Basketball-Clark eyes leadership role after blockbuster rookie campaign

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Caitlin Clark wants to take on a bigger leadership role in her second season as she looks to build on her stellar rookie campaign with a handful of reliable new veterans added to her Indiana Fever team.

The Iowa superstar, who sent television ratings sky high as she broke the NCAA scoring record, kept the momentum going in her first professional season, averaging 19.2 points, 5.7 rebounds and 8.4 assists per game.

Clark's popularity shows no signs of easing, as the Fever's exhibition against Brazil's national team this week averaged 1.3 million viewers, outranking all but two NBA preseason games since 2010, according to ESPN analyst Rebecca Lobo.

Now, the rookie of the year wants to put the benefit of a season's experience to good use and become the floor general Indiana need to get to the next level.

"When you're the point guard, you've got to be the strongest voice on the floor. So I think that at times that's where I struggled last year, just coming in as a rookie," Clark told reporters on Thursday.

"You don't know when to use your voice. You don't know when to listen to your vets. You don't know the best way to handle a lot of those situations. So I think just learning and growing through that, I just think being a really good leader is my main goal."

Clark will have fresh veteran backing after the Fever picked up experienced professionals in six-time All-Star DeWanna Bonner from the Connecticut Sun and three-time champion Natasha Howard, a journeywoman who most recently played with the Dallas Wings.

Another off-season acquisition, twice champion Sydney Colson, is expected to add depth to the Indiana bench after they finished 2024 with 20 wins and 20 losses.

"The main thing we were lacking last year was experience," said Clark. "They have the championship pedigree about them. And I thinking having their voices in our locker room on the court every single day is what's going to really help us."

(Reporting by Amy Tennery in New York; editing by Clare Fallon)