. For someone who said they hadn’t really thought about it, Clark had a measured answer.

“I’m so competitive and emotional at times that can be really hard. Finding a way to control your emotions is something I’ve always had to navigate. You accept you’re an emotional person, and that’s good. That’s probably why I’m good at basketball. Because I am firey and I’m competitive. But understanding that’s probably not always the greatest thing. So learning how to channel that and use it in the right moments has probably been something I have had to navigate over the course of my career,” she admitted.

The competitiveness runs in the Clark family. Having had two brothers to share the court with, the Iowa native grew up to be competitive. Those on-court outbursts? Her father, Brent Clark, says he sees himself in her. “I was a pretty emotional player. I wasn’t the instigator, but the competitive juices just flow,” he had revealed back in May. It indeed isn’t much different for the young guard.

Back when she was a soccer kid, Clark would need no permission to take over a game. At 11 years old, she was instead being asked to pull the stop on those goals. Spoiler, she didn’t. That carried over to Iowa and the W, picking up more than a few yellow cards along the way. Her Hawkeyes head coach, Lisa Bluder, had some stories too. Not only did she hold her back from yelling at the refs every so often, but also had to teach her to share the load with her teammates.

It took a while, but the young guard learned to trust. Keeping herself away from the technicals though? That’s a work in progress. Clark is aware of the persona that takes over when she is on the court. “Once I step on the court, I’m really fiery and I want to kill,” she had admitted on ‘A Touch More’ podcast. That’s yielding great results, no doubt, but losing control over those emotions has also brought her closer to trouble.

On the brighter side, however, it’s the same competitiveness and the fire that have kept her energized on the sideline as the Fever clinched their second consecutive playoff spot; even without their star player.

What was Caitlin Clark’s healing routine?

Having been sidelined for the first time in her career, Caitlin Clark has had help every step of the way. Not just with rehab and training, but to keep the mental health battles away. “We have a sports psychologist on our staff who I sometimes meet with multiple times a week, to not only talk about basketball but other things in life, and that’s something that’s been important to me over the course of my career,” she shared in an interview with Glamour.

But that wasn’t it. The reigning ROTY has learnt to prioritize “rest and recovery,” while opting to de-stress with her favorite Disney movies. “The other day I watched The Parent Trap, which literally never gets old, even though I know every single word in it,” she shared.

But her favorite way to unwind was playing golf. And when she wasn’t doing any of these activities, it was simple journaling therapy. “It makes me really intentional about what I want to accomplish and is a good reset if I’m feeling nervous or anxious about the game, to kind of wipe that away,” Clark explained in the interview.

While all these helped, her journey hasn’t ended just yet. Indy’s into the playoffs with two back-to-back wins against the Mystics and Sky. Their seed depends on the next win, though, against the Minnesota Lynx.