Inside the Mind of Greatness

How Caitlin Clark and elite athletes rise above the rest

Joe Timmerman / IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK

"When you don't make moves and when you don't climb up the ladder, everybody loves you because you're not competition."

- Nicki Minaj

Competition. It’s probably the most cited thing retired athletes reference when asked what they miss most about their playing days. Competition is what fuels the world’s most elite. It keeps them up, watching film late into the morning hours. It forces them to push for those extra reps during the offseason. And it drives them to do it all over again, year after year. 

Multiple academic studies have found that elite athletes can be obsessive, even to the degree they become dysfunctional in different aspects of their lives. But that’s why fans worship the best of the best. They represent a fighting spirit we all wish we had within ourselves—to be as passionate about something as them.

Those athletes whose time has passed them by often cite that players nowadays don’t have that same fight in them. That they are too friendly with their competition. That they don’t care enough. But at least one new kid on the block has a deep need for competition—Caitlin Clark. 

As you know, Caitlin Clark has been all over the headlines this WNBA season. Though just a Rookie, she has a target on her back every night she plays. And she never backs down. As an ESPN article said perfectly, she’s a “different species.”

In the same article, Clark was asked how she was different at Iowa. Her response:

"Obviously, there is a switch that flips when I step on the court like I want to kill someone. I'm here to cause havoc. Some of the biggest challenges are [that] I have all this emotion…how do I channel this? At times they (her teammates) were definitely like, 'Why is this girl a psycho?'"

Work Ethic

“The only place where success comes before work is in the dictionary.”

- Vidal Sassoon

In a 2004 study on elite track athletes, researchers found that those who reach their full potential make their sport central to their lives and put it before almost anything else. 

Michael Phelps has talked about his dedication to training every day to become the best in the world:

“Five or six years I went every single day without missing a day. I never got sick. I was in the water on Christmas, birthdays, holidays, everything, it didn’t matter…There were probably 100 days where I didn’t wanna do anything…but those are the days you have to get up and do something because that’s really what separates the good from the great.”

After Kobe Bryant retired, he received the Icon Award at the 2016 ESPYs. As he stood on the stage with fellow award winners, Abby Wambach and Payton Manning, he gave his acceptance speech saying:

“We’re not on this stage just because of talent or ability. We’re up here because of 4am. We’re up here because of two-a-days or five-a-days...”

Tom Brady had the same mentality and has written about creating a team culture that gives 100% effort. During his first few years on the Patriots, he was part of a small group called the “Edgers.” The whole point was to compete to get an edge on their teammates—get to the weight room first, watch more film, and drink the most water.

Brady recalls urging his teammates to run extra sprints even when it wasn't required by the coaching staff. The whole point was to demand more out of his teammates. As Brady wrote:

“In the NFL, every player thinks he’s giving 100% effort. Judging from what I saw, a lot of them are playing at only 70% or 80% of their true ability. They may not realize it, but they’ve been conditioned to do that.”

For those wired differently, pushing teammates and holding them to what can be considered an impossible standard, can rub people the wrong way. It’s a double-edged sword. To be the best you have to work like the best, but athletes like Brady expect everyone else to work just as hard. When they don’t, they become frustrated.

ESPN reported that Clark was impatient with teammates and had a temper. During practice, she would throw her hands up and stomp off the court. She often didn’t pass to an open teammate if she didn’t believe they could get the job done. Said Clark, “I had expectations of them and they weren’t meeting them.”

Bryant was the same way. Everyone can remember his “Soft like Charmin” rant after returning to practice from an injury. He wanted his teammates to become tougher and play with the same edge he did.

LeBron James isn’t built much differently. Not known for his fiery personality like Clark, Phelps, Bryant, or Brady, his teammates still understand they must perform to the best of their ability or they’ll get shipped off at the trade deadline. As much as he denies it, James surely is in management's ear and pulls the strings if a teammate isn’t working out.

To the outside world, this behavior may seem over the top. It may seem not inclusive and demeaning. But every great athlete is this way. And if we’re being honest, many of the best at any profession are the same way. Is it right or wrong? That’s for you to decide, but it is often the price of greatness.

Find Motivation in Anything

“I’ve never made a product succeed where the primary motivation wasn’t spite.”

- Nikita Bier

Those who are best at their craft find ways to motivate themselves, even by the smallest, pettiest things. Athletes often say they enjoy winning in front of the opposition’s crowd because they thrive when quieting a crowd. 

In a recent interview on The Old Man and The Three, Jayson Tatum said he would have rather won the championship in Dallas because he remembers how devastating it was when Golden State celebrated on their court. He wanted that, “get-back” as he described it, even though he was playing against a completely different team.

At Wimbledon, Novak Djokovic had a bit of a run-in with the crowd during his march to the final. After saying some fans were “showing disrespect,” the crowd got on him in the semifinal match, even booing him after he won. Djokovic took it all in, basking in his victory.

Finding motivation can come from more than picking someone to prove wrong. It can also come in keeping one’s perspective on the legacy one wants to build.

In the same 2004 study mentioned above, researchers found that some athletes reached their full potential while others fell short because the best are highly driven to accomplish personal goals and have the self-belief to do it. 

In Roger Federer’s now famous Dartmouth Commencement Speech, he shared how throughout his career he won just 54% of his points, despite winning almost 80% of his matches. He realized that each individual point wasn’t the goal. Winning the match, the tournament, and climbing in the world rankings over a long period was the goal. He found motivation through the ups and downs of his career and was able to focus on the mountaintop.

 The young superstar, Carlos Alcaraz, has the same mindset. After beating Djokovic in the Wimbledon Final this summer he was as calm as ever when speaking with reporters saying:

“I've seen and heard all the statistics that I am the youngest to win at Roland Garros and Wimbledon the same year. I honestly try not to think about it too much. Obviously, it's a really great start to my career but I have to keep going. I have to keep building my path. At the end of my career, I want to sit at the same table as the big guys. That's my main goal. That's my dream. It doesn't matter if I already won four Grand Slams at the age of 21.”

Similarly, Clark is playing for more than just one moment. In fact, she isn’t playing for just her own legacy. As she has said in the past:

“I don’t want my legacy to be, ‘Oh, Caitlin won X amount of games’ or ‘Caitlin scored X amount of points.’ I hope it’s what I was able to do for the game of women’s basketball.”

She’s playing for all young girls everywhere who dream of being the next Caitlin Clark. She understands the responsibility that’s been put on her to help move the game forward and she’s not going to stop until her work is finished.

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