{"id":45539,"date":"2025-07-25T14:19:08","date_gmt":"2025-07-25T18:19:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/?p=45539"},"modified":"2025-07-25T14:20:53","modified_gmt":"2025-07-25T18:20:53","slug":"caitlin-clark-shares-touching-birthday-tribute-for-boyfriend-connor-mccaffery-you-make-everyday-better","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/2025\/07\/caitlin-clark-shares-touching-birthday-tribute-for-boyfriend-connor-mccaffery-you-make-everyday-better.html","title":{"rendered":"Caitlin Clark Pays Touching Birthday Tribute to Boyfriend Connor McCaffery: &#8216;You make every day better&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_45542\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-45542\" style=\"width: 1200px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/87\/2025\/07\/Caitlin-Clark_credit-caitlinclark22-Instagram.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-45542\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/87\/2025\/07\/Caitlin-Clark_credit-caitlinclark22-Instagram.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1200\" height=\"900\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-45542\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">@caitlinclark22 \/ Instagram<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark recently had more than one reason to celebrate. After helping lead her team to a big win on the court, Clark took to Instagram to mark another special moment\u2014her boyfriend Connor McCaffery\u2019s birthday.<\/p>\n<p>Clark shared a heartfelt message with her 3.5 million followers, writing, \u201cHappy happy happy birthday con. you make everyday better and I couldn\u2019t be more grateful. may this be the best year yet, i love you.\u201d The sweet words were accompanied by snapshots of the couple, including one of McCaffery playing board games with Clark\u2014a simple but meaningful glimpse into their off-the-court life.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"instagram-media\" style=\"background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);\" data-instgrm-captioned=\"\" data-instgrm-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DMEHMsHPOt5\/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading\" data-instgrm-version=\"14\">\n<div style=\"padding: 16px;\">\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div style=\"display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;\">\n<div style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;\">\n<div style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"padding: 19% 0;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"padding-top: 8px;\">\n<div style=\"color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;\">View this post on Instagram<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"padding: 12.5% 0;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;\">\n<div>\n<div style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"margin-left: 8px;\">\n<div style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"margin-left: auto;\">\n<div style=\"width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;\">\n<div style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;\"><a style=\"color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DMEHMsHPOt5\/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">A post shared by Caitlin Clark (@caitlinclark22)<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>The two have been together since their days at the University of Iowa, where both were standout student-athletes. While Clark became a national sensation leading the Hawkeyes women\u2019s basketball team, McCaffery played under his father, Fran McCaffery, starting 89 games over a six-year career with the men\u2019s team.<\/p>\n<p>Since then, McCaffery has found his place on the coaching side of the game. After a stint with the Indiana Pacers, he joined Thad Matta\u2019s staff at Butler University in 2024. &#8220;Following a high-level playing career, Connor has had the opportunity to both contribute and learn alongside one of the best staffs in the NBA,&#8221; Matta said. &#8220;He obviously comes from a basketball family that I know very well, and I\u2019m excited for the impact he is going to have on our program both quickly and in the long run.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1575\" data-end=\"1825\">Clark continues to support McCaffery\u2019s coaching career, even attending Butler games to cheer him on. Her support doesn\u2019t stop at just showing up\u2014she recently gifted the entire Butler men\u2019s team pairs of her custom Nike Kobe 5 player-edition sneakers.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1827\" data-end=\"2179\">Even as Clark faces some struggles in her second WNBA season\u2014she\u2019s battling a groin injury and adjusting to intense play\u2014she hasn\u2019t lost sight of what matters most. On Sunday, she still managed to post 14 points, 13 assists, and five steals in the Fever\u2019s win. The victory brought their season record to 11-10, placing them sixth in the WNBA standings.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"2181\" data-end=\"2466\">Through it all, Clark and McCaffery\u2019s relationship stands out as a reminder that love and support matter just as much off the court as performance does on it. In a world that often celebrates fame and stats, it\u2019s refreshing to see a young couple lifting each other up in the spotlight.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"2468\" data-end=\"2625\" data-is-last-node=\"\" data-is-only-node=\"\">As Clark said in her post, \u201cYou make everyday better.\u201d That kind of love\u2014rooted in gratitude, encouragement, and faithfulness\u2014is something worth celebrating.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark recently had more than one reason to celebrate. After helping lead her team to a big win on the court, Clark took to Instagram to mark another special moment\u2014her boyfriend Connor McCaffery\u2019s birthday. Clark shared a heartfelt message with her 3.5 million followers, writing, \u201cHappy happy happy birthday con. you&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":462,"featured_media":45542,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-45539","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-television"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Caitlin Clark Pays Touching Birthday Tribute to Boyfriend Connor McCaffery: &#039;You make every day better&#039;<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Fever&#039;s Caitlin Clark celebrates a big win and her boyfriend\u2019s birthday with a heartfelt tribute: \u201cYou make everyday better. 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