Indiana Fever rookie sensation Caitlin Clark fell short in her bid to become the only second Rookie-MVP in WNBA history after Candace Parker.
Clark had no qualms about finishing fourth in the WNBA MVP balloting despite her historic rookie season.
“I mean, it’s cool, but I don’t really care,” Clark told reporters about her fourth-place finish in MVP voting before Game 1 of their best-of-three playoff series against the Connecticut Sun on September 22. “My life is pretty unaffected by that. I’m just going to go out there and help my team, and honestly our goal was to get to the playoffs. I have a belief that we can come in here and win this series, one game at a time. So I think that’s where my focus is.”
Las Vegas Aces star center A’ja Wilson won her third MVP but her first as a unanimous choice with 670 points.
Clark gathered 130 points with six third-place votes, 26 third-place votes and 22 fourth-place votes.
Wilson drew all 67 first-place votes after a spectacular season. She became the first WNBA player to score over 1,000 points in a single season, finishing with 1,021 points to break the WNBA scoring record.
Minnesota Lynx forward Napheesa Collier (467 points) and New York Liberty star Breanna Stewart (295 points) finished second and third, respectively.
Caitlin Clark’s Historic Rookie Year
Clark, the No. 1 overall draft pick, finished the regular season with averages of 19.2 points, 8.4 assists and 5.7 rebounds per game this season.
She broke several WNBA rookie records along the way.
Clark had the most assists for a rookie, dishing out 337. She also broke the single-game record for assists with 19. She also became the first rookie to record a triple-double and hit the most 3-pointers with 122, which is the second-most in any WNBA season by a player.
According to ESPN, Clark’s 337 points were also the most points by any point guard in a single WNBA season. She was also the first WNBA rookie to be named Player of the Month and Rookie of the Month in the same month and to produce 20+ points, 15+ assists and 5+ rebounds in a game.
The former Iowa star has transformed the Fever into a playoff team overnight. Following a 1-7 start, the Fever have sneaked into the WNBA playoff as the No. 6 seed behind Clark’s phenomenal rookie year.
Clark is the frontrunner to win the WNBA Rookie of the Year, with Chicago Sky forward Angel Reese, her longtime college rival, as her strongest threat. The WNBA will announce the winner of the award later this week.
Caitlin Clark’s Rookie Season is a Box Office Hit
While Clarks lost in the MVP race, she is undoubtedly the most popular WNBA player.
According to Associated Press’ Tim Reynolds, Fever games have attracted an average of 16,084 attendance per game while non-Fever games only drew 8,552 per game, a stark 88% difference.
Clark’s star power has also translated well into the TV ratings.
Fox executive Michael Mulvihill reported that Clark’s games on TV averaged 1.178 million viewers, per New York Post. Clark’s games tripled the viewers for all other WNBA games, which only drew an average of 394,000.
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