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“My faves.”
That was the short message Caitlin Clark posted on her Instagram story with the photo of her celebrating with her Indiana Fever teammates upon learning she won the WNBA Rookie of the Year.
On October 3, the WNBA officially announced the Fever star as the league’s best rookie. But unlike her unanimous win as the Associated Press Rookie of the Year, Clark, this year’s first overall pick, missed out on sweeping the field for the league’s official award.
Clark’s historic season came one vote shy of becoming the unanimous choice. One first-place vote was cast on her rival, Angel Reese, Chicago Sky’s No. 7 pick.
Nonetheless, it was an unprecedented season for Clark, who was doubted her college game would translate well in the pros.
Clark broke several records.
Among the highlights of her sensational rookie year is recording the most assists in a single game and a single season. She was the fastest WNBA player to reach 300 career assists.
At 22, Clark was the youngest player in WNBA history to lead the league in assist per game. She was also the first player to lead the league in assists and 3-pointers made.
Clark is also the first rookie to to record a triple-double with 19 points, 13 assists, 12 rebounds) on a July 6 win over the New York Liberty. She finished the season with two triple-doubles, another first by any WNBA player.
Clark’s 337 points were also the most points by any point guard in a single WNBA season. She was also the first WNBA rookie to be named Player of the Month and Rookie of the Month in the same month and to produce 20+ points, 15+ assists and 5+ rebounds in a game.
WNBA’s Box Office Hit
Clark was a box-office hit in her WNBA rookie season.
Clark’s WNBA playoff debut against the Connecticut Sun drew 1.84 million viewers, a massive accomplishment considering the Game 1 of their first-round playoff meeting competed directly against the NFL, according to sportsmediawatch.com.
Game 2, which was Clark’s final game of the season drew a whopping 2.5 million average viewers and peaked at 3.4 million on ESPN.
The ratings for Clark’s WNBA playoff games greatly exceeded her regular-season games.
Fox executive Michael Mulvihill reported that Clark’s games on TV during the regular season averaged 1.178 million viewers, per The New York Post. Clark’s games tripled the viewers for all other WNBA games, which drew an average of 394,000.
Clark’s arrival has transformed the once-moribund Fever franchise into the most popular team in the WNBA.
According to Associated Press’ Tim Reynolds, Fever games around the league averaged 16,084 attendance per game while non-Fever games only drew 8,552 per game, a stark 88% difference.
Caitlin Clark’s Offseason Plans
Clark revealed she plans on playing a different sport in the offseason to take her mind off basketball after the Indiana Fever‘s Cinderella run ended in an 87-81 loss to Connecticut Sun in Game 2 of their WNBA playoff series.
“I was focused on beating the Connecticut Sun, I hadn’t thought too far down the line,” Clark told reporters. “I don’t know what I’m going to do tomorrow, I don’t know what I’m going to do the next day. Maybe play some golf. I think that’s what I’m gonna do until it becomes too cold in Indiana. I’ll become a professional golfer.”
Her teammate Aliyah Boston was quick to quip: “Not too much, babe.”
The Fever would like Clark to focus as well on bouncing back for the next season.
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