On October 4, 2024, it was announced that Caitlin Clark was the 2024 Kia Rookie of the Year in the WNBA. Now, this wasn’t a surprise for the public, Clark averaged 19.2 points per game, along with 8.4 assists and 5.7 rebounds per game in her rookie season. The result of Caitlin Clark winning the Rookie of the Year was so unsurprising that the vote was almost unanimous, 66-1 in favor of Clark winning.
Just a few of the records that Clark broke are the most assists in a season with 337 assists, the most assists in a single game with 19, the fastest player ever to reach 350 points and 150 assists, the fastest player to make 100 or more 3s, most points scored by a rookie, and the first player ever to have 20+ points, 15+ assists and 5+ rebounds in a single game. Those are not even all of the records she broke in her rookie season.
Following the announcement of the winner of the Rookie of the Year award, a lot of different people had different things to say about Caitlin Clark beating Angel Reese out for the first-place spot. Going into the voting, Chicago Sky player Angel Reese was favored to win the Rookie of the Year award. Reese averaged a double-double of 13.6 points and 13.1 rebounds per game in her rookie year. When it was released that Caitlin Clark was the Rookie of the Year, with 66 total votes to Angel Reese’s 1, the public wanted to know who that single person was that cast theirs for Angel Reese.
It took a few days for that person’s identity to be known, who voted for Reese, but during the few days that people didn’t know who this mystery voter was, this voter was getting all sorts of heat from many different people. These people ranged from Jake Paul to ESPN analyst Andraya Carter. Carter said on a WNBA preview show, “If you were the person who had that one vote, you should be able to stand on it, and we should know who you are.”
But the whole point of the Rookie of the Year award isn’t to argue over it; it is to congratulate a player for being the best and potentially being the next big player to play the game of basketball. And Caitlin Clark is the next-best player. She broke so many records and expectations, but I think that her most important and impressive record that she had broken is the amount of people watching women’s basketball. Caitlin has played in 4 out of the top 6 most-watched women’s college basketball games of all time. What Clark has done for women’s basketball is more impressive than any Rookie of the Year award.
