After a phenomenal WNBA Rookie of the Year campaign with the Indiana feverformer Iowa Hawkeye point guard Caitlin Clark named TIME’s Athlete of the Year 2024.
This honor bestowed upon Clark is recognition of her historic efforts as the leader of the Iowa women’s basketball team that played for a national championship in a second straight season and for her rookie award of the WNBA year and its league-record campaign.
In her first professional season with the Indiana Fever, Clark averaged 19.2 points, a WNBA record 8.4 assists, 5.7 rebounds and 1.3 steals in 35.4 minutes per game . In addition to leading the league in assists, Clark was first in 3-pointers made (122) and second in minutes per game and free throw percentage (90.6%). She finished seventh overall in the league.
When asked by TIME what his best overall moment of 2024 was, Clark struggled to pinpoint a singular moment and instead reflected on his triumphs from the hosted national championship game with Iowa to his sensational rookie season with the Fever.
“I feel like so much has happened over the last year, since my last college season started, and I don’t know if this would actually be my last season, if I decided to come back to college or going pro, and now, sitting here, I finished my first professional season, and so much has happened.
“And whether it’s, you know, making it to the national championship game or taking the Fever back to the playoffs since 2016, there’s a lot to be proud of. It happens so quickly, it’s hard to appreciate in the moment, and kind of understand in the moment, but it’s fun to think about,” Clark said.
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While Clark’s athleticism on the field is sensational, his appeal off the field is also a major factor in his Athlete of the Year recognition.
With Clark as their superstar, Fever appeared in the most-watched WNBA games of all time on ABC, CBS, ESPN and ESPN2 last season. The WNBA also attracted an all-time high of more than 54 million unique viewers across all of its national broadcast platforms during the regular season, and the league’s overall attendance jumped 48% year over year to reach its highest level in more than two decades.
Clark’s fame and influence allowed the Fever to break the WNBA record for home attendance by a single franchise and even forced games to be moved to NBA and NHL arenas in Las Vegas, Atlanta and Washington, DC, to welcome the hordes of fans.
While winning TIME’s Athlete of the Year is high praise, Clark will aim to improve on the Fever’s performance next season in hopes of winning the franchise’s first WNBA title since 2012.
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