October 4, 2024
Caitlin Clark caps off historic rookie season with Rookie of the Year honor
By Emily Caron
Clark led the Fever to its first playoff appearance since 2016
After a record-breaking debut season, Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark was named 2024 WNBA Rookie of the Year. The honor caps a closely followed and highly anticipated rookie campaign from Clark, who won with a near sweep of the votes. Clark earned 66 of 67 votes, the league announced Thursday, with Chicago Sky forward Angel Reese taking the remaining tally.
Continue reading with a subscription to The Next
Get unlimited access to women’s basketball coverage and help support our hardworking staff of writers, editors, and photographers by subscribing today.
Already a member?
Login
The rookie duo brought significant attention to the WNBA’s 2024 regular season, the league’s most-watched and highest attended in more than two decades.
Get 24/7 soccer coverage with The Equalizer
The Next is partnering with The Equalizer to bring more women’s sports stories to your inbox. Subscribers to The Next receive 50% off their subscription to The Equalizer for 24/7 coverage of women’s soccer.
Clark was the No. 1 pick in this year’s draft out of Iowa. She arrived in the WNBA fresh off a historic college career as the all-time leading scorer in NCAA Division I basketball. Clark continued her record-setting pace in the pros, leading the Fever to its first 20-win season since 2015 and first playoff appearance since 2016.
The 6′ guard averaged 19.2 points, 5.7 rebounds and a league-high 8.4 assists per game. She set WNBA records for single-game (19) and single-season (337) assists. Clark’s 122 threes were the second-most in league history and the most ever recorded by a rookie in one season. She finished as the first player in league history to sit atop the WNBA in both assists and 3-pointers made per game.
Clark’s 769 points on the season, good for seventh overall in the league, also set a rookie record. Capping her impressive rookie resume, the 22-year-old star also became the first WNBA newcomer to record a triple-double — and she ultimately finished the year with two.
The Connecticut Sun swept the Fever in the first round of the playoffs, ending Clark’s first season in the W.
“I am incredibly honored 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 organization and everyone that cheered us on all season,” Clark said in a statement shared by Indiana. “I am so proud of what we accomplished and so excited for what the future holds.”
Chicago’s Reese and her teammate Kamilla Cardoso, Los Angeles Sparks forward Rickea Jackson and New York Liberty forward Leonie Fiebich rounded out this year’s All-Rookie team alongside Clark.
Reese, an early Rookie of the Year contender herself, averaged a double-double with 13.6 points and 13.1 rebounds per game before a wrist injury cut her season short.
Order ‘Rare Gems’ and save 30%
Howard Megdal, founder and editor of The Next and The IX, released his next book on May 7, 2024. This deeply reported story follows four connected generations of women’s basketball pioneers, from Elvera “Peps” Neuman to Cheryl Reeve and from Lindsay Whalen to Sylvia Fowles and Paige Bueckers.
If you enjoy his coverage of women’s basketball every Wednesday at The IX, you will love “Rare Gems: How Four Generations of Women Paved the Way for the WNBA.” Click the link below to order and enter MEGDAL30 at checkout.
