Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark was one vote away from being a unanimous Rookie of the Year winner.
The WNBA announced the voting results Thursday. Clark received 66 first-place votes, and the lone outlier went to the Chicago Sky’s Angel Reese.
“I am incredibly honored to be named Rookie of the Year, but more than that, I am grateful to everyone that supported me throughout this past season—my family and friends, my teammates, the Fever organization and everyone that cheered us on all season,” Clark said. “I am so proud of what we accomplished and so excited for what the future holds.”
Clark and Reese also claimed two of the five spots on the All-Rookie team:
The ROY race wasn’t necessarily over before the season began, but Clark opened with a large lead on the competition thanks to the hype she carried into her pro career. Expectations were through the roof following her legendary run at Iowa.
For a brief period, Reese arguably overtook Clark and put herself atop the rookie leaderboard. The 6’3″ forward reeled off 15 straight double-doubles to set a WNBA record, while the Sky, who many pegged to be one of the league’s worst teams, were on track to earn a playoff bid.
The Fever, meanwhile, were still digging themselves out of the hole they dug thanks to a 1-8 start. Clark’s performance mirrored that of her team as she encountered the natural difficulties that can come with the jump from college to the WNBA.
The pendulum shifted firmly in Clark’s favor after the midseason break for the Summer Olympics. In Indiana’s final 14 games, she averaged 23.1 points, 8.9 assists and 5.4 rebounds. She also shot 43.5 percent from the field and 37.0 percent from beyond the arc.
Reese continued to be a double-double machine but missed Chicago’s final six games thanks to a wrist injury. The Sky going 2-12 to finish out the campaign and miss the postseason didn’t help her Rookie of the Year candidacy, either.
Clark set the league’s single-game and single-season assist records with 19 and 337, respectively. She also became the first rookie in WNBA history to post a triple-double and pulled off the feat twice.
The 6’0″ guard had a historically significant rookie season, and now she has the hardware to prove it.
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