From the moment Caitlin Clark picked up a basketball at just 5 years old, it was clear she was no ordinary player. By grade school, she was so advanced that her parents had to sign her up to play on boys’ teams—because there simply wasn’t a girls’ league that could match her level. Imagine being a young girl dominating a group of boys on the court! Clark didn’t just hold her own, she excelled—and it wasn’t long before basketball circles across Iowa were buzzing about this young phenom.

Her early years shaped her legendary skills—Clark was dribbling through defenders and sinking impossible shots long before she became a household name in women’s basketball. And when she wasn’t making headlines on the basketball court, she was dominating in softball, soccer, volleyball, and even tennis! But by middle school, it was clear: Caitlin Clark was destined to take over basketball.

Even in her driveway, young Clark was obsessed. After attending a WNBA game, she was so inspired that she begged her dad to rip up the lawn and pour more concrete so she could practice her deep three-point shots. That single-minded dedication paid off in ways no one could have predicted.

Fast forward to her WNBA rookie season, and Clark was rewriting history. She shattered records, including surpassing Ryan Howard’s rookie record for three-pointers—hitting her 86th in just 31 games, compared to Howard’s 34-game season. Clark’s shooting prowess left the league stunned, with comparisons to greats like Diana Taurasi and Sabrina Ionescu. And let’s not forget, she also almost broke Ionescu’s single-season record!

But it wasn’t just her jaw-dropping skills that made headlines—Clark’s fiery competitiveness was legendary from a young age. In fact, her passion ran so deep that after every game her team lost, young Caitlin would burst into tears, inconsolable over the defeat. From crying over childhood losses to breaking WNBA records, that drive has been key to her meteoric rise.

Clark’s journey, from the courts of Iowa to WNBA superstardom, was no accident. Fueled by passion, sharpened by competition (even against her brothers in heated basement Nerf basketball games), and nurtured by a father who was both her biggest fan and first coach, she’s taken the basketball world by storm. And with records already shattered, the sky’s the limit for the Indiana Fever’s newest sharpshooting sensation. What will she conquer next?