There was an undeniable buzz for a visiting basketball player in and around Scotiabank Arena on Tuesday night, the type that building is accustomed to having when the likes of Steph Curry and LeBron James are in town.<\/p>\n
With the Toronto Tempo’s inaugural season, it’s created an opportunity for that buzz to be created by some of the best players the WNBA has to offer. With the Indiana Fever visiting, it was the one and only Caitlin Clark’s turn.<\/p>\n
From Hotel X to pre-game warmups, Clark was reminded time and again how much Toronto has been relishing the opportunity to watch her live.<\/p>\n
“I’m super excited to be here, this is my first time in Canada in general,” Clark said before the game. “It’s been cool to be here and experience the culture and be in Toronto and experience the city. Just super excited about that, obviously, I’ve travelled internationally and played in a lot of different places and I think it’s really fun to see different parts of the world\u2026<\/p>\n
“The amount of people that are supporting the Tempo and excited about the Tempo and excited about women’s basketball in this country. Obviously, their NBA team is fantastic and that certainly helps as well.”<\/p>\n
Also before the game, Clark took a moment to show her affection for the Canadian accent following a question from CityNews Toronto reporter Catalina Gillies’.<\/p>\n
“I love your Canadian accent, it’s awesome,” Clark said. “Do you guys feel like I have an accent? I do? Really? A mid-west accent? Oh, OK.”<\/p>\n
Clark then put on a show for the fans, racking up 24 points, seven assists, and three rebounds in a 101-95 win for the Fever over the Tempo. This was Toronto’s 11th straight loss. She gave them a bit of everything between her trademark pull-up threes, dazzling playmaking, and tough drives to the basket.<\/p>\n
One thing she did seem to take issue with, though, was how hot Scotiabank Arena felt during the game, which contributed to star teammate Kelsey Mitchell leaving the game.<\/p>\n
“Maybe if Canada had air conditioning, it would probably be helpful,” Clark said during the broadcast. “It’s a million degrees in here but hopefully she’ll be OK but we’ll certainly miss her.”<\/p>\n
Fever head coach Stephanie White later confirmed that Mitchell did indeed leave the game because of the heat.<\/p>\n
“It seems like she just got overheated,” White said. “I mean, this is two games in a row where we played in really, really hot environments, so all indications right now is that she was just overheated.”<\/p>\n
The Tempo usually play in Toronto’s Coca-Cola Coliseum, but made the change in venue to accommodate the high-interest in watching Clark play. In its sustainability efforts<\/a>, Scotiabank Arena utilizes “deep-lake water cooling, which eliminates the need for air conditioning compressors.”<\/p>\n While the 24-year-old superstar was welcomed with open arms, there was a more negative reaction to teammate Sophie Cunningham. Clark’s teammate has come under fire in recent times for comments back in March that were perceived to be against the transgender community.<\/p>\n