Are Caitlin Clark And Bᴏyfriend Still Tᴏgether? Fans Noticed He Missed Her WNBA First Game. Clark Finally Speaks Out Abᴏut That | HO

Getty Caitlin Clark during a May 3 WNBA game.

Caitlin Clark addressed why her boyfriend won’t be attending her WNBA games during a May 3 reporter scrum, after an Indiana Fever practice.

“Will ‘bae’ be here?” one reporter asked Clark, per an X video from Chloe Peterson of Indy Star Sports.

“Bae” is an affectionate slang term that’s used to address or refer to one’s girlfriend, boyfriend, or spouse, per Dictionary.com. It’s technically an acronym, which stands for “before anyone else”.

Which is to say that the reporter was referring to Clark’s boyfriend, Connor McCaffrey.

Clark initially didn’t understand the question. So the reporter rephrased by saying, “Is ‘bae’ gonna be here?”

“Uh no, he’s working,” the 2024 WNBA Draft‘s No. 1 overall pick responded.

Yeah, I’m flying solo. I better get used to it, man,” she added with a smile. “This is the pros, this is my job.”

So although we might not see McCaffrey at Fever games in the near future, it seems Clark and her “bae” are still going strong.

Who Is Connor McCaffrey?

Like Clark, McCaffrey is a name that conveys basketball royalty at the University of Iowa.

Albeit not because of Connor.

Connor’s dad Fran McCaffrey has been the Iowa men’s basketball head coach since 2010. On January 15, McCaffrey became the winningest coach of Iowa men’s basketball history, per The Athletic.

McCaffrey currently has a 280-181 record coaching at Iowa, and has a career 531-368 record across 28 seasons coaching four different teams.

Connor spent six years playing for his father at Iowa, and was a starting guard for three seasons. He averaged 6.5 points, 4.1 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1.3 steals per game in 32 appearances during the 2022-23 season.

He also played baseball at Iowa for one season. In 2018-2019, he hit .238 with 1 home run and 5 RBIs across 84 plate appearances.

After his playing career ended, Connor McCaffrey McCaffrey joined the Indiana Pacers coaching staff in May 2023, as a team assistant.

“It’s a way in. It’s an entry-level job,” said McCaffery of the Pacers job, per ESPN. “You’ve got to work hard and work your way up. That’s obviously what I want to do.”

Perhaps it was divine intervention that Clark was drafted into the same city where McCaffrey is now coaching.

Yet, since McCaffrey’s Pacers team still is in the NBA Playoffs, he has clearly been too busy to watch Clark live.

The Fever’s first home game is on May 9. The Pacers have an away game in New York on May 8. But they’ll then return to Indianapolis for a home game on May 10.

Therefore, perhaps McCaffrey can spare the night of May 9 to watch his girlfriend’s home debut.

Clark Still Cooked Without McCaffrey Watching

Her boyfriend’s absence didn’t stop Clark from a dominant WNBA debut on May 3.

In 28 minutes played against the Dallas Wings, Clark scored 21 points, including shooting 5 of 13 from three point range.

Among Clark’s best moments in the game were her scoring her first career WNBA points with a deep three pointer.

Just about every college basketball team would be ecstactic to have Caitlin Clark playing for them.

The Iowa Hawkeyes star is the NCAA’s all-time leading scorer, but predicting that when she was in high school would have been pretty bold.

Three other players were ranked higher than her in her high school class — Paige Bueckers, Angel Reese and Cameron Brink.

Head coach Geno Auriemma of the UConn Huskies speaks with Caitlin Clark of the Iowa Hawkeyes after the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament at the Alamodome March 27, 2021, in San Antonio. (Carmen Mandato/Getty Images)

Reese and Brink committed to Maryland and Stanford, respectively, and while Clark stayed home to play with the Hawkeyes, UConn landed Bueckers, the top player of the class.

UConn head coach Geno Auriemma said he didn’t recruit Clark, and he had his reasons.

“I committed to Paige Bueckers very, very early, and it would have been silly for me to say to Paige, ‘Hey listen, we’re going to put you in the backcourt, and then I’m going to try really hard to recruit Caitlin Clark.’ I don’t do it that way,” Auriemma said earlier this week, via CT Insider.

Hindsight is 20/20.

Bueckers missed a season with a torn ACL, while Clark’s resume speaks for itself. The two will face each other in the Final Four Friday night.

Despite Clark raving about UConn, saying it’s the “coolest place on earth,” Auriemma made it seem like Clark wasn’t seriously eyeing the Huskies.

Head coach Geno Auriemma of the UConn Huskies reacts during the first half against the Ohio State Buckeyes in the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament at Climate Pledge Arena on March 25, 2023 in Seattle, Washington. (Steph Chambers/Getty Images)

“Caitlin is obviously a tremendous player, a generational player. But if Caitlin really wanted to come to UConn, she would have called me and said, ‘Coach, I really want to come to UConn,’” he said.

“Neither of us lost out. She made the best decision for her, and it’s worked out great. We made the decision we thought we needed to make.

“There are a lot of great players we see coming through high school, thousands of them. You’re only going to recruit some. You’re not going to recruit all of them. Some people do recruit all of them, I don’t. I try to lock in on who fits us,” Auriemma added.

“We try to lock in on them early, and that’s what happened to us and Paige. We felt really, really comfortable with that, and we went with it. Those are decisions that are made every day, every year, by every coach.”

Caitlin Clark of the Iowa Hawkeyes cuts down the net after beating the LSU Tigers 94-87 in the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament at MVP Arena April 1, 2024, in Albany, N.Y. (Andy Lyons/Getty Images)

The top-seeded Hawkeyes lost the national championship to LSU last year, but they got their revenge in the Elite Eight. UConn, meanwhile, is in its 23rd Final Four and its 15th in the last 16 tournaments and looking for its 13th national title.

The Huskies haven’t won since their fourpeat from 2013 to 2016.