The popularity of women's basketball, and women's sports in general, skyrocketed in 2024, and there is no doubt that Kaitlin Clark can be appreciated for that.
Not only was Clark the most famous female athlete in the last 12 monthsTime named him their Athlete of the Year, a title held by world stars such as Lionel Messi, LeBron James, Simone Biles, Serena Williams and Tiger Woods in recent years.
Clark is coming off a year at the end of his record-breaking college football career. As a senior at Iowa, he was a few months removed from losing the national championship to Angel Reese and the LSU Tigers, where Reese's laugh of “You can't see me” was the unofficial start of the tournament. out of court (however. Clark, himself, will tell you that there is no such thing between them).
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Indiana Fever's Caitlin Clark speaks to the media during a press conference on April 17, 2024, at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. (Ron Hoskins/NBAE via Getty Images)
However, the move sparked a lot of debate, which turned into culture wars this summer when Clark was a WNBA player. However, that did not happen before him set an NCAA record (men's and women's) for more highlights from college careers and other national championship appearances.
In April, she was the No. 1 overall pick and as she stepped onto a WNBA court, the conversation began about whether her popularity was due to her race. In fact, it was a claim that WNBA MVP A'ja Wilson had made, saying that Clark being White was “big thing” when it comes to Clark's reputation.
However, throughout the season, Clark was able to suppress the noise that was made about him off the court, even though it seemed that he was attacked on the court by his opponents. The blunders came amid accusations of racism from fans of the Indiana Fever and Iowa, a claim made by the aforementioned Reese.
But Clark said time and time again that he was focused on basketball, and it seemed that way. In her rookie season, she not only broke rookie records, even the WNBA records were now without Clark's name.
Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark reacts during a WNBA first-round basketball game against the Suns, Sept. 25, 2024, in Uncasville, Conn. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)
Clark's appearance in sports has brought him historic prospects in college and at the pro level. The final three games of her college career were the most watched women's basketball games ever. He also had several of his regular season games more viewers than the WNBA playoff gamesand her WNBA games with Reese were some of the most watched WNBA games ever.
WNBA teams have even had to move to bigger arenas because of the demand for tickets that Clark draws; fever sold more than 90 tickets this past year than in 2023.
Clark was named after Rookie of the Year for his historic campaign in which he set the record for most assists in a single season in league history. He carried Fever to game appearances after a slow start, and quickly became a double-double machine. He also set a single-game record for assists with 19. He also became the first player to record a triple, registering two of them.
Caitlin Clark of the Indiana Fever celebrates during a game against the Los Angeles Sparks on May 24, 2024, at Crypto.com Arena in California. (Adam Pantozzi/NBAE via Getty Images)
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She received the most votes for the All-Star Game and was the fifth honoree in league history to make the All-WNBA first team.
Needless to say, Clark is on his way to a stellar career, and what's even more impressive is what he's done this year with all the outside noise.
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