Caitlin Clark mentality summed up in childhood admission - 'It upset my parents'

Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark continues to be the face of women's basketball, but her winning mentality started as soon as she first stepped on the court as a young child.

The WNBA Rookie of the Year is a serial winner and strives for perfection, which has been demonstrated throughout her early basketball career, with many records already broken by the age of 23 .

Clark may now be an established professional and sporting icon, but she's recently commented on how much she hated losing as a kid.

In an interview with Nike, with whom Clark signed an eight-year, $28 million contract , the Fever star revealed: "I think I've hated losing even before I can remember.

When I was growing up all I did was cry when I lost.

"It upset my parents a lot.

My dad was my first coach, so he had to deal with me crying.

The more I won, the less crying there was." Unfortunately for Clark, she's 0-2 in championship games after losing in the college basketball finale to both LSU and South Carolina during her four seasons at Iowa.

However, she became the NCAA's all-time leading scorer before leaving the Hawkeyes, and since joining the WNBA, Clark has posted countless rookie records.

While winning remains a priority, and the Fever have made several acquisitions ahead of next season to boost their chances, Clark's career stance has changed.

The 23-year-old wants her legacy to reflect the impact she had on women's basketball, rather than highlight individual success.

"I dont want my legacy to be, Oh, Caitlin won X amount of games, or Caitlin scored X amount of points,'" Clark said last year.

"I hope its what I was able to do for the game of womens basketball.

"I hope it is the young boys and young girls that are inspired to play this sport or dream to do whatever they want to do in their lives.

For it to come down to 40 minutes and for me to validate myself within 40 minutes, I dont think thats a fair assessment." Clark's already been achieving that goal, as the Fever had the highest average attendance in the WNBA during her rookie season, averaging over 17,000 fans.

The Fever averaged just 4,066 fans per home game before Clark was selected first overall in the 2024 WNBA Draft.

Even before Clark joined the WNBA, she helped influence record revenue at Iowa that saw the women's program exceed the men's team for the first time in history.

According to The Des Moines Register's Chad Leistikow , during Clark's sophomore season the Hawkeyes women's basketball team generated $767,069 in ticket sales.

That figure grew to $3,260,451 by her senior season, as the women's team outsold the men's program.

During Clark's final year at Iowa, the men's ticket revenue fell by 14.6% as sales dropped from $3,471,938 to $2,965,969..

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