WNBA legend Maya Moore’s number was retired as fans flocked to watch a new star in action.

MINNEAPOLIS — The number 23 now lives in the rafters of Minneapolis’ Target Center indefinitely.

After the Minnesota Lynx took on the Indiana Fever Saturday and came out on top, 90-80, the Lynx held a ceremony to reveal women’s basketball legend Maya Moore’s number hanging in the rafters.

While all eyes were on Moore and the reveal of the blue and white 23 suspended in the arena during her jersey retirement ceremony, another player watched from the sidelines: Caitlin Clark.

After breaking record after record and bringing the Iowa women’s basketball team to the NCAA National Championship twice, Clark’s talent and impact on the game is indisputable.

But before Clark rocked the world of women’s basketball, she was just a young girl who idolized the pros in the WNBA — especially Moore.

“She’s courtside, and you look over and it’s like, ‘That’s your childhood hero,’” Clark said in the post-game press conference. “You kind of have to pinch yourself at times.”

So, when Clark got to stand in the tunnels while her hero was immortalized as one of the all-time greats, she couldn’t help but recognize that moment as special.

“You can’t really script it any better,” Clark said.

At the pregame press conference, Clark recounted a moment when she and her dad traveled from Iowa to Minnesota to watch the Lynx play. When Clark spotted Moore, she didn’t have a pen for an autograph — instead choosing to run up and give her hero a hug.

“There’s no documentation of that moment, but in my brain, it was one of the most pivotal moments of my entire basketball career,” Clark said. “As a young girl loving sports, that meant the world to me.”

Now that years have passed and Clark has transformed into one of the biggest women’s basketball players in just her first year playing in the league, Moore’s influence cuts even deeper.

Minnesota Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve said without the league’s rich history, players like Clark or current Lynx forward Napheesa Collier wouldn’t have role models like Moore to look up to.

And while Moore doesn’t remember the exact instance Clark ran up and gave her a hug, she certainly recognizes the impact that moment had.

“It’s really, really cool to think about how one of those kids turned out to be Caitlin Clark,” Moore said.

Now, Clark gets to be that same hero for young girls across the country.

Growing the game

When Caitlin Clark enters any game she plays, roaring applause follows.

It doesn’t matter if she’s at home in Gainbridge Fieldhouse or hundreds of miles away on someone else’s turf.

Around 600 miles from Indianapolis, the Indiana Fever had a rather supportive crowd while playing against the Minnesota Lynx on Saturday, Aug. 24. Black and gold shirts emblazoned with the number 22 were spotted across the packed Target Center, carried over from Clark’s time playing with the Iowa Hawkeyes.

Since her rocky rookie start in May, Clark has pushed ahead, already breaking records and setting new standards.

On July 6, she became the first-ever WNBA rookie to record a triple-double, a feat she accomplished quite often while at Iowa. On July 17, she broke the all-time record for assists in a single game, notching 19 against the Dallas Wings, just a couple of months into her professional career. On Aug. 24, she became the fastest player in league history to score at least 500 points and notch 200 assists.

Clark recorded 23 points and eight assists against the Lynx on Aug. 24, and the crowd roared for every free throw, field goal, and clean pass she made. While Clark’s effort wasn’t able to secure a win for Indiana, her influence has been intense both on and off the court.

According to a mid-season stat report from the Indiana Fever, the team has seen monstrous growth in ticket sales, social media reach, and merchandise sales. This year, jersey sales for the Fever have increased by well over 1,000 percent and the team has gained 1.3 million followers on Instagram since April 15 — the day Indiana selected Clark as the first pick in the WNBA draft.

Growing the game and being a role model for young kids has always been a priority for Clark. Back in 2023, after Iowa lost to LSU in the NCAA National Championship, Clark spoke to her position as a figure who people look up to.

“I want my legacy to be the impact I have on young kids and the people of Iowa,” Clark said during the postgame press conference with tears in her eyes. “I was that young girl. All you have to do is dream, and you can be in moments like this.”

Hawkeye fans following the WNBA

Clark is not the only former Hawkeye garnering attention in the WNBA.

Kate Martin and Megan Gustafson, both Hawks who graduated in 2024 and 2019, respectively, played with the Las Vegas Aces against the Minnesota Lynx on Aug. 23. While Martin and Gustafson had limited playing time, it’s clear they were fan favorites.

When either of the former Iowa players checked in, the crowd was bursting with energy, holding up signs with Martin’s name and cheering loudly both times Gustafson scored. A few times, groups of fans started chants, urging Aces head coach Becky Hammon to put Martin in the game.

While the Indiana Fever was playing an away game on Aug. 24 against the Lynx, Hawkeye and Clark fans drove great distances to watch the team play.

Whenever Indiana had possession of the ball, Fever fans attempted to drown out “defense” chants from the crowd by shouting either “offense” or “Fever.” When Clark sank her first three-point shot of the night, the crowd exploded with excitement.

Billy Offerman, his wife Haley, and their children all traveled from Iowa to cheer on Clark and the Indiana Fever in Minneapolis. The Offermans said their family started getting interested in women’s basketball during Iowa’s first run through the NCAA Tournament.

Since then, they have been following the Iowa women’s basketball team and later became fans of the Indiana Fever.

“Being a girl dad, it’s great to see Caitlin doing such good things with her visibility and just being very humble and gracious about what she has done,” Billy Offerman said.

Even people who have been watching collegiate basketball for years are being brought into the WNBA, thanks in part to Clark and her magnetic gameplay.

Jessica Niles of Elk Point, South Dakota, traveled with family to watch Clark play with the Indiana Fever. Niles said while she hasn’t watched Clark play live, her daughters have.

Niles said her family has followed women’s basketball since around 2010, but the jump to watching WNBA games has been new.

“My girls play, and they’ve been watching college and high school basketball for years,” Niles said. “What Caitlin has done for the sport has been pretty miraculous, not just for my girls but for their whole team.”

Brady Behrend contributed to this report.