NEW YORK (AP) — Caitlin Clark has been honored as the WNBA Rookie of the Year following a nearly unanimous vote, marking back-to-back victories for the Indiana Fever after Aliyah Boston received the award last season. A panel of national sportswriters and sportscasters voted for Clark, giving her 66 out of 67 votes. The only other vote went to Chicago Sky forward Angel Reese.
Clark, who was the No. 1 overall draft pick from Iowa, had a standout season, posting an impressive average of 19.2 points and leading the league with 8.4 assists per game. Her performance played a significant role in setting attendance records for the WNBA and drawing mainstream attention to the league. Although she faced some challenges early in the season, Clark rebounded to become an All-Star starter and ultimately led the Fever to the playoffs for the first time since 2016, finishing the season with a 20-20 record after starting 1-8.
Reflecting on her season after the Fever were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs, Clark expressed her determination to improve, stating, “For me, the fun part is like I feel like I’m just scratching the surface… I know there’s a lot of room for me to continue to improve so that’s what excites me the most.”
Although Clark was disappointed not to be selected for the U.S. Olympic team, she demonstrated her skill in the weeks that followed. After the Olympic break, she averaged 24.7 points and 9.3 assists in her first 10 games, leading Indiana to an impressive 8-2 record.
Her accolades include being named Eastern Conference Player of the Month for August, earning Player of the Week three times, and Rookie of the Month four times. Additionally, she made history by recording the first two triple-doubles by a rookie in WNBA history, setting a league single-game record with 19 assists. She also became the first rookie to achieve at least 30 points and 10 assists in a single game.
This season, Clark led the league with 122 three-pointers and ranked second with a free-throw shooting accuracy of 90.6%. She also averaged 5.7 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game, finishing with a league record of 337 assists and setting rookie benchmarks with 769 points and 122 three-pointers made.
On the other hand, Reese averaged 13.6 points and 13.1 rebounds for the Sky. Off the court, both Clark and Reese, along with their fellow rookies, contributed significantly to boosting viewership and attendance for the WNBA. Six different television partners for the league reported record high ratings for their broadcasts, particularly in games that featured the Fever.
Indiana led the league in attendance, averaging 17,036 fans at home and over 15,000 on the road. Some teams even relocated home games to larger arenas to accommodate fans when Indiana visited. In spite of the Fever’s heavy loss to Connecticut in Game 1 of the playoffs, the matchup attracted a remarkable 1.8 million viewers, according to ESPN, making it the most-watched playoff game since the 2000 Finals and the highest ever on ESPN, even competing against NFL games.
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AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball
