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Caitlin Clark Comically Details Parent Disbelief Over Past Basketball Success vs Boys

Indiana Fever superstar Caitlin Clark shared a hilarious story about the parents of a youth boys basketball league she played in being upset about her winning MVP.
Grant Young|
Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (22) and Indiana Fever guard Lexie Hull (10) talk during a timeout on Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, during the game at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. The Indiana Fever defeated the Dallas Wings, 110-109.
Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (22) and Indiana Fever guard Lexie Hull (10) talk during a timeout on Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, during the game at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. The Indiana Fever defeated the Dallas Wings, 110-109. | Grace Hollars/IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

It shouldn't come as a surprise to anybody who has watched Caitlin Clark play that she has been cooking opposing defenses on the basketball court ever since she picked up a ball.

While the 22-year-old surely spent countless hours in the gym improving her game while growing up in Des Moines, Iowa, generational talents like her typically show that talent at a young age, regardless of who they're playing against.

And for Clark, her talent as a youth was displayed against boys — which seemed to irk some of these boys' parents.

Clark detailed this in hilarious fashion during a speaking engagement alongside Robin Roberts at The 2024 Massachusetts Conference for Women.

"There were moments where I really struggled with my confidence [growing up], but overall, I was a very confident young girl," Clark said to Roberts, per an X post from @FeverBandwagon. "And I think it just speaks to how I was raised. My parents never told me 'You can't do this, or you can't do that'.

"I grew up playing with the boys. And... it was just normal. Like 'You're better than a lot of the girls, so we're going to toss you into the boys [league],'" Clark continued.

"The boys league that I was playing in... they wanted to make me MVP of the league. And these parents couldn't believe [it], like 'We can't let a girl be the MVP of the boy's basketball league.'

"But it wasn't a pity award, I was better than all of them," she said.

We imagine that these parents can now believe that Clark always was (and surely still is) better than their boy basketball players.

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Grant Young
GRANT YOUNG

Grant Young covers Women’s Basketball, the New York Yankees, and the New York Mets for Sports Illustrated’s ‘On SI’ sites. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco (USF), where he also graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing and played on USF’s Division I baseball team for five years. However, he now prefers Angel Reese to Angels in the Outfield.

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