Caitlin Clark’s whirlwind All-Star weekend: Meeting Obama, then lighting up the game

CHICAGO (AP) — Caitlin Clark had a memorable weekend that started with meeting former President Barack Obama and ended with a stellar effort in her first traditional All-Star Game.

In between were sponsor events with Nike, State Farm and Wilson that had hundreds of fans of all ages and genders — many wearing her No. 22 jersey — lined up for hours, hoping to get a high-five, autograph or even just a glimpse of the Indiana Fever star. “I’m excited this weekend is packed with a lot of stuff,” Clark said at the Wilson event to unveil her new line of basketballs. “I never want to take for granted (All-Star weekend)."

This was Clark’s first traditional All-Star Game; she missed last year's in Indianapolis because she was injured. Her rookie season in 2024 featured a highly competitive game in which the U.S. Olympic team played the WNBA All-Stars. There was added tension for that one because many felt Clark should have been on the Olympic squad for Paris.

“Any time you get to put on a uniform and play an All-Star Game is really special. It's really a unique experience for myself as I never really got to play in a true All-Star Game (before),” Clark said.

On Saturday, she got involved quickly, much to the delight of the record All-Star crowd of 19,783 at the United Center. Clark scored her team's first eight points, getting a steal for a layup and then hitting one of her signature deep 3-pointers. A few minutes later she nailed an even deeper 3 that would have been from the 4-point spot that was used in last year's game. The league got rid of it this year to Clark's dismay.

Despite not having the opportunity for the bonus point, Clark had fun Saturday helping her team to the 129-122 win, taking Obama's words in their conversation to heart when he told her “don't lose the joy."

Clark admitted her hands were sweaty and clammy when she met Obama. She asked for a photo with him — a question that's posed to her countless times a day.

After meeting Obama, Clark's day was full of sponsor activities. She went to WNBA Live, a fanfest where many of the league's sponsors having exhibits. She participated in a musical chairs shooting game at the State Farm exhibit, which had hundreds of fans watching.

Soon after she was acting as a hype woman for a few lucky girls who competed in a similar contest. The winner got a pair of Clark's shoes. There was also a stop at the Nike girls basketball tournament to see her former AAU team the Iowa Attack.

Then it was the trip to Wilson to unveil her new line of basketballs.

For a few days, Clark could just enjoy basketball and not have to deal with the outside noise that has surrounded her since she entered the league in 2024.

Now it’s back to the grind as the Fever play in Seattle on Tuesday.

AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball

WNBA All Star Caitlin Clark looks on during practice at the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago, Friday, July 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)

WNBA All-Star Caitlin Clark, center, reacts before practice at the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago, Friday, July 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)

Team Spoon's Caitlin Clark, right, celebrates with Courtney Williams (10) after their team defeated Team Coop in a WNBA All-Star basketball game in Chicago, Saturday, July 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

Former President Barack Obama, left, greets WNBA All-Star Caitlin Clark, right, during a practice at the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago, Friday, July 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)

Team Spoon's Caitlin Clark looks to pass the ball during the first half of a WNBA All-Star basketball game against Team Coop in Chicago, Saturday, July 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian ballistic missiles struck Kyiv early on Sunday, setting off fires and wounding at least three civilians, while attacks on other parts of Ukraine later killed at least two people, local officials reported.

The strikes come as Ukraine’s successful drone attacks have stalled the Russian army’s advances in an expanded campaign inside Russia that has been causing fuel shortages and piling pressure on Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

In Russian-occupied eastern Ukraine, Kremlin-installed authorities said a Ukrainian drone strike had killed four civilians in the city of Horlivka. According to Ivan Prikhodko, the city’s Russian-appointed mayor, the city had been under fire since the early hours of Sunday.

According to Russia’s defense ministry, Russian forces overnight struck down 133 Ukrainian drones over Russia, the Black Sea and Crimea, the peninsula that Moscow forcibly annexed from Ukraine in 2014.

Blasts rocked Kyiv in the early hours of Sunday, with falling debris sparking a blaze in a tower block near the historic center, according to mayor Vitali Klitschko.

Elsewhere in the capital, falling debris set fire to buildings, cars and car parks, Klitschko added. He said three people had been wounded, with one needing hospital treatment.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned in his evening address on Friday that intelligence assessments indicated that Russia was preparing missiles for a large attack, saying there were indications that this could happen in the next 48 hours.

Russia’s defense ministry claimed on Sunday that its latest attack on Kyiv had struck sites linked to drone production.

Also Sunday, a drone strike on Kharkiv — Ukraine’s second-largest city in the east — killed one person and wounded at least six others, including two children, mayor Igor Terekhov reported.

In the southern city of Zaporizhzhia, a Russian glide bomb killed one man and wounded at least six other people, according to mayor Ivan Fedorov.

Both Kharkiv and Zaporizhzhia have been frequent targets for Russian attacks, with Zaporizhzhia — just over 20 kilometers (12.5 miles) from the front line — suffering heavy bombardment in recent months.

On Friday, a major Russian strike near Kyiv killed at least 10 people and wounded around 100 others, part of a cycle of tit-for-tat attacks that dims the potential of reaching a diplomatic end to Russia’s more than 4-year-old invasion of its neighbor.

Meanwhile, Finnish President Alexander Stubb claimed on Sunday that “Ukraine’s position is stronger than ever since the war began".

Following a call with his Ukrainian counterpart — and appearing to allude to Kyiv’s recent drone campaign that has struck major Russian energy sites and sought to choke off military supplies — Stubb wrote on X that “continued support from (Ukraine's) partners is critical to keep up the momentum."

Romanian President Nicușor Dan said on Sunday that the country's forces had shot down another drone that had breached its airspace — the third in three days. He called the incidents “inadmissible and intolerable."

“A new drone was shot down this morning, at 10:13, by an F-16 aircraft of the Romanian Air Force, over the territorial waters of Romania, in the Sulina–Chilia area,” Dan wrote in a post on X.

The day before, a drone that crossed from Ukraine into Romania was downed in an “unpopulated area” near the border, according to a Facebook post by Dan. On Friday, a drone was shot down near Padina, northeast of the Romanian capital, Bucharest.

Dan said that a formal probe into Friday's attack found the weapon to have been a Shahed-type drone commonly used by Moscow to strike Ukraine.

A series of drone incursions by Russia and Ukraine have hit Romania and other NATO members since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

In this photo provided by Ukraine's 93rd Kholodnyi Yar Separate Mechanized Brigade press service and taken Saturday, July 25, 2026, Ukrainian servicemen repair the damaged anti-drone net in the frontline town of Druzhkivka, Donetsk region, Ukraine. (Iryna Rybakova/Ukraine's 93rd Mechanized Brigade via AP)

Rescuers carry a body that they removed from under the rubble of an private house following a drone attack from Russia, in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Sunday, July 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Andrii Marienko)

Rescuers search through the rubble of a private house destroyed by a Russian drone in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Sunday, July 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Andrii Marienko)

This photo provided by Ukraine's 93rd Kholodnyi Yar Separate Mechanized Brigade press service and taken Saturday, July 25, 2026, shows the damaged center of the frontline town of Druzhkivka, Donetsk region, Ukraine. (Iryna Rybakova/Ukraine's 93rd Mechanized Brigade via AP)

This photo provided by Ukraine's 93rd Kholodnyi Yar Separate Mechanized Brigade press service and taken Saturday, July 25, 2026, shows the damaged center of the frontline town of Druzhkivka, Donetsk region, Ukraine. (Iryna Rybakova/Ukraine's 93rd Mechanized Brigade via AP)