Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark has become the first rookie in 16 years to be named to the All-WNBA first team.
The 22-year-old received 52 first team votes, making her the fourth-most voted player overall. Clark joins unanimous selections Napheesa Collier and league MVP A’ja Wilson, as well as Breanna Stewart and Alyssa Thomas, in the team.
The last rookie to receive the honor was Candace Parker in 2008. Sue Bird, Tamika Catchings and Diana Taurasi were also previous rookies to make the team.
Clark’s selection is just another achievement in what has been a record-breaking debut year in the WNBA.
The guard was already named the 2024 WNBA Rookie of the Year in a near-unanimous vote earlier this month, a fitting title for an astonishing season.
Clark became the WNBA single-season assists record holder (337), an accomplishment which included a league-record 19 assists in one game. Her 8.4 assists per game average is also a WNBA record. Clark also became the first ever rookie to record a triple-double and holds the record for most three-pointers made (122) by a rookie in league history.
The superstar, who has helped attract a new audience to the sport, inspired the Fever to the franchise’s first playoff appearance since 2016. However, the team was knocked out in the first round by the Connecticut Sun.
This year is also the sixth consecutive time that Stewart has been named to the first team. The New York Liberty star recently spoke out about “homophobic death threats” sent to her wife, Marta Xargay, via email after Game 1 of this year’s WNBA Finals.
Las Vegas Aces star Wilson, meanwhile, earned her unanimous place on the first team after a historic season.
The center averaged 26.9 points, 11.9 rebounds, 2.58 blocked shots and 1.79 steals across 38 games. She led the league in points and blocks and was second in rebounds per game.
Wilson broke the single-season records for both scoring and rebounding along the way. She became the first player to lead the WNBA in total points, rebounds and blocks in a season.
She inspired the Aces to the playoffs in search of a three-peat but the squad wad knocked out in the semifinals by the Liberty.
The WNBA offseason is underway, following the end of the WNBA finals series between the New York Liberty and Minnesota Lynx. As players and teams move into the offseason, training may be far from many players’ minds, but that’s not the case with Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark. The Fever recently posted a video of the 2024 rookie getting “offseason reps.” Clark was seen working out at the Indiana Pacers’ practice facility nearly a month after concluding her rookie season with the Fever. As the ultra-talented guard gets back in the gym and focuses on improving, she mentions that she’s just “scratching the surface.” “I feel like I’m just scratching the surface,” Clark said. “I feel like there’s just so many areas that I want to improve in and to continue to get in the gym on work on that every single day.”
Despite breaking a multitude of WNBA records and taking home the Rookie of the Year award, Clark believes there’s plenty of work ahead to become a better player.
Clark had unprecedented numbers in her rookie season with the Fever. The 22-year-old averaged 19.2 points, 5.7 rebounds and 8.4 assists per game. She led the WNBA in average assists and led all rookies in scoring. The rookie was named to the WNBA All-Star roster in 2024 and served as the only first-year player to start on either Team WNBA or Team USA.
She’s also notched a couple of incredible records, including the most assists in a single rookie season with 337 assists and most three-pointers made with 122 three-pointers. Clark also led the Fever to tremendous team success. She helped Indiana clinch a spot in the WNBA playoffs for the first time since 2016, earning a 20-20 record as the No. 6 team in the WNBA standings.
While she showed how special she can be in her rookie season, Clark thinks it’s only the beginning of a long, successful journey ahead, mentioning that she’s just “scratching the surface.” WNBA players should certainly be worried about Clark’s improvement and commitment, given that she’s already produced one of the most accomplished seasons in WNBA history.
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