Caitlin Clark Finds New Team USA Friend After Aliyah Boston Exit
Indiana Fever fans don't need to be told about the bond between Caitlin Clark and Aliyah Boston.
While they were rivals in college (Clark's Iowa Hawkeyes beat Boston's South Carolina Gamecocks in the 2022 NCAA Tournament), these two have become extremely close friends during Clark's two seasons spent with the Fever. Not only have they developed elite chemistry on the court, but they often seem inseparable at various off-court events, such as the 2024 WNBA All-Star Weekend in Phoenix, Arizona.
And fans expected the same to occur during the FIBA Women's World Cup Qualifying Tournament, which begins on March 11 and runs through March 17 in Puerto Rica. Unfortunately, this can no longer be the case after Boston suffered an injury during Unrivaled and had to bow out of the FIBA tournament.
With Boston (and Sonia Citron, who also withdrew from the Team USA roster and who Clark is also friends with) no longer being in Puerto Rico, Fever fans were wondering who Clark would be hanging out with.
And the answer has seemingly arrived in the form of Los Angeles Sparks star Kelsey Plum.
Team USA Footage Suggests Caitlin Clark and Kelsey Plum Connection
Plum and Boston became friendly during their time playing for Phantom BC in Unrivaled this offseason. And it seems that Clark and Plum are now enjoying each other's company, given several social media posts of them hanging out.
One example was Plum and Clark walking on the court together that was posted by the @usabasketball account on March 7. Plum walked out slightly before Clark and was dancing, and seemed to nudge No. 22 out while they were walking. This prompted a wry smile from Clark.
Vibes are v v good 😎
— USA Basketball (@usabasketball) March 7, 2026
🇺🇸 #USABWNT pic.twitter.com/AcCNYo6QZh
Even better footage surfaced on social media one day later. Clark was draining threes, and Plum was sitting on a nearby chair, saying, "About time. Finally!" per an X post from @nosyone4.
This prompted Clark to turn around with a smile and say, “You yell at me for not passing you the ball, and then you run in all excited to shoot a layup and you can’t even catch my pass.”
“I did catch it," Plum retorted.
"Barely. The ref would have been doing one of these," Clark added while doing the viral "6-7" motion with her hands. Then the two laughed about this together for a time.
Caitlin: “you yell at me for not passing you the ball and then you run in all excited to shoot a layup and you can’t even catch my pass.”
— correlation (@nosyone4) March 8, 2026
Kelsey: “I did catch it.”
Caitlin: “Barely…the ref woulda hit one of these 67.”
😭😭😭 the duo we didn’t know we needed pic.twitter.com/HXimlKNLOG
It's good to see that Clark has found a friend at the Team USA camp. Perhaps she'll build other bonds over the past 10 or so days.
Grant Young covers Women’s Basketball, the Indiana Fever 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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