Caitlin Clark isn't too different from her dad, Brent, he told ESPN's Holly Rowe on Sunday, May 4 — like his daughter, he's got strong opinions about calls made by WNBA officials.
Brent spoke to Rowe during the Fever's exhibition game against the Brazilian National Team and noted he belives that when it comes to the league's officials, "there is room for improvement." Brent added that the officials at Sunday's game seemed like they knew their stuff. "I've kind of noticed a little bit of a difference [on Sunday], it looks like they're really officiating the game like it should be officiated," he said.
Caitlin Clark wasn't shy about voicing her frustrations with refs throughout the 2024 season, but she also seemed pretty happy with the calls made during the team's game on Sunday.
Brent Clark praised Caitlin for a specific trait
In a another clip shared by Simpson College, Brent also admitted he's an "emotional" basketball player (it's not hard to see where his daughter gets it from) and that he got into a few fights when he was playing in college.
Brent and Caitlin famously used to yell at one another during her games at Iowa, and Brent was caught telling her to stop complaining during the March Madness tournament in 2024. But he acknowledged that the pair have that kind of temperament in common. "Caitlin and I see a lot of me in her in that way, but I think she does a much better job of controlling her emotion," Brent said.
He even said he wished he had been more like his daughter as a collegiate hooper. "She’s got fire, but she has the presence of mind not to react when someone says something or does something to her. I wish I had a little bit more of that maturity when I was at Simpson," he added.
Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever are off to a great start
The WNBA season has yet to officially begin, but the Indiana Fever are off to a strong start this presason. The team beat the Washington Mystics 79-74 in a match-up that went into overtime on Saturday, May 3, and then traveled to Caitlin's Iowa stomping grounds to take on Brazil the following day. While Caitlin garnered a lot of attention after she hit a 35-foot logo 3, her teammates also impressed nearly everyone who watched them play.
Aliyah Boston, who is entering her third season with the team, showcased her superior assist skills in both games with a total of 8 (three against the Mystics and five against Brazil). Lexie Hull put to bed concerns about her ability to hit a 3 (something she had no problem with last season but struggled with during Unrivaled at the beginning of this year), and Sydney Colson and Natasha Howard offered fans a preview of a dynamic that will be thrilling to watch this year.