"I love her sm": Caitlin Clark leads charge as WNBA players drop heartfelt wishes for $90,000 star's daughter

Caitlin Clark has not played since mid-July due to a groin injury, but she remains active on social media. Most of the WNBA superstar’s interactions often happen when she reacts or responds to a teammate’s Instagram post. On Monday, she did it again for a former teammate who is recovering from a season-ending injury.

Katie Lou Samuelson, Clark’s teammate last season with the Indiana Fever, shared a heartfelt birthday video featuring her daughter Aliya. Samuelson, who signed a one-year, $90,000 deal with the Seattle Storm in February, wrote:

“Woke up this morning with a 2 year old 🥹❤️ My heart can’t take this 😭 #birthdaygirl”

Caitlin Clark and other WNBA players reacted to the heart-tugging video. Clark responded to the post:

“I love her sm”

Caitlin Clark and other WNBA players react to Katie Lou Samuelson's birthday post for her daughter on Sunday. [photo: @katielou33/IG]

Erica Wheeler, who followed Samuelson to Seattle, added:

“She’s has the best parents! You guys are amazing! Loveeeeee thisssss!!! 🥹”

Dearica Hamby, Samuelson’s former LA Sparks teammate, joined the fray:

“Happy birthday ❤️❤️❤️”

Connecticut Sun guard Marina Mabrey tossed in a greeting as well:

“Happy Birthday pretty girlllll❤️❤️❤️❤️”

Gabby Williams, who played with Katie Lou Samuelson for three years at UConn, did not miss the occasion:

“my shaylaaaa 🥲🥲🥲”

Alysha Clark and Napheesa Collier used emojis to react to the clip.

Aliya joined the Samuelson family in August 2023. Samuelson’s pregnancy forced her to stay out of the WNBA until she returned in 2024 to play alongside Caitlin Clark. After the Indiana Fever waived her this year, she joined the Seattle Storm. A torn ACL injury, which happened during training camp, kept her out of her team’s 2025 campaign.

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Katie Lou Samuelson struggled as part of Caitlin Clark’s supporting crew

Katie Lou Samuelson had a solid campaign for the LA Sparks in 2022. She averaged 9.7 points, 3.0 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.0 steals per game as the starting small forward. After pregnancy kept her out of the 2023 season, she joined Caitlin Clark’s Indiana Fever.

As part of the bench mob, Samuelson struggled to find her place. She averaged 4.3 ppg, her worst since she put up 2.4 ppg in her rookie season in 2019. Samuelson added 2.3 rpg and 1.4 spg.

Then Indiana Fever coach Christie Sides lost confidence in Katie Lou Samuelson as the season progressed. From one of the gunners assigned to make life easier for Clark, the sweet-shooting forward hardly played towards the end of the season. When the playoffs arrived, Sides played her just once in the first-round series against the Connecticut Sun.

Edited by Michael Macasero