The WNBA Rookie of the Year Award began in 1998, one year after the league started in 1997, and serves to commemorate the finest first-year player. Up to date, a majority of winners of this distinguished award have followed successful careers and gone on to become cornerstones in the league. The award has been given to notable players like Tamika Catchings in 2002 who later went on to become a 10-time All-Star player.
Candace Parker won the award in 2008, she became the first player to be awarded Rookie of the Year and MVP in the same season with the Los Angeles Sparks. Breanna Stewart in 2016 won the award later becoming a multiple-time WNBA champion and MVP.
The WNBA Rookie of the Year award has often been an indication of future success, as a number of winners have gone on to become Hall of Famers.
Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark was named the 2024 WNBA Rookie of the Year, a title she earned with 66 out of 67 votes from a national media panel, the league announced Thursday. Clark, the No. 1 overall draft pick in April, had an impressive rookie season, positioning herself as one of the brightest stars in the WNBA.
Clark said in a statement, “I’m so honored to be named Rookie of the Year, but more than that, I am thankful to those that have supported me through this past season—my family and friends, my teammates, the Fever organization, and everyone who cheered us on all season. I am so proud of what we accomplished and so excited for what the future holds.”
Clark’s historic rookie year came off from a sterling collegiate career at Iowa, where she concluded her college career as the all-time leading scorer in Division I basketball, inclusive of men and women. She started all 40 regular-season games for the Fever, which wrapped up the season at 20-20 and ranked sixth in the league in the standings. Clark averaged 19.2 points, 8.4 assists, 5.7 rebounds, and 1.3 steals per contest.
Not only did Clark finish atop the league in assists, but she finished toppimg the charts in three-pointers as well (122), while finishing second in minutes per game and free throw percentage (90.6%). She was seventh overall in scoring. She set a new single-season WNBA record for assists, with 337. She also had a league-best of 19 assists in one game against the Dallas Wings this past July. Her reaching the milestone made her the first rookie ever to record two triple-doubles in a single season, adding to her ever-growing list of accomplishments.
In season, Clark reaped numerous awards, including four WNBA Rookie of the Month awards and three WNBA Eastern Conference Player of the Week nods. She was also the first player in league history to capture WNBA Eastern Conference Player of the Month and Rookie of the Month in the same month. Clark led all players in WNBA history with 700,735 All-Star Game votes. And has been named as well to the WNBA All- Rookie Team and the First Team All WNBA.
Her teammates congratulated her in an emotional video that the Fever put together, with Aliyah Boston, Kelsey Mitchell, and many more praising Clark’s historic rookie campaign and the impacts she has thus far had on the team and league.
