Caitlin Clark Lands 12 Cheeseballs in Jimmy Fallon's Mouth in 24 Seconds on The Tonight Show as the Clip Goes Viral
On Friday night, November 6, at NBC's The Tonight Show studio in New York City, Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark took on a 24-second shot-clock challenge set by host Jimmy Fallon, tossing cheeseballs into Fallon's mouth one by one and landing 12 of her 16 attempts. The Tonight Show's official account posted the clip on November 7, it spread across social platforms, and it was still near the top of YouTube's U.S. trending chart on November 8. The WNBA's official account reposted it on X with a three-word verdict: "This is amazing."
According to Pro Football & Sports Network, the challenge ran on strict rules: Clark could have only one cheeseball in the air at a time, and putting a second one up would have disqualified her on the spot. The two stood at least six feet apart, a distance Fallon stepped off while wearing the Nike Caitlin 1s Clark had given him on the show. "I didn't know the rules were that hard," Clark said. The 24 seconds on the clock matched the WNBA's shot clock.
Athlon Sports reported that Clark opened with seven straight makes and finished 12-for-16, a line fans wrote up like a box score: "12/16 FG, 75% shooting." Fever beat reporter Scott Agness wrote on X that Clark was "fiercely competitive, makes seven cheeseballs in a row to start," adding, "You can hear her amp up the intensity, while having fun." One fan wrote: "It's wild that Caitlin Clark is so damn competitive that she can turn cheese ball throwing into a sport. She's got Michael Jordan aura."
Clark appeared on the show during a press tour for her children's book, EXTRAordinary! A Little EXTRA to Reach BIG Dreams, and also gifted Fallon a pair of her signature shoes during the segment. In the interview she described how competitive she has been since childhood: "Any board game growing up, I did not like to lose. Candyland was probably my favorite game growing up. Now Catan is probably my favorite game right now."
According to Bleacher Report, Clark averaged 22.3 points per game in the WNBA season just ended, shooting a career-best 44.5 percent from the field and 36.1 percent from three-point range. The Fever finished the regular season 28-16 and were eliminated by the Las Vegas Aces in the first round of the playoffs. The late-night cheeseball challenge became the most viral moment of her offseason so far.
Source: NBC's The Tonight Show
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：Caitlin Clark本人比赛资料图（2024年7月，John Mac摄，CC BY-SA 2.0，经Wikimedia Commons），非《今夜秀》节目画面。/ Caitlin Clark in a July 2024 file photo (by John Mac, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons); not a photo from The Tonight Show.
