Caitlin Clark dishes on meeting women's basketball legend Sue Bird

Star Iowa basketball player Caitlin Clark has become a phenomenon all her own. With that, Iowa women’s basketball games have become must watch events, and professional stars have even sought her out to have the chance to meet.

More than any other professionals who have stood out to Caitlin Clark is Sue Bird. Recently, Clark dished on what it was like to meet the legendary player.

“Yeah, I would honestly, I’d say Sue Bird, like especially when she came to one of our games and was courtside,” Caitlin Clark said. “We went dinner afterwards and it’s just cool to get her perspective on everything, and on, you know, whether I stay here or I go. And, obviously, she wasn’t influencing me one way or the other, she’s just giving me different things and different ways to look at my decision.”

Now in her fourth season with Iowa, Clark had to make a decision on whether to return or not. She obviously chose to come back and try to win a championship. In the meantime, she’s been a dominant force, averaging 31 points, 7.2 rebounds, and 7.7 assists per game.

For Caitlin Clark, having this kind of interaction with Sue Bird was remarkable, given that she grew up watching Bird star in the WNBA.

“She’s one of the best players to ever touch a basketball. So, you kind of get a little starstruck in a way, but it was like the first ever WNBA game I went to, she was playing, and now life kind of comes full circle. She gets to watch me play,” Clark said.

“So, I would say Sue and I don’t know, I just think she also understands like the side of it as like a human and your feelings and those type of decisions are hard to do.”

Comparing Caitlin Clark phenomenon to other historic college athletes

Recently, Tom Kakert of the Hawkeye Report compared the phenomenon of Caitlin Clark to other historic college athletes to On3‘s Andy Staples.

“It’s insane. We had like 25 inches of snow last week and there was a game on Saturday night. They were like, ‘travel not advised. Don’t go on the roads.’ I didn’t go anywhere, but they had at least 14,000 fans at Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Saturday when Iowa played Indiana and that was a national FOX game. Everybody wants to see this. This is a phenomenon. She is one of those kind of transcendent athletes that you see every once in a while. I’ve argued to some of my friends that I think she’s the most marketable female athlete in the country — pro or college,” Kakert said.

“She gives that whole team a lot of swagger. She’s like Steph Curry and Pistol Pete Maravich rolled into one. She’s an outstanding passer. She’s got that Pistol Pete Maravich. Pete was just one of those swagger guys. He was flashy. Made the flashy passes. That’s what Caitlin does. She’ll throw a 75-foot bounce pass to Hannah Stuelke running to the basket and put it there right on a dime. She’ll pull from the logo like she did at the Michigan State game where she just stepped back from the beak and there it is. You knew the minute it left her hand it was going in because it’s Caitlin Clark.”