In 2024, the popularity of women’s basketball and women’s sports in general has skyrocketed, and there is no doubt that Caitlin Clarke Can be thanked for this.
Not only was Clarke the most popular female athlete. In the last 12 monthsTime named him its Athlete of the Year, an honor shared in recent years by global stars like Lionel Messi, LeBron James, Simone Biles, Serena Williams and Tiger Woods.
Clark began the year on the back end of his record-breaking college ball career. As a senior at Iowa, he was months removed from losing the national championship to Angel Reese and the LSU Tigers, where Reese’s “U. “Can’t See Me” taunt was the unofficial start of animosity on and off the court (although Clark, himself, will tell you that there was nothing like that between them. is not).
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Indiana Fever’s Caitlin Clark speaks to the media during an introductory press conference at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on April 17, 2024 in Indianapolis. (Ron Hoskins/NBAE via Getty Images)
In any case, the gesture sparked quite a debate, which turned into more culture wars with Clark as a WNBA player this summer. Although he did not come before her. Set an NCAA record. (both male and female) to score maximum points in a college career and one more national championship.
In April, she was the No. 1 overall pick and, practically as soon as she stepped onto a WNBA court, talk began about whether her popularity was due to her race. In fact, that was a claim made by WNBA MVP A’ja Wilson, saying that Clarke’s whiteness was one. “big thing” When it came to Clark’s popularity.
Throughout the season, though, Clark was able to make noise about what was said about her off the court, even when it seemed like her opponents attacked her on the court. The rough fouls came amid accusations of racism from both the Indiana Fever and Iowa fans, one claimed. By the said Reese.
But Clark had reiterated over and over that his focus was on basketball, and it certainly seemed that way. In her rookie season, she not only broke rookie records, even WNBA records are now held by Clarke.
Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark reacts during a WNBA basketball playoff first-round game against the Suns on Sept. 25, 2024, in Uncasville, Conn. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)
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Clark’s exposure to sports drew historic audiences at both the college and pro levels. The final three games of her college career were the most watched women’s college basketball games of all time. He also drew several of his regular season games. More viewers than WNBA playoff gamesAnd her WNBA matchups with Reese were the most-watched WNBA games of all time.
WNBA teams even had to move to bigger arenas just because of ticket demand because Clark drew. fever 90 times more tickets were sold. This compared to last year 2023.
Clark was named. Rookie of the Year For his historic campaign during which he set the record for most assists in a season in league history. He led the Fever into playoff form after a slow start, and quickly became a double-double machine. He even set a single-game record with 19 assists. She also became the first rookie to record a triple-double, registering two of them.
Indiana Fever’s Caitlin Clark celebrates during a game against the Los Angeles Sparks at Crypto.com Arena on May 24, 2024 in California. (Adam Pantozzi/NBAE via Getty Images)
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She received the most votes for the All-Star Game and was only the fifth rookie in league history to make the All-WNBA first team.
It should go without saying that Clark is on his way to a stellar career, and even more impressive is what he’s done this year with all the outside noise.
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