Caitlin Clark's Father Reveals Source of Her Fierce Competitive Spirit

Caitlin Clark is many things when she steps onto the basketball court: an elite three-point shooter, an outstanding playmaker and a fierce competitor, to name a few.

Clark's talent and competitive spirit has been on full display since a very young age. From her time as a stellar youth athlete in Des Moines, Iowa, to her record-breaking rookie season with the Indiana Fever, it's always been there.

Along every step of the way on her athletic journey, Clark has been supported by her father: Brent Clark.

Brent, who recently sat down for an interview with his alma mater (Simpson College), believes some of that competitive spirit was passed down from him.

“I was a pretty emotional player,” Brent said. “I even recall fights in a couple of games. I wasn’t the instigator, but the competitive juices just flow. Caitlin and I see a lot of me in her in that way, but I think she does a much better job of controlling her emotion. She’s got fire, but she has the presence of mind not to react when someone says something or does something to her. I wish I had a little bit more of that maturity when I was at Simpson.”

Clark's competitive fire is easy to spot whenever she takes the court. While Brent lauded her ability to control her emotions, they've certainly gotten the better of her on several occasions in her debut campaign. Clark currently has five technical fouls on the season, just two away from an automatic one-game suspension.

"I thought I got fouled a couple times there in the second half on mid-range jump shots," Clark said in a postgame press conference after a loss to the Minnesota Lynx on Friday. "It happens. Sometimes they get calls, sometimes they don't. It is what it is. I think I settled a little bit too much for mid-range jump shots, but I thought I got bumped a little bit and I was honestly trying to shot-fake them to get them to foul me.

"I mean, I think I could have done a little bit better of a job controlling my own emotions."

Technical foul issues aside, Brent is clearly very pleased with his daughter's overwhelming WNBA success.

“I couldn’t be prouder of Caitlin. She handles the attention with such grace and poise," Brent concluded. "Her impact is difficult to measure, but it’s generational, notable and real. My advice to her is simple — stay humble, stay hungry.”

Related: Caitlin Clark Acknowledges Need to Adjust Behavior Amid Growing Technical Foul Concerns