Caitin Clark's controversial off-season decision could spell doom for all her rivals

Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark, who endured the usual rookie struggles while adjusting to the WNBA's heightened physicality, made what some have called a controversial decision by opting not to play overseas or even participate in domestic competitions like Unrivaled, a path many players have taken in previous offseasons.

Instead, Clark stayed stateside, focusing on healing and training, away from the pressures that followed her meteoric rise from college sensation to professional athlete.

According to WNBA analyst and ESPN reporter Alexa Philippou, Clark's choice to prioritize herself paid dividends both physically and mentally.

"For her though this offseason was also about rest and reset," Philippou reported. "She said that it was a really healthy experience for her to be out of the spotlight after such a crazy first year in the league.

"She was able to live life as a normal person. Be Caitlin. Do Caitlin things. Between the on-court stuff that she did and the weight room and the off-court stuff, it was really a rewarding offseason for Caitlin Clark."

Clark credits offseason strength training for renewed energy and focus

Speaking to reporters on Monday after the second day of Indiana Fever training camp, Clark provided more insight into her offseason regimen. She specifically praised the team's strength and conditioning coach, Sarah Kessler, for deg and guiding her through a comprehensive training program aimed at building endurance and physical resilience.

"That was my biggest focus in the offseason, trying to get stronger and really working on that," Clark said. "Having that consistency to be able to work on it for six months or whatever it was, I certainly feel a lot stronger.

"It's going to help me offensively and it's going to help me defensively," she noted. "It's going to help me not to get as tired throughout games... even through these two practices I can already feel it."