Caitlin Clark finally has a win in the WNBA. It took her a half dozen tries, but it finally came Friday against the Los Angeles Sparks.
To be fair, it wasn’t her best game–at least, not by the standards most people think of when they think of Clark, who left Iowa having set the all-time NCAA scoring record for men or women. Clark had only scored five points through the first 38 minutes of the game.
On the other hand, she did hit two 3-pointers in the last two minutes, securing the win for the Fever. In addition to her 11 points, Clark finished with 10 rebounds and eight assists. Maybe most importantly, she only had two turnovers, a marked improvement over her first few games.
Expectations have been high for Clark and the Fever, who have sold out games and drawn huge crowds–even setting attendance records in opponents’ arenas. Fans show up at games wearing Iowa jerseys with her number 22.
Not only that, but Clark has signed an endorsement deal with Nike and aa historic deal to develop a signature basketball with Wilson. The last person to do that was a guy named Michael Jordan almost 40 years ago.
After the game, Clark talked about her game–including the fact that points were harder to come by:
“I don’t know if it’s a good thing or a bad thing, but I seriously think every shot I shoot is going to go in,” Clark said. “Some nights are absolutely amazing and some nights you struggle to shoot it a little bit, but I want to take those shots at the end of the game. I think it’s a mindset and a confidence that you have to have about yourself.”
There is such a great lesson in that paragraph. Clark has a confidence when she’s out on the court that every shot she takes is going to go in. Even when she isn’t making shots, she continues to take them. Even when her shot is off, she knows that her best opportunity to affect the outcome of the game is to do what she does best, even when she isn’t at her best.
“It’s a mindset and a confidence that you have to have about yourself,” she explains. Look, you’re not always going to have your best night. Not every game is going to be a highlight reel. That’s true even if your game isn’t basketball. It’s true regardless of the kind of team you lead.
But that one sentence is such a powerful lesson for all of us. That’s because confidence isn’t a thing someone else can give you. It’s something you have to have on the inside. That’s one of the most important traits of successful leaders–they have a mindset and a confidence that comes from within.
That can be hard, especially when things aren’t going your way. When the shots aren’t falling, it’s easy to get in your head and become overwhelmed by the pressure. That’s why emotional intelligence is such an important trait of a champion.
Emotional intelligence is the ability to understand and manage your emotions so that you can make better decisions, especially under pressure. With that single sentence, Clark explained that–for her–the antidote is to keep shooting.
In the meantime, Clark made opportunities for her teammates. She worked hard, grabbed rebounds, and made passes. All of those things gave her team a chance to win. But, in the end, the fact that she kept taking shots paid off when it mattered most. If Clark had given up or second-guessed herself, she wouldn’t have taken those shots at the end of the game–shots that resulted in her team coming out on top.
