overtime | clark & martin

twenty-five.

"Caitlin, have you been online today?" NaLyssa asks as she rushes her teammate in the locker room.

"No?" Caitlin says. Her shoulders sag as she realizes that the reason NaLyssa is asking is because there's probably a problem, "Why? Please don't tell me I'm going to have to call my lawyers-"

"What? No," NaLyssa says, "You know how you won Rookie of the Month?"

"I did?" Caitlin asks. It was the first time she had heard about it.

"Oh shit we were supposed to tell you at practice later," NaLyssa says before waving her hand dismissively, "Um congrats, anyway look at this!"

Caitlin takes NaLyssa's phone and looks at her teammate weirdly, but NaLyssa motions at the screen and Caitlin looks at it to see a video playing from the official WNBA account.

Jessica appears on the screen sitting behind a desk looking over several papers. She frowns at the camera, "I'm going to have to say nice things about Caitlin, aren't I?"

The person behind the camera must confirm the question because Jessica sighs loudly as she grabs a paper and begins to look over it, "Alright, let's get started. Caitlin Clark, there are so many things I could say about her. She has terrible taste in music, she sucks at Horse, she's also really bad at dodgeball, she couldn't even beat some fourth graders- oh sorry, I'm looking at the wrong paper."

"Okay um let's start over," Jessica says with a sincere smile as she looks at the camera, "Caitlin Clark. What is there to say about her aside from the fact that she is the first unanimous Rookie of the Month for the 2024 season."

The footage cuts away from Jessica and goes to highlights from the different games that they had played over the last few weeks, but Jessica narrates over it.

"Caitlin led all rookies in scoring, averaging 17 points per game, 6 assists per game, and 5 rebounds over about an average of 33 minutes played. She's the fastest rookie in WNBA history to record 100 points, 50 assists, and 50 rebounds. Caitlin also became the third player in WNBA history, joining Candace Parker and Sabrina Ionescu, with 100+ points, 30+ rebounds, and 30+ assists in her first six career games, so she's already up there with the greats."

The clip cuts back to Jessica who is smiling, "Congratulations Caitlin, you deserve this honor."

"And just in case I brought this list of things you're bad at to keep you humble," Jessica says as she holds up the paper she'd been reading earlier, "Having good music taste. Making playlists. She has Apple Music and Spotify which is criminal, pick a side. She sucks at Horse despite being an amazing shooter. She's bad at dodgeball and lost to fourth graders. Picking a place to eat dinner despite being told we're going to dinner and having hours to pick. Dancing. Making it to workouts on time. And the thing she's the absolute worst at is beating me at things."

Jessica lowers the paper with a smug smile knowing that she's gotten away with something that a lot of people wouldn't have. Jessica's smile then melts into something softer, something prouder, "But in all seriousness Caitlin congratulations and I know I and the rest of the world cannot wait to see what else you accomplish in the WNBA."

Caitlin is smiling so hard that she knows she probably looks like an idiot, but she can't help it. She looks over at NaLyssa who is watching her with a smile.

"How the hell did they get her to do that?" Caitlin asks.

"According to Aliyah, who is now besties with Jessica because they want to start a podcast, anyway the WNBA reached out to her and asked if she wanted to narrate the video and she agreed instantly but she wanted it to be a surprise."