Caitlin Clark has revealed that she managed to avoid post-season surgery after rupturing her eardrum during her rookie WNBA season.
Speaking to Travis Kelce and his brother Jason during their special episode of New Heights, Clark revealed that she may have to go under the knife to fix the rare problem.
The Indiana Fever rookie suffered the unfortunate injury during her 11th game in the WNBA after being drafted out of Iowa last year.
Clark, who was mentioned TIME Athlete of the Year for 2024, was hit by a screen by New York Liberty’s Jonquel Jones, but collided with her opponent and popped her eardrum.
Clark told the Kelce brothers that his hearing had been affected for weeks, but is now completely healed.
She said: “It was early, like our tenth game of the year. We played in New York against the Liberty, who ended up winning the championship this year.
Caitlin Clark told the Kelce brothers she was able to avoid surgery after rupturing her eardrum
Christie Sides and Caitlin Clark talk in Brooklyn after the rookie suffered a ruptured eardrum
‘Someone put a screen on me and I hit my ear right on the girl where my eardrum popped and ruptured.
“I knew right away because I’d done it before. It hurts so much. I don’t know if you guys have ever done that?’
Jason, who revealed he ruptured his eardrum while diving in high school, asked Clark how she did it before and she replied, “I was tubing.” I was launched from a tube into the middle of a lake. I was underwater thinking, “Are you okay?”
‘There’s really not much you can do. It takes months to heal so after the season the doctor had to go back in to see if it had closed and if it doesn’t close you have to have a minor procedure.
“Luckily it closed, so everything went well for me. You must be careful about water entry, you cannot go into lakes or pools. Sometimes it bleeds when it pops, but luckily mine didn’t.
‘It’s just very annoying. Your hearing will be disabled for a few weeks.’
The 22-year-old sensation is generating more interest in women’s soccer than ever before after a whopping 18.9 million people tuned in to watch the March Madness final against South Carolina, which went down as the second most-watched female sporting event in US history.
Her unique appeal has also followed her into the professional ranks, with Clark’s Fever appearing in the most-watched WNBA games ever on a number of networks last season.
Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (22) owns the ball in her first playoff series
Clark has committed some tough fouls this season, which some fans have attributed to jealous rivals reportedly targeting the first overall draft pick.
She broke six rookie records for points and assists, four franchise records as a Fever player and set as many all-time WNBA records, including for most assists in a single game (19).
Clark’s first year in the highest level of women’s basketball was not without controversy, however.
The 2024 WNBA season also proved to be a toxic one at times amid her on-court rivalry with fellow rookie Angel Reese, sparking a racing war both in the media and among fans online.
Reese was infamously seen laughing with teammate Chennedy Carter after the Chicago Sky player performed a brutal body check on Clark during a match over the summer, leading to claims that black players in the league were racist towards the Fever- rookie.
And later in the season, Reese claimed she received racial abuse from Indiana fans amid her rivalry with Clark.