Women's Fastbreak On SI

Caitlin Clark Loses Saturday Night Live Distinction After USA Olympic Star Appearance

Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark no longer has this Saturday Night Live distinction.
Grant Young|
Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark
Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark | IMAGO / Icon Sportswire

Many examples prove that Indiana Fever star guard Caitlin Clark is not only the biggest women's basketball star but one of the most popular women's athletes in the world.

One such example is that Clark appeared on NBC's iconic "Saturday Night Live" show back in April of 2024, shortly after her college basketball career ended. She showed up on SNL's "Weekend Update" segment right after Michael Che said, “The University of Iowa announced that basketball star Caitlin Clark will have her jersey retired and replaced with an apron."

“You make a lot of jokes about women’s sports. Don’t you, Michael?” Clark said. When Che responded by noting that, “I wouldn’t say a lot. It’s not on the regular," Colin Jost played a brief clip of all the women's sports jokes that Che has made.

Colin Jost, left, and Michael Che speak during the show.
Colin Jost, left, and Michael Che speak during the show. | ROBERT HANASHIRO, USA TODAY

After that, Clark had Che read several jokes that she had apparently written. One of them was, “The Indiana Fever have the first pick in this Monday’s draft. A reminder that the Indiana Fever is a WNBA team, and not what Michael Che gave to dozens of women at Purdue University.”

After a couple more jokes, Clark shared a heartfelt message about the WNBA stars that came before her. Her SNL cameo ended with her giving Che an autographed pink apron and then cracking a joke about him still not being in a relationship.

Caitlin Clark No Longer Most Recent Women’s Athlete On SNL

Team USA women's hockey stars and Olympic gold medalists Hilary Knight and Megan Keller appeared on SNL's February 28 show, alongside men's hockey stars Quinn and Jack Hughes and the show's host, Connor Storrie (who plays Ilya Rozanov in the show "Heated Rivalry", which is about two male professional hockey players who are in a romantic relationship).

At one point in their cameo, Hilary Knight said, “It was gonna be just us, but we thought we'd invite the guys, too," which was a clear reference to comments USA President Donald Trump made about having to invite the women's hockey team to the White House when he was speaking to the men's team after they won a gold medal.

Knight and Keller's appearance was significant because it marked the first time a women's athlete appeared on SNL since Clark's cameo nearly two years ago at this point, according to an X post from Yahoo Sports.

However, it wouldn't be surprising if Clark makes another appearance on Saturday Night Live in the relatively near future.

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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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