Caitlin Clark named WNBA Rookie of the Year

LOS ANGELES – Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark believes that everyone around her played a part, as she was named the near-unanimous 2024 Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) Rookie of the Year on Oct 3.

She received 66 of 67 votes from a national panel of sportswriters and broadcasters, with Chicago Sky forward Angel Reese drawing one vote.

The winner also headlined the league’s All-Rookie team. Clark was joined by Reese, Kamilla Cardoso of the Sky, Rickea Jackson of the Los Angeles Sparks and the New York Liberty’s Leonie Fiebich.

Clark, 22, is the second consecutive recipient of the award for Indiana, following forward/centre Aliyah Boston.

“I am incredibly honoured to be named Rookie of the Year, but more than that, I am grateful to everyone that supported me throughout this past season – my family and friends, my teammates, the Fever organisation and everyone that cheered us on all season,” she said.

“I am so proud of what we accomplished and so excited for what the future holds.”

Clark started all 40 games for the Fever, averaging 19.2 points, a league-high 8.4 assists, 5.7 rebounds and 1.3 steals, while drawing record crowds and boosting television ratings across the nation.

She set a WNBA single-season record with 337 assists and set WNBA rookie marks with 769 points and 122 three-pointers.

The No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft out of the University of Iowa, Clark was a starter for Team WNBA at the All-Star Game and was named the WNBA Rookie of the Month four times (May, July, August and September).

“Does not surprise me one bit,” Fever general manager Lin Dunn told the Indianapolis Star.

“I mean, she broke all the records before she ever got to the WNBA. She broke the college points record, broke Pistol Pete Maravich’s record, and so we anticipated great things from her.

“I think the assists, the passing, and then being a key part of taking our team from 13 wins to 20 wins, certainly well-deserving. And we’re thrilled. We’re thrilled for the Fever franchise.”

Clark helped the Fever finish 20-20 and earn their first play-off appearance since 2016.

Indiana were swept 2-0 in the first round by the Connecticut Sun.

Other highlights from her sensational debut campaign include the first two triple-doubles by a rookie in WNBA history (July 6 against New York and Sept 4 against Los Angeles), and the WNBA single-game record for assists (19 against the Dallas Wings on July 17).

The WNBA website said that in honour of Clark being named the 2024 Rookie of the Year, she will “receive US$5,150 (S$6,680) and a trophy designed to commemorate the achievement”.

Off the court, Clark, Reese and their fellow rookies have been a ratings and attendance boost for the WNBA in what has been a breakthrough year for women’s basketball in the United States.

The Fever’s average crowds this season have increased to more than 17,000 per game, with a record 20,711 fans turning out for one fixture.

The league averaged 657,000 viewers per game, according to a report by the Sports Business Journal (SBJ).

That included a record 22 games topping 1 million viewers across the WNBA’s Nielsen-rated media partners (ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ION, CBS and NBA TV), blowing away the previous league record of 15 in 1998. Of those 22, Clark’s Fever played in 19 of them.

The SBJ also reported record numbers for ESPN, which averaged 1.19 million viewers per game – a 170 per cent increase from last season – as well as the top seven most-watched WNBA games ever on the network.

ABC, meanwhile, had 2.23 million viewers for the Fever playing the Seattle Storm on Aug 18, marking the highest viewership for a WNBA game in network history. REUTERS, AFP