Indiana Fever's Caitlin Clark arrives on the Red Carpet before the world premiere and screening of Episode 1 of the upcoming ESPN+ Original Series Full Court Press, Monday, May 6, 2024, in Indianapolis. Women’s college basketball fans can get a behind-the-scenes look at some of the biggest stars of the 2023-24 season in the ESPN+ Original Series, “Full Court Press,” premiering this weekend.
So when she made her first road trip last week, the league’s top overall draft pick had to adapt. Instead of loading her bag directly onto a plane and boarding, Clark found herself traversing the same lines and waits as everyone else at the Dallas airport — just like most of the league’s players. “I think you just have to be aware of where you are,” Clark said after Wednesday’s practice. “You travel with security, which is nice. It’s just different from college where you put your bag on the plane, hop on the plane and then you’re off. But like you’re waiting at baggage claim, you’ve got to go through the normal security with everybody else. For me, it was my first time doing it. It wasn’t terrible. I just went about my business and kept my head down.
For those reasons, it can’t start soon enough for those who have been around the league for years — or for Clark,“I’m thankful at whatever point that happens, that would be great for us. It will make recovery easier, it will make travel easier,” Clark said. “It just makes life a lot easier for a lot of people, but also it’s just something a lot of people have deserved for years and years.”