Caitlin Clark on staying focused, the next step for the WNBA, and more at the Massachusetts Conference for Women

For the first time in over a year, Caitlin Clark has time to relax. But that doesn’t mean she’s going to.

Between offseason workouts and public appearances, the reigning WNBA Rookie of the Year is staying busy.

“I like it that way,” she said. “I don’t want to get bored.”

Clark, recently named TIME’s athlete of the year, was a keynote speaker at the Massachusetts Conference for Women, held Thursday at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center.

Here are a few takeaways from her conversation with “Good Morning America” co-host and Women’s Basketball Hall of Famer Robin Roberts.

She sees more media coverage as the league’s next step

Partly as a result of Clark’s success, the WNBA exploded in popularity this season.

A record 54 million unique viewers tuned in to watch the WNBA across its national broadcasting platforms during the regular season, and the league’s attendance jumped 48 percent from the previous year.

“People are wanting to get in now, which is really smart because the price is only going up,” Clark said. “I don’t blame them. Maybe they should have gotten in a few years ago. They would have made a great return on their investment.”

The league signed an 11-year, $2.2 billion media rights deal in July, which Clark said is essential in the WNBA’s continued growth.

“The more we can play on national television and be more accessible to people to be able to watch is going to be really important,” Clark said. “When people really gave it a chance, they couldn’t get enough of it.”

She has no trouble staying focused

Clark has never been one for false humility. So when Roberts asked how she stays focused and doesn’t get swept up in the chaos around her, Clark’s answer was unsurprising.

“I think I’m like, really good at that, actually,” Clark said, drawing laughter from the crowd of about 11,000.

Clark knows she is in this position because of her competitive fire and desire to win. She reminds herself that she loves playing basketball, which makes it easy for her to focus when it’s time to compete.

“There’s so many people that would love to be in my shoes,” Clark said. “So just reminding myself how lucky I am, that usually puts a smile on my face.”

She didn’t walk at her college graduation

Clark hasn’t had a break since the beginning of her senior year at Iowa in the fall of 2023.

Less than a month after leading the Hawkeyes to a second straight NCAA Tournament championship game, she was drafted first overall by the Fever and moved to Indianapolis.

She jumped right into practice and made her WNBA debut in May, just a few days after Iowa’s graduation ceremony.

“I never even walked for college graduation,” she said.

After the Sun knocked the Fever out of the playoffs in September, Clark, for the first time in over a year, had time to reflect.

“It’s kind of crazy to think about that and how much my life has changed from that point,” Clark said. “Just trying to soak that in and reflect back on the special year that it was.”

If not for basketball, she might be a restaurateur

Clark said a lot of the best moments of her childhood were centered around a good meal, as her mother, Anne, is an excellent cook.

She recalled driving past a plot of land in her hometown of Des Moines, Iowa, and telling her mother she hoped to build a restaurant there some day. The plot, she said, has since been developed.

“I think that dream has been crushed,” she said with a smile. “I’ll have to find something else.”