After carving her name into the record books during the 2024 WNBA season, Caitlin Clark has been named the league's Rookie of the Year, league sources said. The Athlete on Friday.
That Clark won the award came as little surprise considering how prolific her debut season was.
Clark broke the WNBA single-season and single-game assists records. He scored the most points by a rookie ever, and the most points by a point guard ever. She became the first rookie to record two triple-doubles and the first Fever player to ever record a triple-double.
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Those are just a few of her many accomplishments, including averaging 19.2 points and 8.4 assists per game—numbers that were even better in the second half of the season—and leading the Fever to their first postseason appearance since 2016. Indiana also improved its win total by seven in 2024.
Clark, the No. 1 pick in the 2024 WNBA draft, entered the league as the most anticipated rookie in league history. She flourished at Iowa for four seasons, leading the Hokies to two Final Fours and setting NCAA Division I women's and major college women's basketball scoring records.
The spectacle surrounding Clark followed her into the professional ranks. While Clark dazzled fans and tormented opponents, she also played a key role in a season of explosive growth for the WNBA. Six different league television partners set ratings records this year for the highest-rated WNBA game, and all six included the Fever.
Attendances in Indianapolis reached a record high, with an average of 17,036 fans packing Gainbridge Fieldhouse for home games. Indiana led the league in attendance for the first time in WNBA history.
Friday's news, however, doesn't reflect the Clark effect off the court, but her successes between the four lines of the court.
“She was special,” Indiana coach Christy Sainz said before the playoffs. “She went into the best league in the world, the best women's basketball league in the world. She found her footing. He continued to improve. She put herself in a position to be labeled as one of the best players in the league. That's incredible for a rookie.”
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For the first half of the season, the Rookie of the Year race looked like it was going to be one of the tightest ever. Through the first two months of the season, Angel Reese has helped the Sky stay in playoff contention. She had 14 double-doubles in 20 games and broke Kandace Parker's double-double streak.
Reese, like Clark, earned All-Star honors and was named the WNBA Rookie of the Month for June. She set the league's single-season rebounding record (446) and averaged the highest rebounds per game in WNBA history (13.1).
The No. 7 pick in the draft, Reese would become only the third player taken after the No. 6 pick in the WNBA draft to win Rookie of the Year. But her second half turned out to be different from her first. Chicago slumped and Reese was eventually ruled out for the rest of the season on September 8 with a wrist injury. Sky missed the postseason.
During the season, Clark and Reese played down the importance of the game.
“I'm sure (Angelus) would give you the exact same answer — I'm sure he gave you the exact same answer,” Clark said in late August. “So for us, everybody can write that, but our focus is winning basketball games. It's that simple.”
Reese said: “We're not even interested in Rookie of the Year. I think you have done a great thing. We don't have. We both want to win. We wanted to win and that's what we did in our college career.”
Clark became the third straight No. 1 pick to earn top rookie honors.
“I know there's a lot of room for me to keep getting better,” Clark said after the Fever were eliminated from the playoffs by the Connecticut Sun. “I feel like I've had a good year, but for me, the fun part is I feel like I'm just scratching the surface.”
Collier wins DPOY award
From the beginning of the regular season to the end, the Minnesota Lynx had one of the top defenses in the WNBA. And that defense now boasts the league's top defender after Napheesa Collier was named the winner of the 2024 WNBA Defensive Player of the Year award, league sources said The Athlete on Friday.
The Lynx finished the year first in opponent field goal percentage (41), first in opponent 3-point percentage (30.1), first in opponent assist percentage (18.6) and a close second in defensive rating (94.8). Collier's versatility has been the key to all of their success as Minnesota's anchor defense.
Collier was often tasked with guarding the opposition's top players in the frontcourt. At other times, he swung around to provide critical assistance. She was especially effective against top competition as the Lynx went 7-4 against the other top four playoff seeds, including a Commissioner's Cup victory over Minnesota.
Collier finished second in the WNBA in steals per game (1.9) and eighth in blocks (1.4 per game). According to Synergy Sports, opponents shot just 34.3 percent against her.
“I am so proud of Phee's defensive work in 2024. Her commitment to all aspects of our defense – deflections, denials, steals, blocks, rebounds – anchored one of the top defensive teams in the league and led to her best season as now. pro,” Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve he told the AP.
Minnesota finished second in the WNBA standings and swept the Phoenix Mercury in the first round of the playoffs. The Lynx, winners of four WNBA titles, will look to win their fifth this season. If they do, they'll move into the first-ever titles won by an active WNBA franchise, breaking a tie with the Seattle Storm.
Tipoff for Game 1 of their semifinal series against the third-seeded Sun is set for 8:30 p.m. ET on Sunday.
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(Photo: Dylan Goodman / NBAE via Getty Images)