INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Caitlin Clark had yet to even be drafted by the Indiana Fever before fans openly called for her to be given an honorary role at the Indianapolis 500.

Caitlin Clark scores 22 points but winless Indiana Fever suffer third  straight defeat | CNN

She’s been a resident of Indianapolis for just about a month and is already one of the biggest stars in the city with a full-size of Clark’s image lined the Hyatt Hotel near the arena. Little girls donned her No. 22 jersey and painted their faces with a “C” on each cheek.

“You can’t ask for a better home opener. This is what gets people excited,” Clark said before Thursday night’s game against the New York Liberty. “As you look around you soak it up and I couldn’t have scripted it any better.”

Clark held two lengthy interview sessions — one following a midday shootaround, the other about 90 minutes before tipoff against the Liberty, last year’s WNBA runner-up.

And it wasn’t just some run-of-the-mill stuff either.

“This is such a new thing,” Fever coach Christy Sides said, looking at a crowd of about three dozen reporters. “I mean, there’s never been this many people in this media room, so we’re all still trying to figure it out ourselves. We just want to make sure we’re taking care of our players, taking care of Caitlin.”