Caitlin Clark Pens Message for Her Fans After Historic Rookie Season in WNBA
That's a wrap on the Fever star's first year in the W.
Caitlin Clark is officially signing off on her incredible rookie season in the WNBA.
Clark wrote a heartfelt message to her fans on social media Wednesday, exactly one week after the Indiana Fever were eliminated by the Connecticut Sun in the first round of the 2024 WNBA playoffs.
“Thank you to the many people who have supported me as I’ve been able to live my childhood dream,” Clark wrote. “I’m filled with gratitude as I reflect on this past year of my life. … See you all in year two.”
In 40 regular-season games, Clark logged 19.2 points, 8.4 assists and 5.7 rebounds per contest en route to being crowned the 2024 WNBA Rookie of the Year. She developed into quite the playmaker, setting the all-time WNBA record for most assists in a single season (337) and single game (19).
Clark also became the first rookie to record a triple-double and did that twice, against the New York Liberty on July 6 and again against the Los Angeles Sparks on Sept. 4.
After a busy calendar year of hoops that began with the Iowa Hawkeyes’ run to the national championship and shifted to Indianapolis after she was selected with the No. 1 pick by the Fever, Clark will head into the offseason looking for some well-earned rest and preparing for her second year in the W.
Fever Ex-President Reveals How Caitlin Clark Tried to Get Opposing WNBA Players Paid
All indications are that Indiana Fever rookie Caitlin Clark is just as good of a person as she is a basketball player.
Not only does the 22-year-old conduct herself with a lot of class in front of a microphone, but she is also keen on using her massive platform to help grow the entire sport of women’s basketball.
And there’s no better example of this than an anecdote the Fever’s President and COO Allison Barber — who announced earlier this month that she’s stepping down from her current position — shared during a September 19 speaking engagement at The Economic Club of Washington D.C., which displays Clark’s desire to give her peers a piece of the pie, so to speak.
“Here’s all you need to know about Caitlin Clark: When we would go to away games, they always sold out,” Barber said. “So [the Atlanta Dream] would normally have 3,000, 4,000 people. Now they have 17,000 people and they sold 1,000 standing-room-only tickets.
“So when we walked into the arena, people were on that third balcony looking down at the tops of our players’ heads to watch… After a few away games, and all of the sellouts, Caitlin asked the WNBA if they would pay spot bonuses to the away team players,” Barber continued.
For context, a spot bonus is a one-time monetary incentive that’s given to employees as a result of extraordinary performance; which, in this case, would be the staggering attendance metrics at the games Indiana played — despite the attendance being mostly due to Clark.
Essentially, Clark wanted her opponents to get paid bonuses for selling out arenas full of her fans.
“She said ‘We’re making all this new revenue, and I would like the away team to benefit from that. Could they get a spot bonus?’,” Barber added.
“So that’s the heart of Caitlin Clark.”
Barber then noted that the WNBA declined Clark’s request because it violated the league’s current Collective Bargaining Agreement.
Regardless of the outcome, this story (which Clark would never tell herself) shows what kind of person the WNBA’s future is contingent on.