A commemoration of Caitlin Clark’s meteoric career at Iowa and evaluation of the start of her WNBA rookie season.
A commemoration of Caitlin Clark’s meteoric career at Iowa and evaluation of the start of her WNBA rookie season.
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Late next week, the WNBA will send out ballots for its end-of-season awards. Sixty-eight media members will have eight days to submit selections for 10 different awards, including Most Valuable Player, Defensive Player of the Year, and first- and second-team All-WNBA.
What I’m about to say will never happen, and I’m equally aware it would be wildly unpopular on the fringes of Caitlin Clark’s and Angel Reese’s fan bases, where rational discussion goes to die and a compliment of one player is viewed as a criticism of the other. But, what the heck. Let’s do it anyway.
For me, this season’s Rookie of the Year award should be shared by Clark and Reese, not only for their performances on the court, where each has done things never before seen in the league’s nearly three-decade history, but also for their impact off it. The two have been like neodymium magnets, attracting viewers and generating revenue at a dizzying rate.
Longtime league followers will argue the W’s popularity was trending up before the rookies’ arrival, which is true. But the level of interest among mainstream media and casual fans was negligible for much of that time. Broadcast partners even treated the W as an afterthought, neither promoting nor amplifying it with much vigor.
Today, however, the league has a regular place on the ESPN rundown sheet, and its stars are sought-after guests on popular podcasts. Is that solely because of Clark and Reese? No. But is it largely because of them? Yes.
Their Q Scores coming out of college were as high or higher than anyone in the W, the byproduct of a rivalry that began two seasons ago when Reese and LSU defeated Clark and Iowa for the NCAA championship. In transitioning to the W, the two brought all those eyeballs with them, raising the league’s popularity to a point not seen since its inaugural season.
Their influence can be seen in attendance figures. Clark, the all-time leading scorer in NCAA history, has helped the Indiana Fever go from ranking 11th among 12 teams in average attendance in 2023, at 4,066 spectators, to No. 1 at 16,978, according to Across the Timeline. Not surprisingly, the Fever were the opponent in July when the two-time defending champion Las Vegas Aces attracted 20,366 fans to T-Mobile Arena to record the largest WNBA crowd in 25 years.
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The fact that Indiana is also the top-drawing road team should not come as a surprise to anyone — the Fever are averaging 14,837 spectators away from home, according to Across the Timeline — but it might surprise casual observers to learn that the struggling Chicago Sky rank No. 2. The main reason? They’re led by Reese and her 4.1 million Instagram followers.
That’s why I believe they should share the award. Years from now when think pieces are done on the growth of the league, all roads are likely to lead back to 2024 and the arrival of Clark and Reese. What better way to recognize that than by having their names side by side in the record books?