As a pro athlete, Caitlin Clark has access to some of the most innovative wellness treatments—red-light therapy, dry needling, hyperbaric oxygen chambers—which she’s currently using as she recovers from the groin injury that kept her from competing in Friday’s 3-point contest and Saturday’s All-Star Game during the WNBA All-Star Weekend. But her favorite tactics for staying mentally and physically on-point are the most basic—and the most accessible. “I’ve obviously done everything under the sun, but [for me] there’s no better rest and recovery than just straight up sleeping,” she told Glamour Global Editorial Director Samantha Barry in Indianapolis on Saturday. When she’s not sleeping, Caitlin said one of her favorite ways to de-stress and decompress is by rewatching Disney movies. “The other day I watched The Parent Trap, which literally never gets old, even though I know every single word in it,” she said. Things she doesn’t do: Pump herself up pre-game using intense music (she prefers silence or calming songs) or lose herself in Love Island. (”I watched the first episode but couldn’t get into it. Maybe it was too cringe for me? And it takes a lot of time—there’s a new episode like every single day! I just couldn’t do it.”)
These were just a few of the personal insights Clark shared during an All-Star Weekend event Glamour co-hosted with Eli Lilly and Company, the Indiana-based company that sponsors Clark’s WNBA team, the Indiana Fever. (Clark is also a Lilly ambassador.) A celebration of women’s sports, health, and community, the event centered around one key statistic from the American Cancer Society: There’s a five-year relative survival rate of up to 99 percent when breast cancer is detected early and hasn’t spread beyond the breast. Lilly memorably broadcast this stat at the first Women’s College All-Star Combine during the NCAA women’s Final Four tournament in April, where it outfitted all 30 WNBA draft prospects in matching 99 jerseys. They also partnered with Black Health Matters and Meridan Mobile Mammography to bring mobile mammogram units to All-Star Weekend. “I encourage you to spread the news around 99,” Lina Polimeni, Lilly’s chief corporate brand officer, told the crowd at Artsgarden. “Make sure as many people as possible get to know that number and the importance of early screening.”)
“Hosting this event during WNBA All-Star Weekend was about more than celebration—it was a statement,” Barry said. “Athletes like Caitlin Clark are redefining what strength, focus, and resilience look like.”
Clark opened up about how she prioritizes both her physical and mental health while navigating a high-pressure profession in the public eye. “Obviously I love playing basketball, but it can be stressful having so many eyes on you all the time, and during the season, you’re just going game to game to game,” she said. That’s why she makes sure to enjoy some restorative downtime with her teammates during their travels, even if that’s just going on an evening walk or finding a restaurant to try. Her other favorite way to unwind when she has time: playing golf, which she’s eager to get back to post-injuries. “This is the first time I haven’t felt like a young body that can run around and sprint every day and just continue to do that,” she said. “Being a professional athlete, you really have to take care of both your body and your mind—it’s been a journey learning about that.”
That’s included regularly opening up to a professional about how she’s feeling. “We have a sports psychologist on our staff who I sometimes meet with multiple times a week, to not only talk about basketball but other things in life, and that’s something that’s been important to me over the course of my career,” she says. “I don’t just talk about things that stress me out but also the joys in my life, and that’s always a good reminder and reset for me.” She’s also grown to understand the importance of turning to family, friends, her coach, and her teammates for support. “When you have an athlete or role model you look up to, it’s easy to see them as always happy and living a glamorous life, but it’s not always like that,” she said. “We go through difficult things too, and being able to lean on people and tell them your frustrations or that you’re not OK is really important.” Another mental-health outlet: Clark has a longtime pre-game ritual of journaling. “It makes me really intentional about what I want to accomplish and is a good reset if I’m feeling nervous or anxious about the game, to kind of wipe that away,” she said.
